I’ve been meaning to weigh in on this for a while, but keep forgetting to. I believe it is a much-needed feature to incorporate species groups into iNat.
It sometimes occurs in Cicadellidae that there are species complexes within species groups. To work around this in iNat taxonomy, I’ve resorted to using the botanical “section” in place of species groups since there is simply no other option. It’s my understanding that (for inverts at least), complexes serve as a way of grouping together many nearly identical-looking species, while groups are used as more of a form of organisation for breaking down large genera. @hopperdude215 may want to weigh in on this as well.
My understanding is essentially the same as Caleb’s:
Off the top of my head, an example is the subgenus Oncometopia (Oncometopia), which has the species group Oncometopia orbona and the species complex Oncometopia clarior within it. I’ve not yet implemented this taxonomy into iNat (and no need to call O. clarior a complex yet since all children are undescribed and the complex was erected very recently) so it may not be the best example. The most significant (but less complicated) example for leafhoppers on the site is the genus Graphocephala which has three main species groups: Graphocephala, Neokolla, and Hordnia. This is used on BugGuide and is a very different concept from species complexes, at least in terms of arthropods.
It’s worth noting that subgenera, species groups, and species complexes are all different and not interchangeable, at least in terms of leafhoppers, and are all important taxon levels referenced and described in papers and databases. “Section,” while incorrect, is the only taxonomical level that’s capable of substituting species groups and Kyle and I have agreed it seems to be the best option. The inconsistency between BugGuide and iNat due to the lack of species groups here is rather frustrating.
I’ve been wondering if it would be appropriate to make a feature request topic on this or to just shoot an email to staff, but since this thread already exists I’m not sure if that would be necessary/permitted. I hope this is seen so late into the thread. I’d just like to note that this is a very important taxonomical issue in my area of curation though (along with undescribed species and a “_ or _ species” feature, which I may make forum posts about).