As I’m sure is the case for many taxa on here, I’ve noticed that a comparatively small proportion of moth observations achieve research grade, even in well-studied regions like eastern North America. Good, well-lit photos of (at least relatively) straightforward species go unidentified/uncommented o…

The taxa where there is a lack of IDers are often taxa where significant active learning is required to become good at IDing (i.e., it is difficult to just pick it up through exposure). They may also be taxa where there is a lack of research and/or photo ID is difficult. In other words, there will …

I also think an important element for getting more IDing activity is addressing the other side of the equation – educating observers about how to make better observations in the first place. [image] gcwarbler: The types of photographic effort and offerings required to maximize the chances of ID…

[image] spiphany: Are people who are organizing bioblitzes or providing instructions on blacklighting including info not only about techniques of attracting moths, types of lights to use, etc, but also how to photograph the moths once they have been attracted? Are there a few simple obvious s…

I’d say it’s best to keep one’s own list of species that can/can’t be identified locally from photos of adults. I’m not aware of any resource that lists them all, mainly because it varies greatly by location. For example, from Pennsylvania southward, Datana drexelii and Datana major can’t be identif…

Your question and request will prompt me to write a long-overdue journal article on moth photography. The answers to your query are “out there” but widely scattered. My Texas mothing pals and I have been coaching individuals when the opportunity arrises (at bioblitzes, etc.) and I offer suggestion…

Thank you for all that information!

There isn’t enough people saying this on here Annotate them! I can pretty well tell an adult sphinx from the other similar looking ones in my area, but I can’t tell the caterpillars and I can tell the larva of tiger moths in my area pretty well but can’t tell the adults at all. There’s so many obse…

[image] squidtk: Annotate them! Thanks for the tip. I just went through all my leps and did that – it was mainly the adults that needed it; I was good about annotating larvae and pupae. I also found that my older observations were already annotated; I must have gotten out of the habit at some…

Since the Peterson guide lists only about 1500 of the 3 to 4 thousand species that can be found in northeastern North America it has some pretty severe limitations. What works for me is to let iNat give me an initial ID, and then go to the Explore page and enter the superfamily/family that the sugg…

[image] spiphany: I think it’s too bad that staff seemed to have stopped doing the monthly “identifier profiles”. I found them interesting because they often traced precisely that process of a user recognizing a need and deciding to do something to address it. It’s just me doing them, it’s no…

Need for more moth identifiers?

General

Topic		Replies	Views
Needed: more people to help ID moths and other insects Nature Talk	41	4057	August 16, 2020
Identify identifiers IDs General identify	127	3437	November 12, 2025
Waiting for ID`s General	51	1471	December 24, 2025
Identifications taking longer? General	156	3909	December 12, 2025
How to best contribute to identifications? Looking for advice General question	99	3880	June 22, 2024

Need for more moth identifiers?

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