We appear to have a wonderful abundance to members to ID birds and wildflowers (from what I see). But when it comes to members identifying some insects, and moths, we seem to be low in numbers. Not at all a complaint. Just wishing more would join to fill out the ranks.

Butterflies, birds, and plants are just far more popular Not only more popular, but better documented from a field observation perspective as a result of that popularity. There are cryptic complexes of bird species that also seemed indistinguishable in the field when first described, yet over yea…

I have recentIy seen that some diagnostic marks were observed and described in some Polish coleoptera around 2014, but I couId not remember which species or family was this. Such things couId happen, aIthough I wouId assume it is either rare, or this happens for some species that are not observed fr…

There are actually more plants in identify than insects currently (7 million plants vs 4 million insects). Of course not all these plants will be wildflowers.

I’m very willing to help, although I’m a novice. I’m pretty good at recognizing families and am starting to get an “eye” for determining what the key features are. I think that the site is pretty good with getting moths in my region to genus. I’m pretty impressed anyway. I use the Peterson Field Gu…

I’d say if you think an id might be correct, make the id. If it’s wrong, someone will correct you. Making confirmations is a different matter. You need to be pretty sure to confirm an observation with only one id, as it bumps it up to research grade. Use Moth Photographers Guide to get a sense of wh…

I think this is beyond any of our control other than recommending moth enthusiasts/experts to join the iNat community. Of course there are other factors such as where they are from, how willing they are to join, how busy they are etc. Personally I am proud to be a moth-er but I am just an enthusiast…

Agree. There are not so many in Nocuidae, but there are common species that need observation of the genitalia to make a firm ID. Given the limitations of the site, probably Genus level is fine for these species. Oh, I should also mention that (at least for moths) Bugguide generally mentions that asp…

I’m working on what a lot of iNatters and amateurs do (alluded to here by others): be the identifiers you wish to see find a need, start to study, pay it forward : ) Give me a decade and I’ll have just scratched the surface of tortricidae but it’ll happen. Many of the sites top identifiers are f…

If I knew of a species I could identify with confidence, I’d certainly help. As it is, when I go through unknowns I give insects a certain priority (as well as vertebrates, but not many vertebrates stay in the unknowns for long). When I first started on iNaturalist, I thought one thing for sure I c…

Needed: more people to help ID moths and other insects

Nature Talk

mamestraconfigurata June 8, 2020, 2:46pm 22

The data on this site are actually not too bad - https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/identification-quality-on-inaturalist/7507

Topic		Replies	Views
Need for more moth identifiers? General	123	3011	August 2, 2024
What is the Best Way to Learn a Species? Nature Talk question , taxonomy	46	4285	October 17, 2019
Is there any groups on iNat that with only a few or even no expert (or regionally no) to help? General	40	2277	March 5, 2023
New to iNaturalist and trying to help with identifications General question , identification	106	5452	August 22, 2023
Some ID Statistics General	60	1708	May 30, 2026

Needed: more people to help ID moths and other insects

Related topics