49 people clicked the “like” button on your “end of the Midgepocalypse” post.
A debate about “should we do A or B?” will always get more replies than “I’m doing this cool thing.”
I appreciate your work on chironomid identification and CV correction, and I hope you keep it up, no matter what happens with the default photos.
On topic:
It does seem to me that the ideal way to handle default taxon photos would be images that are edited to show both the whole chironomid and the genitals. Or both the caterpillar and the butterfly/moth. Or both the male and the female.
But someone would have to do the work to build all these images outside iNat, and import them. (with rare exceptions, like my favorite default taxon photo, the northern cardinal)
Also compare the default photos that iNat staff made for mammals, chordates, and all other taxa that include humans.