Is there an old thread somewhere for beginner identifiers? I’d like to help getting the “unknowns” plugged in, but do not know the lowest - lower acceptable/helpful classifications. Most I have tried were not accepted. I did learn that caterpillar & beetle should be “moths and butterflies” & “bugs” respectively. Thanks, a recovering chemist.
The lowest level you can ID to is a good choice. “Moths and Butterflies” is a good choice for caterpillars*, and so would any higher level. So would a family or lower level if you can ID it there correctly. (If you ID’d it at a lower level and somebody moved it to “Moths and Butterflies” they likely thought the lower level ID was wrong and moved it up to what they were confident was right. Of course, maybe they were wrong.) The default identification for a beetle should definitely be “Beetles” – unless it’s a True Bug or some other kind of insect, or at least the identifier thinks it is. Many of us who do a lot of identifications move fast and don’t leave explanations. If you want one, please ask the identifier. Most of us are happy to explain for people who actually care enough to ask. So many people don’t.
- *yes, I know some of the caterpillars I ID to “Moths and Butterflies” turn out to be Sawflies, but identifiers seem able to cope with that, though sometimes not graciously.
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Can you explain what you mean by this? Do you mean the names you wanted to enter weren’t found in the taxonomy? Or that other users disagreed with/questioned the IDs you entered?
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Thanks…..went back to try again. Ah, I now think it’s a user issue. See this one: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/331338974https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/331338974
I clicked “suggest an identification”, wrote “fish” in the window, and clicked “done”. Nothing happened. It went back to “unknown”.
And where can I see “the taxonomy”?
How do you normally select IDs for your own observations?
When you type in a name, you should get a list of options to choose from – these options are entries stored in iNat’s database. The entries form a hierarchy of relationships (taxonomy) and are used to determine how different IDs relate to each other. In the drop-down list, there should be an option beside each name to view the taxon; this is a link that will take you to the information page about fish or whatever taxon you have selected. One of the tabs includes a taxonomic tree where you can see parent and child taxa of the one that you are looking at.
If you click the view box on the right (on the web browser) it opens a new tab and in the secion under the photos is a sub-tab that has the taxonomy.
As for my own IDs, it depends, for most of them I pick the genus I’m familiar with (if I am) or family (grasses) or kingdom or phylum (fungi).
Edit: If I am confident that my photos have enough for an ID everyonce in a while I’ll take the suggested species level ID. If I do this I leave a comment of “suggested ID” and once someone confirms it I withdraw my id so it takes even another set of eyes.
Fish could be Actinopterygii, Chondrichthyes, Sarcopterygii, or maybe some others. There’s no taxon that includes all fish and excludes land vertebrates.
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Ooo ooo where is this view box - on what page??
Thanks! I’m still hoping I can find this list of proper taxonomy from the bottom up somewhere…
I Found it! many thanks.
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These are my most commonly used in Unknowns for bugs. The BOLD is the term you can put in the search field.
Insects with wings, or used to have wings (ants, beetles, flies, caterpillars, bees, wasps) - Pterygota, this is a good place for flying insects and ants. I use this A LOT in unknowns. For beginner identifying this is a good catch-all EXCEPT for spiders, millipedes, pillbugs, and worms.
Beetles - Coleoptera (Beetles)
Flying and stinging plus ants (bees and wasps) - Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies)
Caterpillars, cocoons, pupa, butterflies, and moths - Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Pillbugs, “roly-polys” - Holoverticata (Woodlice and Pillbugs)
Earthworms (yard, sidewalk, fishing worms) - Lumbricidae (Lumbricid Earthworms)
Millipedes - Myriapoda (Millipedes)
“Crunchy” critters (crayfish, millipedes, spiders, bugs, ticks, etc.) - Arthopoda (Arthropods) When you know its a “bug” but don’t know what kind.
“Granddaddy Long Legs” (this is subjective in some areas, but this isn’t the spider) - Opiliones (Harvestmen)
Crayfish, crawdads (in North America) - Cambaridae (Cambarid Crayfishes)
Land snails and slugs (North America) - Helicina (no common term to use in the search, these are tough to ID for beginners)
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Most fish fall into the Ray-finned Fish. When in doubt, choose that for a fish. The fish people can correct errors. (Even better, don’t click on Ray-fined for sharks or rays.)
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Here are some terms I type when IDing (wait for a list to appear below and select one):
Flowering plants: trache
Grasses, sedges, rushes: poal
White-tail and mule deer: bura (mule deer in Spanish, white-tail in some Panamanian language)
Dicots: dicot (careful! the second thing is a peccary in the genus Dicotyles)
Monocots: monoc
Butterflies, moths: lep
Winged insects: ptery
Mints, verbena: lamia
Grasshoppers, crickets, katydids: ortho
Lizards: squam
Agaricomycetes: mushr (some have gills but are not Agaricales, I let the mycologists sort them out)
Slugs and snails: gastr
Millipedes: milpi
Centipedes: ciemp
Spiders: arane
The white-tailed deer is local to where I live, and I’ve learned several traits that distinguish the two species.
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The designated shortcuts on iNat are 3 letters, but only one letter can be enough.
F will get you a list that brings up Fungi (mushrooms) and ferns - for example. L will take you to Lepidoptera, or legumes or lizards. My quickest route to beetles is beet. Those shortcuts reach across the scientific name, and ALL our human languages if someone has added their common name.
And that irritating thing that you click the one you want on the list, but gremlins take the Next on the List. Make sure you get what you asked for - homonyms and Kingdom Disagreement slide into Life - botanists and zoologists delight in using the exact same name - Erica ?!
It also helps for newbies / generalists / ID-a-thoners if you chose to display scientific names (for you to learn - I know that - but what is the proper name ?) and common names (you can have up to 3 languages, but even your own preferred language helps, and perhaps a local one for your preferred location)
Not directed AT phma, but continuing his advice.
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That would be pretty awesome. I’m not sure how to figure the best methods out apart from brute force and experimenting with common names.
I was hoping that a communal effort would nudge the usefulness of a list of shortcuts towards being worthwhile… See this xkcd comic:
Oops - quoting https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inat-id-shortcut-list/17572/11 by @astra_the_dragon
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Even if you had typed in the whole thing, “Ray-finned Fish” you would still need to wait for that to appear in the drop down menu, then click on it to select that option before clicking “done.”
It’s confusing because sometimes the menu takes several seconds to appear. Even once I figured it out I kept absent mindedly making the mistake of typing in the name of a plant, then clicking “done” before the menu appeared. Nothing would happen, and I would think “Oh, right. . .” and have to start over. I’m much better with nature than technology!
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Whimper - on my third laptop (burnt out 2 for iNat) and Windows 11. Now I am painfully slow as I do everything 3 times. Muscle memory no longer achieves what it used to.
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Firstly thank you for trying to identify! Any level you are confident in identifying is helpful, even just “Plants”, “Animals”, “Fungi” helps move things along if you are starting with unknowns. If you are totally new to the platform you might want to take a look at the relevant help articles.
And a nice video on identifying that was recently recorded is here: https://youtu.be/ln2z-9x2nmA
They specifically show an example of going through unknown observations at the 32 minute mark.
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