Don’t we want people to know where to find them and record them? I can understand that some people will collect caterpillars. But, don’t we want to know where they gather and where conservation efforts like planting fields of native plants are successful? My observations of this species are scattered all over my area. I would like to hear thoughts about this.
(There was a discussion from 2019 similar to this regarding species in Ontario. But, I thought it was worth bringing up again.)
I’ve updated the title to reflect that the species is only obscured in Ohio on iNat. This kind of question is best posed within a flag on the taxon directly, but I note that it seems like this Ohio status was added just 2 months ago, so my best guess would be the obscuration isn’t necessarily intentional, but perhaps that curator just leaving the default on (when a status is first created for a species on iNat, the obscuration is set to obscured by default, and you have to change that dropdown manually)
Monarch butterflies are a “species of concern” in Ohio. Therefore records are being obscured automatically. It’s not listed as Endangered or Threatened and the adults are mobile, so I think this obscuration may not be a good idea. People working with Monarchs in Ohio are in a better position than I am to know of the need, though.
It must be automated based on status, but I agree it’s not a good use of obscuration. Monarchs are ubiquitous- they’re the most observed Lepidoptera in Ohio by a lot (nearly double the observations of the species in second place). I live next door in Pennsylvania and personally I can’t go out for a day and not see monarchs when the time of year is right. I can’t imagine anyone using inat data to track down where the monarchs are for nefarious purposes, as whatever place they choose to go to, they’re likely to see monarchs flying across the road before they even get there. The threats to monarchs come in the form of habitat loss and certain agricultural practices; individuals capturing and killing them / removing them from the environment falls somewhere below car strikes, getting caught in invasive spiders’ webs, and being trampled on by geese as a threat to the monarch population.
If you go to the taxon’s history, you can see who added/updated the status and either flag the taxon and @-mention them, or message them directly and ask about it.
Thanks. I didn’t know they were only obscured in Ohio.
You can add a flag to remove the obscure feature. Not all Ohio listed species are obscured, and I don’t see any reason why this is needed.