Ian Swift sez
I had a beetle ID confirmed by Ian today. I so appreciate the contributions highly qualified people like Ian make to help make the data more accurate and reliable. I often will view the profiles of someone helping me with an ID. Ian's last profile paragraph was of particular significance for what I love most about iNatualist. This is why I am sharing it with my fellow project members.
Ian Swift @ianswift
Joined: Nov 30, 2017 Last Active: Apr 07, 2021 iNaturalist
I am a biologist specializing in the systematics and ecology of beetles, primarily the families Cerambycidae and Pleocomidae.
Soy biólogo especializado en sistemática y ecología de escarabajos, principalmente las familias Cerambycidae y Pleocomidae.
I would like to point out a few things to observers:
-As a taxonomist, I deal primarily with specimens; having a specimen in hand allows one to make a positive identification. A photo of a specimen is less ideal and more difficult to identify, but frequently an ID is possible. All my IDs are tentative since they're based on iNat photos; if you want a 100% ID, then a specimen is necessary.
-Given the tens of thousands of cerambycid pix on iNat (not to mention other sites), my ID strategy is basically triage. I go through them quickly in order to assist the iNat community and further contribute to biodiversity data banking. As a result, I have to spend my time on iNat wisely. If you make a comment on an ID asking "how are you distinguishing species X from species Y?", frequently (not always) you probably won't get a response. There simply isn't enough time to get through the thousands of observations and answer everyone's questions, my apologies up front. There are several helpful guides for 'bycid ID online and books via Amazon, etc. If you really have a question you'd like me to clear up, please message me. Also, I make mistakes in IDs all the time, so please also message me if you think I have.
-Lastly, iNat is becoming a powerful tool for scientists and many casual users don't realize this. As such, I take observations that are designated "Research Grade" very seriously (they are uploaded to many biodiversity data portals which scientists use for their research). Please observe carefully. Make sure the data behind the observation are as accurate as possible; this includes location, date, and any other data you indicate. More data are helpful: host plants, habitat type, etc. are all crucial to know about the species you observe.
Enjoy nature and happy observing
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