Use of species complexes in iNaturalist and the leveling off of species observed in iNat

@claudioflamigni Can we create a Parasa pastoralis complex like we did with Euclea cippus and Natada fusca? I do think that we will have many of these complexes on iNaturalist until specimens can be obtained from matching locations. This is why I use the "Faux Specimens" method (see: https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/marcepstein) and the reason that the species total of Limacodidae on iNaturalist is leveling off to near 500. In specimen based research we are getting close to 1900 known species of Limacodidae, but many cannot be differentiated from photographs. In the meantime, if "species complex" is the closest level of confidence, we should use it. That way we have book marked these observations for future revisions where we can confidently match species with observations. Otherwise, placement in a genus or subfamily can hide these examples.

Perhaps we can assign "morpho species #s" to some of the unknown caterpillars or moths as a way to associate them in ways other than linking observations, or perhaps there is already a way to do this?

@hkmoths @alexey_solovyev @limacodidae @ivijayanand @lbmicheels @tannermatson @kyhlaustin @gafischer @suncana @k8thegr8

Posted on 09 August, 2021 16:21 by marcepstein