Diario de matthew_connors

In case you hadn't noticed, I have had a VERY busy year this year with Honours and several papers in the works, so unfortunately my iNat time has been severely limited. I just haven't had time for the thousands of bulk IDs that I used to do, and I barely even have time to work on my own sightings. Hopefully I'll get some more free time next year, but in the meantime this seems like what my life will mostly be like, alas!

So anyway, instead of doing all those 'bulk IDs' which are mostly just confirming what other people have already suggested, I figured that my time is much better spent sorting out taxonomic problems and systemic misidentifications - things that have gone overlooked and unnoticed because we've all just assumed that the first IDs were correct.

Sometimes it really is the way that it looks - for example, Phyllocharis cyanicornis really is super widespread and very variable, and Pristhesancus plagipennis is also by far the most common species in its genus. Laccotrephes tristis, Tectocoris diophthalmus, Pogonortalis doclea, etc., etc., all these species really are common and widespread.

But this isn't always the case, and sometimes there are just huge problems with identifications. Whether it's because two species are virtually identical, or because nobody has looked at closely-related species, or simply because a species has been misidentified over and over again, sometimes even in the primary literature, photographs and sightings of some species just get misidentified everywhere.

But time and time again, the iNaturalist community has grabbed a hold of these problems and has done a very good job in fixing them! The two that come to mind that I had a hand in are Trichonephila plumipes and T. edulis, and of course the horrible mess of Argiope keyserlingi and A. aetherea. We have lots of identifiers now who are excellent at differentiating the two Trichonephila species, and although the Argiope are much more difficult, the community at least knows that it's not a simple ID. I think that's the key here - not necessarily being able to ID them, but knowing that an ID to species will be difficult, or sometimes impossible.

So what have I been doing about all this? Quite a bit in fact! Recently, I've begun investigating some of my older IDs and just double-checking to make sure that they are what everyone says they are. Because if a species has hundreds and hundreds of IDs and looks pretty much identical to something you've photographed, then surely it's the same species.... right? Admit it, we all do this. And often times it's true - I was so pleased to find out that pretty much everything on the east coast really is Pogonortalis doclea.

Buuuuuut other times of course, we run into problems, where something has been misidentified over and over again, or has been 'overzealously' identified when you realistically need a microscope or something similar. Often times people just don't even realise that there are similar species.

What are to do about all these problems? Never fear, for I have compiled a list of things that need to be done! Some of these problematic species have hundreds and hundreds of identifications, so it's just not feasible for me to go through and fix every one of them myself with my limited time. But the iNat community is FANTASTIC for doing this sort of thing, so I thought I'd post them all here in the hopes that people will start fixing some of these problems if they have the time.

The great part is that usually all it takes is a quick explanation (a link to my explanatory comments/sighting is probably good), and then other users will hopefully go and fix up their own sightings and maybe a couple of others too. I reckon we could do these in no time at all really!

To help you out, I've split them into three categories of increasing effort/difficulty, which are explained below. The most important thing before you start fixing any of these though, is to make sure that you understand why you're making the ID, and that you agree with it. If you're just IDing something because I told you to do it, then we'll wind up right back where we started! So please make sure you read all of the comments on the sightings that I've linked below (yes, especially the goanna (...okay, you don't have to read the earwig paper)), and that you understand and agree with the reasoning. That way you'll also have a much easier time explaining to other people why these need to be changed.

I'm hoping that most users will understand the changes, but if anyone is being stubborn :P please feel free to tag me and I'll add my ID. Here's the list of problems with a concise description of what needs to be done:

Category I - things that just need an ID only with little to no thought

• Australian sightings of Runcinia acuminata should all be moved to R. insecta, or at least reverted back to genus unless genitalia have been inspected; see comments here.
• Australian sightings of Hormurus waigiensis should all be reverted back to genus, as the species was recorded here in error and the majority of Australian sightings represent undescribed species. See comments here.
• Australian sightings of Varanus similis (and those stuck at complex level) should all be moved to V. scalaris until the taxonomy is better resolved; see comments here.
• Chtonobdella limbata seems to be a name applied to several different species and without strong evidence that any species can even be identified by pattern alone, the sightings should be reverted back to Haemadipsidae. See comments here.
• All Australian sightings of Labidura riparia need to be moved to L. truncata; see this paper.
• Australian Dolophones sightings should be reverted to genus unless there is an indication that the genitalia were inspected, especially for individuals without a turret. See comments here.
• All Australian Austrosciapus sightings should be reverted to genus; see comments here.
• All non-Lestis Xylocopa sightings should be reverted to subgenus Maiella (NOT Koptortosoma) unless an indication has been given of how the ID has been made, and all the Koptortosoma sightings need to be changed to Maiella. See comments here.

Category II - things that can be identified based on location (sometimes), with little to no other thought

• Most Australian Deinopis subrufa sightings should be moved back to genus level. The name has become a 'catch-all' for a genus that has not received any recent taxonomic work. IDs should be tentative unless genitalia have been inspected, and even then the group probably needs a revision; see comments here.
• Backobourkia are for the most part impossible to ID without inspecting the genitalia (patterns are NOT reliable and are very variable), although there are some useful differences in distribution that can be used. Most sightings should be reverted back to genus, except in areas where only a single species is found. See comments here.
• Almost all Australian sightings of Siphanta acuta should be reverted to genus; see comments here.
• Australian Tetragonula cannot be identified from most photos, and need to be reverted back to genus. See comments here.

Category III - things that need a little to a lot of scrutiny to distinguish (if you want to help out but aren't confident in IDing these, feel free to just revert them back to a higher taxonomic level and link to my explanatory sighting!) (they're roughly sorted by difficulty)

• Australian Teleogryllus sightings need to be sorted, especially seeing as T. oceanicus is almost universally misidentified as T. commodus. The two species have very different ranges and are not too difficult to tell apart with a good photo; see comments here.
• Sightings of Pogonortalis doclea from Western Australia should be reviewed to check for P. commoni; see comments here and this paper.
• Almost all observations of Nicodamus peregrinus need to be corrected; see comments here.
• Most older Ptilocnemus sightings seem to have been identified without close inspection of the key features. They are not difficult to distinguish but all the sightings should be reviewed (and checked for Ptilocerus sightings) with reference to the key features. See comments here.
• Most if not all Australian Paratya australiensis sightings should be reverted back to genus; see comments here.
• Cybister tripunctatus observations should be inspected to make sure that they are not other members of the genus, or Onychohydrus, especially in the north of the continent. Frequently an underside shot and/or measurement is needed. See comments here.
• Most Australian Platybrachys are not really Platybrachys and should be reverted back to tribe or even subfamily. Species IDs should also be treated with suspicion if no justification is provided. See comments here.
• With the recent revision of Hortophora, most species cannot be identified without very good photographs and should be reverted back to genus. Most sightings were IDed as H. transmarina or H. biapicata in the past, and now that many more species have been described these old IDs are not accurate. See comments here; note also that a taxon for the H. biapicata/H. transmarina complex exists for when these species cannot be separated.
• Most sightings of Austroscolia soror should be moved back to genus level, although some can be IDed based on biogeography and some photos will be good enough to distinguish the species. See comments here.
• Australian Glycyphana stolata sightings need to be reviewed as the name has seemingly been applied to several species. See comments here.

So if you're keen to help out, please do! Even if you just make a couple of IDs here and there, it all makes a difference and hopefully it won't take too long to go through these. I have a couple more things I need to investigate, so I'll try to add them here when I get to them (I'm looking at you, Melangyna viridiceps). In the meantime though, get to work!

I'll tag some potentially interested parties and people who may be able to make a start on fixing some of this up, but if you guys know anyone else who might be able to help then please please pleeeease tag them in the comments!

@thebeachcomber @reiner @nicklambert @cesdamess @benkurek__ @aidan_08 @bushbandit @grisper1 @twan3253 @beaniana08 @dustaway @zoologistmitch @dabugboi @louisb @suzieandjim @coddiwompler