Werde als Citizen Scientist in iNaturalist aktiv

It is good, when the pictures are not too blurry. Make sure that the most parts of the insects are visible. As mentioned above, take pictures from different perspectives. It is easier to identify species, when many different features are visible. You can also crop pictures.

Sometimes the first “identification” is wrong. That is not a problem. Experienced members of the community will provide their opinion and suggest another (hopefully better) identification. Many insect species or groups are hard to identify based on pictures, so mistakes will happen.

You decide where you take your pictures of insects. It is interesting to see, what you can find in your direct surroundings. When you take actions to create “insect-friendly” places, you can see which insects you attract. It can also be interesting to explore and compare places. Think about insects’ needs – that gives you a hint for finding or attracting them

You need to upload the picture as a separate “observation” for each species. You can crop the picture or make a remark in which species you are interested.

Do not wait for a long time to make “the” perfect shot, because then the insect probably flies away. You can use zoom to take pictures from distance and then get closer to take more pictures.

Yes, you can. You just do not add it to the Actions for Insects project. When you have a plant that attracts many insects, you can use iNaturalist to learn about this species. If you are unsure, if you saw an insect or not, upload it in the project –experts in iNaturalist will find out. iNaturalist is an “outdoor” app, so do not upload pictures from indoor plants or pets. When you take pictures of something intentionally grown, choose “Det är i fångenksap eller odlat”.

You do not need to be afraid. Most insects cannot sting. Even insects that can sting will not do so, if you take pictures from some distance and do not disturb it too much or get too close to the nest.

Click on the pictures in your own collection, to learn more about your observed organisms. iNaturalist provides a lot of information. You can find the observations of others in our “Actions for Insects” project. You can learn about their observations, mark them as favorites or leave a positive comment! This can support and motivate others! Do not leave negative or offensive comments.

Yes, you should. First, be proud of yourself that you already can recognize some species! Our aim in the project is to collect information about all species and to find out, which the most common ones in our observations are and when they occur. Therefore, take pictures of whatever insect you can find

“Research grade” observations meet the “highest” observation standards. To achieve “research grade”, you need to provide sufficient information about place and time, and the iNaturalist experts must agree on a species. Some of our observations will not achieve this grade, because many insect species are hard (or even impossible) to identify from a picture. That is why many professional observations use traps to collect insects and identify them. So if you do not achieve a research grade, do not be frustrated. It could mean that you found something challenging.

Yes, you can. When you forgot some information (e.g. place; add it to project), you can add this information at a later point. BUT: Every observation is stored and visible to others in iNaturalist. Do not upload pictures of persons or of non-biological things, otherwise you might be blocked from iNaturalist.