Recording Insects

[Anzu]

I have seen a lot of comments on this website about recording insect species you find, is this something only certain people can do and if not how do you go about doing it yourself?

Thanks!

[Paul mabbott]

There was a lengthy, detailed thread on Biological Recording some weeks back, would be worth finding. Basically, there are recorders nationally and locally who welcome records of invertebrates but any records submitted must be reliable so it's usual to have them verified by an expert. Probably the best way to learn about this is to join your local natural history or entomology society.

[Anzu]

Cool Thank you Paul

[RoyW]

Recording of insects (or any other type of wildlife) can be done by anyone who is interested enough and has at least some competence in identification. In some cases regional recorders will even be interested in recieving records from people who are not certain of the identification if photographs or specimens are available.

The best thing to do is to find out who the recorders for insect groups that you are interested in are and then get in touch to ask them what type of records they are interested in. For instance, as the dragonfly recorder for Hertfordshire, I am obviously interested in recieving records from anyone who is confident in their identifications (but even then I may ask if they are able to supply photographs or written descriptions to support claims of rare species). The most basic information needed for any such records is: species, date, location (preferably at least a six figure grid reference, although less precise locations may also be of interest), and observers name, with any additional information such as numbers, habitats, confirmation of breeding etc making a record even more valuable.
You would need to be prepared to provide supporting evidence for some records (including specimens from which the ID can be checked in some cases), so you would need to be prepared for some records to be rejected if you can't/don't want to provide this, or if the identification proves to be incorrect - this is to ensure that "official" databases only contain accurate information.

If you do not feel entirely confident in your IDs do not let this put you off sending in records. Get in touch with regional recorders anyway, and ask them what type of records they would like to recieve. Most recorders will be happy to help you to improve your ID skills, especially if you make it clear that you will contribute records (although you need to remember that they are almost always volunteers so the amount of correspondance they may wish to get involved with will have a limit). If you are not confident about your IDs it is always best to make let the recorder know from the start and they will then treat records that you send in accordingly - this might mean that they are more likely to ask you to support your identifications, but that will generally help you to learn as well as helping to keep the records accurate.

[Anzu]

Thanks Roy for your detailed reply that all sounds really interesting, I always try to photograph my insects from all angles and I always take note of the date and location. The species that I can't identify by photos alone I just note the genus. I shall attempt to find the recorders in my area.

[Geoff F]

County recorders seem to vary quite a bit in their accessibility and willingness to accept records from the general public. The best are very good and the worst are virtually untraceable.

If you live in one of the good areas, ask exactly what they want and how they prefer to receive the information. Some will want all identifiable species while others prefer to only have the less common species.

There are a number of specific species on line sites which also want records sent in to them. But as previously mentioned, the identification must be correct.

For example, the Hoverfly Recording Scheme; but there are many others whose addresses appear on this site from time to time.

http://www.hoverfly.org.uk/portal.php