Dates and Data Tab

One proposal mentioned in an earlier forum

(we would have to do some searching to find it) is to change the adult/immature fields to egg/larva or nymph/pupa/adult fields and fill them in for all images. Then adjust the data mapping tab to account for that in some way. That way you could map when and where a certain butterfly chrysalis has been imaged or when the nymphs of something has been found. Might have to have yet another category for overwintering queens or some such too. Not sure what that would mean for a cicada or dragonfly nymph that might spend years in that stage since they could theoretically be found in any month as a nymph, but...

There was some concern about the backlog of 150000 or so images which would need to be updated. We don't share that concern. They wouldn't have to be updated instantaneously. It could happen over a winter cycle when we're trapped indoors. Each editor could take an insect group and slowly work through them. It also doesn't take opening every image to see what has been done and what hasn't.

We are currently in charge of seeing to it that every Lepidoptera is checked as adult or immature. Troy and John have created a shortcut that lists the thumbnails of all images that don't have one of those fields checked. We don't have to search for them and we don't have to open them. We just check adult or immature next to the thumbnail and poof! the software takes care of it! We're certain that the same batch fix could be created for any insect group. All those currently checked adult would be fine. One would only have to check those marked immature (if new categories of being immature were designed) or those currently blank.
It takes us about thirty seconds every other day or so to keep the Lepidoptera up to date.

… john and jane balaban, 29 December, 2007 - 11:36am

Upload checking

I think the system forces anything entered as Lepidoptera to have adult or immature checked. I got an error message once when I forgot. Are you only fixing those that entered via ID Request?

… John F. Carr, 31 December, 2007 - 2:20pm

Yes, if you post to lepidoptera

the software will not allow you to post your image unless either adult or immature has been checked. If you post to ID Request, no such requirement exists. The image can then be tagged and moved to Lepidoptera without triggering the software catch. Only if someone tries to edit the node will the software once again realize they are trying to post to Lepidoptera without one of the two boxes checked and an error message will occur. We update all the images moved from ID Request to Lepidoptera without having the boxes checked.

… john and jane balaban, 31 December, 2007 - 2:42pm

True Activity

It seems that it would be nice to have something along the lines of egg, larva, pupa, and adult designations. And then maybe an "overwintering" checkbox to account for larvae and adults that were dug up and photographed out of their normal activity cycles (or just don't include dates for them). I think that an insect that shows short-term activity during warm winter days may be meaningful on the data tab. But showing "activity" for an adult or larva that hibernates, is dug up, and photgraphed outside their normal activity cycle seems about as meaningful as one that is raised indoors. (Just my opinion)
I guess I believe we should not include dates for those images (other than in the comments) without an "overwintering" checkbox.

I was just curious what others think, or what the policy is?

… John R. Maxwell, 29 December, 2007 - 12:17pm

John

I agree, partially, with what you're saying. You're right that if I dig up or tear off bark or turn rocks over to hunt down critters then the data tab doesn't give an accurate representation of normal activity and I agree with you that there should be some way, check box or something, to indicate that they were hibernating and then somehow translate that to the data map. Maybe with a different colored "dot" or something. If the data map ever becomes interactive, see here http://bugguide.net/node/view/155738, then this could play a more specific role.
In my research for the overwintering article I've learned that if the climate fluctuates then critters will come out of dormancy and roam around then when it gets colder again they go dormant again. It's not good for them when this happens but it does happen. So, I guess then you have to decide what the definition of "normal activity" is. If a critter was dormant and would have remained so if the climate were stable but came out of dormancy due to a warm spell and someone takes a pic of it and posts it, does that make the "data" less accurate ? I think it's all up to interpretation. If a critter is roaming/flying around then isn't that "normal activity", even though it may have just been dormant two days ago ?
On the other hand, if I actively go hunt down critters under rocks, bark, leaf litter, holes in the ground, where ever then yes, I agree that some form of notation should be available to indicate that these critters were dormant at the time of taking the pic and it should somehow show up on the data map. If I look at the data map, or a map or data in a guide book, I want to see when I can expect to see a critter out-and-about. But, if the data tab/map shows a critter is running around all year because some of the data is overwintering data then it is giving a false-positive and incorrect information.

… Sam Houston, 31 December, 2007 - 8:59am