What exactly is the issue with this submission/photos that they have been "frassed"? Photo quality or ? Thanks-

Altica is a tough genus to ID, so bright photos increase the chances of a species level ID. There are also 25 pages of Altica sp., so it's very well represented in the guide. We appreciate your bug hunting though, so keep up the great work!

Thanks for the explanation. I guess I'm still a little confused about the logic/methodology of the Guide though. If I search for Altica in Nebraska, I see only 11 adult listings, only 2-3 of which look anything close to mine; the rest are easily distinguishable despite my poor photo quality. The photo quality of this observation (https://bugguide.net/node/view/667264) doesn't seem considerably better than mine...somewhat brighter.

When I'm deciding whether to upload specific specimens/photos, I usually do an Advanced Search of Nebraska and contiguous states; if I'm getting lots of examples in the Guide already, I'll usually pass. But if only a few (particularly from the specific location I made the observation in), I'll usually submit since I was assuming they would still be useful/valuable due to the lack of observations.

Am I misunderstanding the purpose of the Guide? 'Not trying to argue or quibble here...just trying to make sure I understand what BugGuide is really wanting so I don't waste anyone's time :)

Colin

I admit that there's nothing set in stone for methodology. To an extent it's up to the discretion of the editors and we've had quite a bit of discussion on that topic as well amongst ourselves to set up something mostly uniform. But in the end, all the editors are human and we all operate slightly differently.

Tell you what, I'll absolutely admit to alticines not being one of my stronger groups, so I'll move it back and we'll see what others say. I can't guarantee where it'll get moved, but this'll at least give it time to have more eyes put on it.

Even if you're in doubt, submit away. Worst comes to worst the pic will get frassed, otherwise it'll get incorporated somewhere. All the editors volunteered for it because we enjoy it, so it's not a waste of time. Same to the people who take the time to comment on things. We're (as in everyone) always trying to make the guide the best it can be, so the more input the better.

Hey thank you for sharing your view on this, I understand what you are saying. BugGuide seems like a great community and I'm a newbie, so I want to make sure I'm using everyone's time effectively and as intended :)