chrisvanswaay
commented
1 year ago @DavidRoy Yes, I fear it will have to be regionalised. E.g. Melitaea athalia is easy in NL and UK, as it's the only species of its group, but in S Germany you can also get M parthenoides, M aurelia and M britomartis, and then it's a completely different story. So in the UK and NL this is easy, but not so in other parts of Europe. Not sure how to regionalise this efficiently, as it could be a lot of work.
DavidRoy
extending #511
Create a score for each species as to identification difficulty/evidence required to verify. This can help with auto-verifying observations (i.e. for 'easy' to id species in known range and within flight periods).
UK scoring system is: Grade 1: Species that can be relatively easily identified even by inexperienced recorders with the use of up-to-date field guides. Such records would be accepted without the need for additional evidence as long as they conform to the normal flight period and geographical range of the species. Grade 2: Species where care is needed for identification. Should not present any difficulty for experienced recorders, but inexperienced recorders may be expected to provide additional evidence in the form of photographs of reasonable quality that show as many of the identification features as possible or, alternatively, a specimen. Even experienced recorders may be expected to provide additional evidence if the record is outside of the normal flight period or geographical range of the species. Grade 3: Species that are difficult to identify. Even experienced recorders may be expected to provide additional evidence, for example a specimen, particularly if the record is outside of the normal flight period or geographical range of the species. Grade 4: Species that can only be identified following critical assessment, often involving dissection and examination of genitalia. A specimen should be retained for confirmation.
@chrisvanswaay do you think we could create something like for the European species and would it need to be regionalised?