Serious first, fun second

[Robert Kriegel]

Clay,

In your birder's response to Ron you wrote, "I also reiterate my earlier
comment that there are more than a few incorrectly identified pinned insect
specimens as well as
bird specimens in museums".

Yes, but those incorrect identifications can be corrected, even if the
taxonomy changes.  An erroneous visual ID will always be hearsay.  Score
one for independent verification : )

By necessity, insect collections whether they be personal or institutional,
are always in the act of becoming -- becoming prepared, becoming labeled,
becoming identified, becoming curated and most recently, becoming
databased.  One of the things I truly enjoy about aggregations of
lepidopterists is that whenever they get together they help each other
identify their material.  One of the differences between experts and
non-experts is that an expert knows when they cannot positively identify a
specimen themselves and who is the best expert to send it to to get a
positive ID.  Some experts can even tell you at a glance that they have
seen that species before but it hasn't been described yet.

So many bugs, so little time!

Bob Kriegel
Bath, MI

 
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