Internet Sites to Aid Species Identification

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SteveMcBill
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Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:15 am
Location: Runcorn, Cheshire
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Internet Sites to Aid Species Identification

Post by SteveMcBill »

Photographs cannot always be used to identify organisms found in the field BUT they can be useful in some situations. Provided below are a few Internet sites which may help you to track down that elusive identification. However, use these with care. If in doubt do not accept the identification and try to have it verified either by an expert in the particular taxon group or by taking a specimen for further investigation.

Sites:

Leaf Mines UK - http://www.leafmines.co.uk/
Leaf and Stem Mines of British Flies and Other Insects
- http://www.ukflymines.co.uk/
Dutch Leaf-miners - http://www.bladmineerders.nl/index.htm
Tachinid Recording Scheme - http://tachinidae.org.uk/site/index.php
The Coleopterist (Beetles) - http://www.coleopterist.org.uk/
British-Shield-Bugs - http://www.ukwildlife.bravehost.com/art ... dbugs.html
UK Wildflowers - http://www.ukwildflowers.com/
British Wild Flowers - http://www.british-wild-flowers.co.uk/
British Isles Wild Plants -
http://www.amanita-photolibrary.co.uk/p ... /index.htm
Bees, Wasps and Ants - http://www.bwars.com/
Plant Pests & Diseases - http://www.crocus.co.uk/pestsanddiseases/
Heteroptera News - http://www.hetnews.org.uk/

For checking species names and synonymy you can use the NBN Species Dictionary which is searchable on-line on the Natural History Museum website at:

NBN Species Dictionary - http://nbn.nhm.ac.uk/nhm/bin/nbntaxa.dl ... h?st=basic

If anyone else has specific websites on the Net which they find useful in terms of species identification or other aspects of biological recording it would be useful to all members if they could post the URLs/addresses here.

Many thanks

Steve :)
John_Bratton
Posts: 34
Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2008 4:05 pm

Re: Internet Sites to Aid Species Identification

Post by John_Bratton »

One of the best has to be

http://diptera.info/

and not just for flies. If your pictures are good enough, you can have your fly identified by world experts. There is an ever-expanding gallery of fly pictures. And many of the regular contributors are generalists so there is a good chance of getting beetles, sawflies, even Psocoptera identified.

John Bratton
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