Flag for Taxon: Southern House Mosquito (Culex quinquefasciatus)
| Flagger | Content Author | Content | Reason | Flag Created | Resolved by | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sbushes | Southern House Mosquito (Culex quinquefasciatus) |
a lot of misidentification in Europe - circa 100 records - but not a European species I think (?) ...at least all UK records I fixed were mainly just blurry blobs on walls...and GBIF has little or no records in Europe (5 of the 6 are from iNaturalist) |
Jan. 30, 2021 00:06:29 +0000 | Not Resolved |
Comments
Unfortunately it has to be one-by-one, no fell swoop options. Here's are some handy links in case anyone else wants to help out:
Help ID all observations currently IDed as C. quinquefasciatus: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?taxon_id=155309
Help ID obs outside of its core distribution area: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?geoprivacy=open,obscured¬_in_place=6681,6744,6783,6873,6878,6903,6966,7042,7094,7182,7359,7512,7613,7887,8206,9,18,21,27,40,829,917,962,1528,2738,6793,6803,6924,7003&quality_grade=research,needs_id&taxon_id=155309
Help refine existing corrections (or mark as community taxon can't be improved, if applicable): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?ident_taxon_id=155309&lrank=genus
fyi @treegrow @ospr3y @vkord @james_stewart @odhentomologist
Seems likely that these are all errors, but worth noting that quinquefasciatus has been recorded from Greece (https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/86848) and using DNA there are records of pipiens/quinquefasciatus hybrids elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
ok, good to know, thanks @rjq @bouteloua
I try to correct these as I go, but it takes a long time to sort through all the observations. The iNat ID engine automatically suggests Cx. quinquefasciatus on most nondescript mosquitoes, when in reality only a handful of observations of this species are confirmable due to the nature of identification (patterning on abdominal terga).
Thanks for the flag and mention. It'd be great if we can clear up the clutter. If you're unsure about ID, it's safe to suggest Culicinae for female mosquitoes with short palps. otherwise Culicidae taxon level is fine.
@cbelle1 @megsquitophd @andrewrivera see above. If you see any mosquitoes identified as Cx. quinque that can't be confirmed, bring it to a more generic taxon level. Maybe we can fix the ID engine...
Longer term, this would help, I think! :
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/in-cases-where-the-cv-is-not-pretty-sure-of-anything-offer-a-suggestion-of-a-higher-taxa/14781/4
Pulled back the 5-10 Research Grade European ones at least so not polluting GBIF :) ....180 or so European records in total though, so better to pull back to family or something in one fell swoop I think, if possible