Record types #

The form has two independent choices. Under Entry type, choose Record or Note. For a record, under Source, choose Nature or Breeding. The source determines the meaning of dates and later publication to iNaturalist, while the entry type determines whether you are saving a full record or an auxiliary note.

Record and Note — differences and requirements #

A Note is not an entry without a place. Its GPS identifies the point of the event, and its date is the event date or the current date when no other date is supplied. It is still a record, but a second record type. The type allows Notes to be deliberately filtered and shown separately where a view requires it, for example as Species notes; it does not automatically remove them from every list or report.

Nature #

Nature means a normal field observation of an organism. It is the default type for a record with a photo of an insect that was observed or collected at the location and time given in the record.

For the Nature type:

• the record date means the observation date,
• the record GPS means the observation location,
• the site can be matched automatically by GPS and radius,
• publication to iNaturalist uses the record date as the Observed date,
• the record should have a species or other taxon if it is going to be published to iNaturalist.

Choose this type for standard field records: an insect on a plant, a specimen at light, a specimen from a trap, or an observation from a photo taken in the field.

Breeding #

Breeding means a record where the specimen was obtained from material collected in the field, for example a larva, a gall, wood, a host plant or other breeding material.

For breeding you need to distinguish two dates:

• the record date can mean the date the specimen was obtained,
• the observation date sent to iNaturalist should mean the date the material was collected in the field.

That is why, for the Breeding type, ENTOMONE uses the site visit date or the material collection date first when publishing to iNaturalist. Only if that information is missing does it fall back to the record date.

The iNaturalist comment for breeding has a simple format:

ex <plant>

Example:

ex Quercus robur

The plant should come from the plant dictionary, if known. More details are described in iNat breeding comment.

Note #

Note is a quick auxiliary entry anchored in time and place. It requires content, a date and a valid GPS point, but can be saved without species, a photo or a site. It is used to save information that can later help with working on records, a site or a species.

A note can contain, for example, information about field conditions, an observation without a photo, a plan to return to a site, or a remark about a group of records. In Note mode, the notes field becomes the main content of the record.

Details are described in Field notes.

How to choose the entry type and source #

Choose Record when you are saving an observation or specimen data, then select Nature for a normal field observation or Breeding for material collected in the field and a specimen obtained later. Choose Note if you want to save auxiliary information without a full observation record.

What can be changed later #

The entry type and source are part of the data description, so it is worth choosing both correctly right away. If you make a mistake when saving, open the record for editing and correct them together with the dependent fields: date, plant, site, locality and notes.

When changing the source from Nature to Breeding, check in particular the site visit date or the material collection date. That is the date that may be sent to iNaturalist as the observation date. When changing the entry type to Note, make sure the notes explain what needs to be remembered.

Record type and iNaturalist #

iNaturalist accepts an observation of an organism at a location and time. For plain Nature, the mapping is simple: the record date and GPS become the observation date and location. For Breeding, ENTOMONE protects the biological meaning of the data and does not automatically send the date the specimen was obtained as the observation date, if the material collection date is known.

Note is not a normal candidate for publication to iNaturalist. It can, however, help prepare later records, for example as a description of conditions at a site or a reminder about material to identify.

Related topics #

• Full form
• Record fields
• Field notes
• iNat breeding comment