Getting a species article to Good Article status

What are the criteria for a good article?

1. It is well written
2. Information is accurate and verifiable
3. It is broad in its coverage of the topic
4. It is neutral
5. The article doesn’t change significantly day to day
6. If possible, it has images

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Can any species become a good article?

• In principle: yes

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• However, its not practical to do this for every species as most have almost nothing known about them

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• Personally, I only bother if there are at least five research articles about the species

Article structure

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• Taxonomy

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• Description

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• Distribution and habitat

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• Conservation status

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• Life history

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• Diet

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• Behaviour

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• Ecology

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• Pollination

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• Predators and parasites

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• In culture

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• Physiology

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Speciesbox images: Hunched-back fly

• It is absolutely vital to have a nice image of the species

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• Photos should be in focus, show as much of the body as possible and be clearly defined against the background

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• The best place to get images is from iNaturalist

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Speciesbox images: Hunched-back fly

• My preferred way to get images off iNat is to use the website “wikilovesinat.netlify.app”

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• All you need is go to the species page and get its number ID

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Speciesbox images: Hunched-back fly

Speciesbox images: Hunched-back fly

Some less useful speciesbox images.….

Some good speciesbox images……

Taxonomy: Ant nest stag beetle

• Taxonomy is the scientific naming and classifying of a species

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• Species have often been called different names throughout their history for various reasons

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• A previous name is referred to as a “synonym”

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Taxonomy: Ant nest stag beetle

• The first part of a taxonomic section should be structured like you’re describing a chronological history

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• Species revision papers often summarise this as a list that you can use

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• Synonyms should be listed in the taxobox

Taxonomy: Ant nest stag beetle

• Synonym lists can often become quite bulky

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• One way to retain large synonym lists without compromising article tidiness is to make the list collapsible

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Taxonomy: Ant nest stag beetle

• The specimen used to describe a species is referred to as a “type” specimen

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• It is fantastic to describe which collection the type specimen is stored in

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• Some NZ museums allow you to search their database

Description: Katipō

• Adequately describing a species is easier said than done

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• I usually use a scientific source and a more general source (ie book)

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• The general source is to describe the overall appearance whereas the scientific source is to get the technical details

Description: Katipō

• As a starting point, I try to record the average size and the overall colours

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• Then move on to the more specific and technical details

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• Scientific descriptions are hard to read and its unclear what's important. It helps to have a labelled diagram of the species

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• It’s vital to explain what technical terms mean in text

Description: Katipō

• It’s important to note that adults may vary in appearance

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• You should also try to describe juvenile forms where possible

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• You could even try describing the eggs!

Description: Katipō

• One useful template is “convert”

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• Personally I don’t see the point, but other users like to have unit conversions

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• Needs to be applied consistently!

Distribution and habitat: Alpine scree wētā

• The title here is pretty self explanatory….

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• Describe the extent of the area it is found, giving northern and southern most limits

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• Habitat can usually be its own subsection. This can cover things like altitude, vegetation, moisture etc

Distribution and habitat: Alpine scree wētā

• It’s great to get a photo of them in their native habitat

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• If the distribution is well known, it is fantastic to include a map

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• This is pretty simple to make in Photoshop (or Photopea)

Distribution map: Kōura

• NZ has two species of Kōura

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• Mapping distributions requires a high amount of confidence in their distribution records

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• I’ve used a mix of iNaturalist and published records

Distribution map: Kōura

• Two images needed

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• File:Map of New Zealand (blank).svg

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• A screenshot of the distribution on iNaturalist

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• Open both in Photopea

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Distribution map: Kōura

• And now you have a simple distribution map

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• Speciesbox has a dedicated field you can put these in

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• When uploading to commons, you should include details about how you made it

Conservation status:

• Describe threats, management and status

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• Threat: The only host of this species is declining due to mammal predators

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• Management: DoC has numerous programs for their host

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• Status: Listed as “Declining”

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NZ Bat fly

Conservation status: NZ Bat fly

• New Zealand is very good at giving things threat classifications

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• These are searchable at https://nztcs.org.nz/home

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• They can be added to the taxobox

Conservation status: NZ Bat fly

Conservation status: NZ Bat fly

• To add the classification to the taxobox add “NZTCS” to the “Conservation status system” field

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• Then in the “Conservation status” field you can add the classification

Life history: Intertidal spider

• This discusses their life cycle

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• When do they lay their eggs? How long do they take to mature? When do they mate?

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• The intertidal spider lives in the intertidal zone of rocky shores

Life history: Intertidal spider

• They make nests on the underside of kelp holdfasts and reproduce yearly

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• In these retreats, the female lays eggs , which takes two months to hatch

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• After hatching, the juveniles remain with the mother for another couple months

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• Possibly living for two years

Diet: Saltpool mosquito

• What do they eat?

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• Is there a reason for their particular diet?

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• How do they obtain their food?

Diet: Saltpool mosquito

• What are the consequences of their diet?

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• Diet often varies throughout a species life

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• If possible, it’s great to have images of them feeding

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Parasites: Black tunnelweb spider

• This examines what parasitises the species

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• It should also focus on describing how it is parasitised

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• The worm Aranimermis giganteus is contracted via prey

Parasites: Black tunnelweb spider

• It’s also attacked by spider-hunting wasps

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• Travels into their tunnel, paralyses them to their nest

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• Is then eaten by wasps larvae

A few finishing touches….

• Copy the whole article and paste it into word to spot spelling/grammar errors

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• Run it through Copyvio

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• Italicise scientific species/genus names in reference titles

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• If in doubt, read the Manual of Style

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A few finishing touches….

• Add alt text to every image

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• Add external links/further reading if available

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• Make sure the categories make sense

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• Add redirects for old species names

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Submitting for GA review

• To submit an article add {{subst:GAN|subtopic=}} to the top of the talk page

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• Wait times to get a review vary quite a bit. Shortest I’ve had is one day while the longest is several months.

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• Let go of any ego….It’ll only get crushed

What to expect from a GA review

• A bot will notify you on your talk page when someone has agreed to review it

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• Within a few days, they’ll make a wall of text with things to address

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• It’ll take a bit of back and forth, but its all usually pretty straightforward to address concerns

Passing the review

• You should ping the reviewer when you’re done addressing their comments

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• If they decide to pass it, you’ll get a notification in your talk page

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• Don’t forget to “thank” the reviewer!

What to do now?

• Good Articles are usually eligible to feature in “Did You Know”. Be fast though, it has to be done within the last seven days

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• The article could also be further improved to nominate for Featured Article status

Any questions?