---

Also, my point was that experts make it look easy - show a nice photo and you get a name for it. But to get to the stage where you know the name there have been hundreds of people have had to collect specimens, work tirelessly for decades working out the taxonomy and then (and only then) if they have *real* familiarity with a group they might be able to see something in the photo that points to what the species is ... but often it is just an educated guess based on experience - with a specimen then they would really know.

This is especially true in the neotropics where mimicry complexes are very common and bio-diverse. We can say that it looks like Mallophora tibialis but perhaps if we could see the genitalia or the bristles more closely then we'd see that it was an undescribed species or even a new genus. :)

So, absolutely, photos are a great way to document (not record) the biodiversity of the world ... but only rarely can you actually say for sure that the photograph shows a specific species - even in Europe. The best way is to take plenty of photos from all angles and then also take specimens to bring back and give to the experts. Then you really will know what is in the photo ;)