Create Pest Observations

After you set up all of your monitors in their locations, walk around each location and take pictures of what you catch.

Conserv recommends that you take all of the photos using the Conserv Cloud Mobile App.

When you check your pest monitors, you first create an observation. After you create an observation, you assign specific "identifications" to that observation.

Add an Observation in Conserv Cloud

1. Sign in to Conserv Cloud, select Pests from the left navigation menu, and select the Observe tab.
2. In the lower-left corner of the page, hover over + and click + (Add an Observation).
3. Select the scope of the observation: Pest Monitor or Space.
4. Select the specific pest monitor or the generalized space in which you observed the pest.
5. Select the date that you made the observation.
6. Enter a description of the observation, such as an identification of small insects that cannot be photographed well or specifics of where you saw the insect.
7. Click Add an Image to upload a picture of the pest monitor or the errant pest that you observed.
8. Click SAVE ALL CHANGES.

Edit or Delete an Observation in Conserv Cloud

1. Sign in to Conserv Cloud, select Pests from the left navigation menu, and select the Observe tab.
2. Click the three-dot menu for the observation that you want to edit or delete.
3. Click Edit Observation, edit the details, and click SAVE ALL CHANGES.
4. Click Delete Observation, and click CONFIRM.

Add an Observation in Conserv Cloud Mobile App

Using Conserv Cloud Mobile App is useful if you do most of your pest identification on the go. It lets you check your pest monitors on-site, so you do not have to bring them all back to your workspace. It also encourages other staff to record pest observations directly through the app for you when they spot any pests.

1. Open Conserv Cloud Mobile App.
2. Click Record Pests.

Assign Pest Identifications

Now that you added photos of what you caught in your observations, you can identify your pests. At this time, you can do this only through Conserv Cloud.

If you have any observations awaiting identification, you can easily locate them on the OBSERVE tab. The IDENTIFICATIONS column shows the types and total counts of pests, or it indicates "Needs ID" for those that still require identification.

1. Sign in to Conserv Cloud, select Pests from the left navigation menu, and select the Observe tab.
2. Click the text in the IDENTIFICATIONS column.
3. Select No new pests found, or click Add a pest.
4. Search or manually select a pest. Close the drawer or click out of it.
5. Enter the number of pests observed.
6. Click NEXT if there is more than one monitor to ID. If not, click FINISH. There is no save button. The pests will be saved automatically.
7. If relevant, enter a comment, and click POST.

Manage List

The Manage List tab lets you pick the pests that you want to show up as options when you are making your identifications.

The general list is drawn from the MuseumPests.net database. This database is very extensive and contains insects and other animals that you may never see in your particular area.

After you become familiar with the types of intruders and pests you normally find, you can customize your list to help you avoid browsing through the complete database

Custom Pest List

You can customize your pest list by adding a common name, a scientific name and a photo of the pest in its correct lifecycle stage. This is appropriate when you have a catch that is simply not in the MuseumPests.net list. 

MuseumPests.net List

The MuseumPests.net list is available for free to all users. Conserv suggests that you select only pests that you are used to finding. This keeps your identification list clean and makes it faster for you to use.

The Pest Database

The Pest Database tab is a view of an embedded Airtable version of the MuseumPests.net database. It helps you become familiar with pests and read more information about them to help you figure out what they eat and what they need to survive. This valuable information can help you determine which of your collections are most at risk and which environmental conditions may be causing your populations to rise and fall.

Additional Resources

If your pest monitors mysteriously disappear every now and then, check out this conversation in the community on tips and tricks to help you make sure your monitors are not being moved or thrown out.

Watch this video if you want to see how all this works in Conserv Cloud.