Field Tips is a searchable 'database' of hints and tips for finding species of moths - mainly in their early stages. If you are familiar with the book 'Practical Hints for the Field Lepidopterist' by J. W. Tutt - then this guide is in the same vein and the site contains mostly tips taken from that book at the moment.
The 'Search' sub-menu allows various ways to search for field tips. If you are just interested in field tips for the current time of year then select 'Current tips' in the 'Search' sub-menu.
Having searched for some field tips you are then able to browse summaries of field tips that match the search criteria. The field tips listed can then be printed off after removing any that you are not interested in. By clicking on the magnifying glass icon next to each field tip a page showing details for the field tip will be displayed, along with any photographs that are related to the field tip.
Field tips can be submitted to the site by selecting the 'Submit' menu item. Submitted field tips temporarily go in as 'unchecked' and currently require checking by myself before they will appear in any searches, although they will show up via the 'View recent' option.
The Comments page allows comments to be logged about the field tips pages. Suggestions for improvements, dislikes or problems are more than welcome.
While viewing the details of a field tip it is also possible to give some feedback on how good you think the field tip is. Selecting the 'Rank' option will show a new window where you can give your feedback. It is also possible to add your own comments to field tips, providing further detail or corrections. You can also search for other field tips for the same species while viewing field tip details.
The development of these pages have largely been driven by the effort I expend each year going through Tutt, translating the old nomenclature and compiling several paper-based lists of field tips. These lists tend to get lost during the year so each year I end up going through the same process. Hopefully the facility will be of use to others who have a similar interest in field work.
At the moment I am mainly concentrating on the micro-lepidoptera and trying to keep ahead of the current season when entering those field tips from Tutt. Once the micro-lepidoptera have been covered I will move on to the macro-lepidoptera.
For further help about the pages see the help pages by selecting the 'Help' option in the menu on the left.