New classification suggestion: Insect Hotels

In Austria and Germany (and pretty sure in other places too) there are so called "Insect Hotels" they are similar to bird houses, but for bees and other types of insects. They are important to keep biodiversity alive. I see them commonly as nominations for Wayspots, but I don't know how to classify them.

this is how they look:

I suggest to add this classification to the roster of posible classifications

Comments

  • MargariteDVille-INGMargariteDVille-ING Posts: 2,846 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited September 2021

    If you're talking about nomination reviews' "What is it?" section (that is often optional) - those come from Open Street Map, not Niantic.

    PS: That picture is really beautiful!

  • JaxomNC-INGJaxomNC-ING Posts: 16 ✭✭

    I usually use beehive when voting for those.

  • CipherBlakk-PGOCipherBlakk-PGO Posts: 309 ✭✭✭✭

    I've been wondering about this too! I didn't know there was a beehive option. Sounds like the closest category. I think I've been calling them a sculpture, because they kind of are? They're all different and pretty artistic. Though I remember early on calling it a hotel. 😂

  • Duiomar-PGODuiomar-PGO Posts: 458 ✭✭✭✭✭

    These are showing up in the US as well, although I haven't see any nominated yet.

  • GearGlider-INGGearGlider-ING Posts: 1,335 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Are regular birdhouses even eligible? Like, if it was decorative or particularly nice looking, I see it as eligible, but it feels rude to just go up to a place an animal lives if it's a regular old one. There isn't really anything on the birdhouses/insect hotels that say they are meant for people to gather around or admire visually (even though nature is very fascinating and I do enjoy a good nature watch).

    Would probably need something indicating it's for people to interact with in some way, like informational/educational signage about the insect house or being artistically/visually distinctive.

  • SiIverLyra-PGOSiIverLyra-PGO Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Increased human activity around structures such as birdhouses would definitely interrupt wildlife around it, and prevent birds or other wild animals from using it. The same is true for insect hotels.

    I reject birdhouses, and would probably do the same with insect hotels if I ever encounter them (they don't seem to be a thing in my country) - unless they're specifically meant for human interaction, or have related information signs next to them.

  • Rodensteiner-PGORodensteiner-PGO Posts: 1,705 ✭✭✭✭✭
    • Birdhouses are easy to move. Just put them on 20 trees in your town. That is rather the answer why they are not eligible.
    • Beehouses are not easy to move, but you host a 20 person raid at it. That is rather the answer why they are not eligible.
    • Insecthotels are... well i dont know why NIA asks us to accept them. Didnt they somewhere? We do accept them, unless they are those 5-EUR Insecthotels from Bauhaus (that are easily removable)
  • TheFarix-PGOTheFarix-PGO Posts: 5,063 ✭✭✭✭✭

    When has NIA said that insect hotels were eligible? As far as I knew, they didn't meet any of the eligibility criteria.

  • AgentX1976-INGAgentX1976-ING Posts: 598 ✭✭✭✭✭

    While I love that huge Insect hotel, I would think something like that would need a sign. Making it educational.

    We also have parks that have bird houses with an info sign as Cavity Nesters


  • CipherBlakk-PGOCipherBlakk-PGO Posts: 309 ✭✭✭✭

    I would think the insect hotel itself is a message for people to stop and look and think about conservation. There's nothing about it that inherently provides a special place for insects to live, unlike a birdhouse (they're insects, surely they're inhabiting nature all around the hotel anyway and don't need it). I've always thought it's an educational tool specifically meant for people to go up and look, and that it's constructed to incentivize that. You can view into all of the spaces in it, after all. I don't think increased activity around a hotel is a concern, and avoiding activity isn't the point.

    Most insect hotels, like that first photo, are pretty artistic and visually distinctive for what they are. I agree that a sign certainly helps, but I see no issue with one as a POI. It's something I would be interested to go look at if I saw a marker for one, with or without a sign.

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