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My father has found a very queer looking insect. He'd been watching it for over half a year on the tree right next to our house and in all this time hasn't been able to find anything like it on the internet. Yesterday it died, and we found it on our porch, dad's put it in an air-isolated box for identification, please let me know if you are interested. We can send a picture of it for you via email or any other provided way, or please let us know what we should do it and whom we should contact. We live in Sydney.

Thank you, best of luck in everything!

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    $\begingroup$ Welcome to Biology Stack Exchange. Species ID questions are quite common on this site - try uploading some photos of the insect and adding them to your question, and there is a very good chance that someone here can ID it for you. Make sure you also add the species-id tag. For insects I would advise adding details of the weather when it was seen. $\endgroup$
    – bshane
    Jul 10, 2016 at 2:46
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    $\begingroup$ And just a side note. Don't be afraid to actually post the picture. It isn't easy for someone to just steal it and claim it as his own. Plus it would be very easy to prove that you were the original poster. So I would recommend to just post it here. You will get more feedback that way. $\endgroup$
    – Eleftheria Chatziargyriou
    Jul 10, 2016 at 6:51
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    $\begingroup$ To extend on Ria's point, even if someone stole the image, they can't steal the insect's corpse over the internet. If it really is a new species, that corpse will be more important evidence than any photograph. $\endgroup$
    – user137
    Jul 10, 2016 at 9:33
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    $\begingroup$ As above, please upload a picture of the specie you've found to confirm your recent findings. It would be a good idea to contact a professor at a university in Sydney that works in the relevant field as he would be known as a reliable source for further referrals $\endgroup$
    – user19679
    Jul 11, 2016 at 22:20
  • $\begingroup$ It is kind of assumed that if you know enough t actually identify something as new you will know what to do about it. Searching the internet is not a great way to identify an organism. $\endgroup$
    – John
    May 26, 2017 at 0:41

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Natural History Museum; UK, is a good resource.

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/identify-nature.html

According to their webpage;

Have you found a strange bug or a new plant in your garden, or stumbled across an intriguing animal bone or fossil while out on a country walk? Let us help you find out about it.

Four ways to identify your specimens and sightings

  1. Check our selection of ID guides and apps below to see if one is relevant.

  2. Upload your photos and descriptions to our online identification forums for help from our scientists and other naturalists. Please tell us as much about your specimen as possible, including a detailed description, where and when you saw it, and its approximate size.

  3. Post your specimen or photographs to: Identification and Advisory Service Natural History Museum Cromwell Road London SW7 5BD

  4. Visit the Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Museum and show your wildlife or geology specimen to a member of our ID team. Drop in between 10.00-12.00 and 14.00-16.00: Monday to Friday (except bank holidays) the first Saturday of the month (or the second Saturday after a bank holiday weekend) If you need to discuss the best way for us to help with your enquiry, call our Identification and Advisory Service team on +44 (0)20 7942 5045 or email us.

They also have provided some downloadable apps and pdf document resources in their webpage.

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    $\begingroup$ Although the UK does have a history of collecting everyone else's specimens, whether they were solicited to do so or not, I would suggest not sending anything (live or dead) across international boundaries, in this context :) $\endgroup$
    – Bryan Krause ♦
    Jan 25, 2017 at 20:46

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