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7/29/2019 A Students Guide to Insect Identification Software on the Web
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A Students Guide to Insect
Identification Software on the Web
Maggie Tai Tucker
Zoology 445 (honors project)Spring 2003
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Why look at web software?
Several potential advantages:
Databases searchable in many differentways (by characters, by descriptions, by
family, etc.) Can offer couplet choices one at a time,
less confusing for beginners.
Can link to more detailed information,photos, illustrations. Essentially no spacelimitations.
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Potential shortcomings
If students can find info on the web, theymay not learn to use a written key, whichremains the standard.
Free public keys tend to specialize in onetopic or in one area, based on whosponsored the project.
May be very shallow, e.g. only to order.
Creating a key is a huge undertaking both building the database and makingthe links to guide users through it.
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Criteria used in this review
# of taxa (as a point of comparison, thewritten key used in our class Bland 1978 includes 3200+ taxa)
Level of expertise needed to use
Quality of photos or illustrations
Availability/accessibility
Cost
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Programs reviewed
Bug-Net (UK) simple, accurate IDs to order
City Bug (Berkeley) most suitable for children
COMTESA (Oregon State Univ.) the most
detailed of the online keys, but limited coverage DAISY (UK/Costa Rica/US) an automated ID
project for conservation use, included here onlyto let students know what a key might look likefar in the future
WoodyBug 2.0 (Univ. of Florida) not a key, butphotos, text, and links on some commonfamilies; strong on biology and insect life history
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Bug-Net: Summary
Web site created by asenior at Univ. ofHertfordshire
Focus is on UK spp.
Series of coupletchoices directs usersto correct order
Web links to more infoon orders, suborders.
http://www.bug-net.co.uk/index.html
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Bug-Net: Best couplet interface
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Bug-Net Features
CATEGORY FEATURES NOTES
# of taxa 19 orders Several examplesper order; focusis on UK insects
Level of user
expertise
Low
Quality ofphotos, illos.
Excellent Photos, slides,drawings
Availability/accessibility
Medium Works only withNetscape
Cost Free
Interface design Excellent
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City Bug: Description
Joint project ofOakland Schools andUC Berkeley
Aim: To educate kids
K-12 and the public One of its search tools
lets you check offknown features of theinsect such as habitatand body type
Users can e-mailqueries to UCentomologists
http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/citybugs/main.htm
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City Bug Features
CATEGORY FEATURES NOTES
# of taxa 36 orders Common namesused; focus is onSF Bay taxa
Level of user
expertise
Low
Quality ofphotos/drawings
_ None availableyet
Availability _ Most areas notyet completed
Cost Free
Interface design Good Appropriate forchildren
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COMTESA: Description
Computer Taxonomy and Ecology of Soil Animals
Covers mainly soil animals found in Pacific NW:Coleoptera, Isopoda, Acari, Collembola, a fewHymenoptera
Includes some dichotomous, some synoptic keys
Original Mac Hypercard version was designed soresearchers could tailor ID process to localspecies. (BSA has a copy of this.)
Moved onto the Web in 2002.
http://www.ent.orst.edu/comtesa/
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COMTESA: Primitive but clear illustrations
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COMTESA: Most detailed list of characters
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Comtessa Features
CATEGORY FEATURES NOTES
# of taxa ~ 200 Can be used toID to species
Level of userexpertise
High No explanationsof characters
Quality ofphotos/illos.
Poor
Availability Good
Cost Free
Interface design Clunky, but itworks
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DAISY Description
Project to developautomated insect IDsoftware (image from aspecial camera isanalyzed)
Aim: For non-specialists to
be able to ID insect speciesas a means of assessingstatus of a local ecosystem
Intended to helpimplement Convention onBiological diversity
Target group is Ophioninae(a suborder ofIchneumonidae)
Joint effort by researchersin UK-Costa Rica-US
http://chasseur.usc.edu/pups/projects/daisy.html
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DAISY Features
CATEGORY FEATURES NOTES
# of taxa 300+ Still in pilotstage
Level of userexpertise
Low
Quality ofphotos/drawings
_ It takes a photoand comparesto reference
Availability _ Commercialunit in
development
Cost Likely to behigh
Need cameraunit & software
Interface design Likely to besimple
Designed forfield conditions
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Univ. of Florida: Summary
Not a true key, it claims tobe a knowledgebase
Central directory photosfunction as a simplified key
Available both as CD-ROM
and on a department website (web site hard to find!)
Aim: to educate both thegeneral public andstudents of pestmanagement
Other databases in theseries: Bees & Wasps,Mole Crickets, and aButterfly Tutorial. http://woodypest.ifas.ufl.edu/insect.htm
http://woodypest.ifas.ufl.edu/insect.htmhttp://woodypest.ifas.ufl.edu/insect.htm7/29/2019 A Students Guide to Insect Identification Software on the Web
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Univ. of Fla. Features
CATEGORY FEATURES NOTES
# of taxa ~ 75 Focus is on SE spp.e.g. cotton aphid
Level of userexpertise
Low Many terms defined;links to glossary
Quality ofphotos/illos.
Excellent Photos of host plants,biocontrol spp., too
Availability Medium Site not findable bysearch engine
Cost CD: $10
Web site: free
Interface design CD: poor
Web site: good
Must click onInsect.htm file tobegin using CD; itsnot obvious
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A word on specialty web sites
As useful and in some cases more usefulthan these keys are the many web sitesdevoted to a particular family or subfamilyof insect.
For example, if trying to key out aCoccinellid beetle with 7 spots, try typing
7 spot lady beetle into a search engine.
Nearly 50 links appear, most providing thescientific species name and someproviding photos or illustrations
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Example of a good specialty site
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~samarsha/lady-beetles.htm
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Conclusions
No software key is currently as thorough as awritten general key, or as detailed as a writtenspecialty key on a particular order or suborder.
If one comes out that has a comparable level of
detail, it will most likely be from the publisher ofa written key.
COMTESA is the most directly relevant tostudents at the Univ. of Washington, because ofits level of detail, clear illustrations, and focus on
species found in the Pacific NW The Univ. of Florida web sites and CDs are a good
general teaching resource.