Monography:  Illustrating Taxa & Character States

Illustrations are indispensable for monographs. Obtaining sufficient high quality illustrations for our monographic studies has been an obstacle during the course of this project. To overcome this, we have used a number of techniques and continue to explore new ones as they present themselves.

Habitus Photographs. A photographic library of habitus poses of therevids, developed by Yeates and Anthony O'Toole, is maintained at the Univ. Queensland. Fourteen species in 9 Australian genera have been photographed while living. Other photos displayed are used by permission from the photographer.

Two PIs and 3 graduate students visited Sabine Huhndorf's (PEET grant, fungi) lab at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, to observe computer image capturing and manipulation techniques. Although more optimal for smaller, flatter objects, we realized the applicability to some of our imaging needs and submitted a proposal to the Illinois Natural History Survey's request for future equipment (year 2000), and we plan to adapt this digital imaging system to a Wild MZ12 if INHS funds become available.
Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope. This past year, the Beckman Institute at UIUC spearheaded a proposal to NSF for a field-emission environmental scanning electron microscope. Irwin, a collaborator on the proposal, was interested in using the ESEM (no coating, no vacuum, no special mounting needed; i.e., one can even use holotypes or live larvae and pupae) for imaging small external anatomical features of therevids to complement the illustrations provided by other means and to investigate microstructural features as possible characters for phylogenetic and taxonomic studies. The proposal was funded and an XL30 ESEM-FEG (FEI Co., Hillsboro, OR) has been purchased along with a special, just released LF-GSED detector (large field, low magnification gaseous secondary electron detector). Irwin's group is being trained in its use and will take advantage of this extraordinary piece of equipment over the next 5 years.
Scientific Illustrator. Perhaps the most important, if traditional, way to obtain clear, accurate illustrations is through a highly skilled scientific illustrator. J. Marie Metz, the illustrator on our project, uses mostly carbon dust but also uses pen and ink, mixed media, and acrylic air brush (for color) techniques. She acquired studio space in the Dept. Art Education for airbrush paintings at no cost to our project. To date, she has produced >100 illustrations (mostly internal spermathecae and associated sacs) for the mss. on the genus Anabarhynchus, >165 drawings, primarily in mixed media, for a submitted mss. on the Cyclotelini, 20 drawings for the adult cladistic mss., and >40 drawings for the Lindneria mss. She has mastered electronic modification of her illustrations and is scanning each illustration to store them electronically and cataloguing them in the illustrations portion of MANDALA.