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Annual
NSF Grant Progress Report
Date:
March 25, 1996
NSF Program: DEB-PEET
NSF Award Number: 95-21925
Period covered by this report: September 15, 1995 - March 15, 1996
PI Name: Michael E. Irwin
PI Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
PI Address: Department of Natural Resources & Environmental
Sciences (NRES)
University of Illinois
1101 West Peabody Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
Co-PIs: Brian M. Wiegmann, North Carolina State University
David K. Yeates, Universtiy of Queensland
/X/ Continued Funding is Requested
INTRODUCTION
Sections
1 & 2 of this report are divided into four parts, the first
three mirroring the overall goals of this PEET grant: A) Use
of Electronic Media, B) Training, C) Monographic Treatments,
and D) Expeditions to Increase the Knowledge Base of Therevidae.
Electronic Media is subdivided into networking, databasing, interactive
keys, and communications, Training into what is happening
at the three collaborating institutions, Monographic Treatments
is treated as a whole, and Expeditions are categorized by target
locality. Section 2 also contains a part (2E) on Expenditures
from the Schlinger Foundation. Section 5 lists new grant proposals
from PIs.
Summary
of Progress, including results obtained to date and their relationship
to the general goals of the grant.
1A.
Use of Electronic Media. Electronic media, in many ways,
hold this grant together. Computer-based programs thus provide for
expedient and rapid manipulation and management of data, for assembling
data into comprehensive and meaningful formats, for assessing the
validity of data, and for communicating data and results to interested
persons and clientele. We are taking advantage of many electronic
packages.
 Networking. The PI's professional activities over
the past 20 years were focused on agricultural entomology. Thus,
active systematists and curators are being made aware of this
PEET award so that the taxonomic community will respond expediently
to requests concerning therevids and will be more willing to participate
in therevid networking activities planned for the future. The
community has by and large been informed of our activites and,
to date, has responded extremely favorably to requests for specimens;
furthermore, there appears to be genuine interest in developing,
as a model, a therevid network that would link specimen-associated
data, taxonomic descriptions, and regional keys to taxa among
systematic collections through the World Wide Web.
Databases. Our proposed goal was to develop a reliable
database structure for label and loan information associated with
each therevid specimen. Originally, we thought Biota would
be the most approprate software package for constructing the database.
After working with Biota for several months, we discovered
that it was cumbersome to use and lacked needed features; we,
therefore, constructed our own system using a more universal software
package.
FileMaker Pro 2.1 was available for both the Macintosh
and Windows operating systems (Biota was only available
on the Macintosh at the time) as a relatively seamless interchange
between platforms. However, version 2.1 was only quasi-relational,
using lookups rather than having true relational capability. Version
3.0, delivered in late December 1995, promised true relational
capabilities, an expanded file size (to 2 GB), and flexible indexing.
Kampmeier began to construct the databases in June 1995. A working
version was up and running by mid July, with students beginning
to input data.
The existing databases were all converted to FileMaker Pro
3.0 in January 1996 and, in most cases, the relational capabilities
have been implemented where feasible (80% complete). Comprehensive
on-line help documentation was also under development (approximately
75% completed) at the time of the upgrade, but, although these
files have been converted to FileMaker Pro 3.0, the information
has not yet been updated; nonetheless, most information remains
current. The databases catalog the following information for insect
specimens from museum collections worldwide:
 Each specimen is given a unique number unless one already exists.
Complete locality data are categorized, including country,
state, province, district, municipality, smallest political
unit, (complete with modifiers to the last two categories),
and microsite. Longitude, latitude, and elevation and how the
measurements were obtained is also included. In addition, three
nested scales of geographic features may be recorded. When known,
accurate information is input in brackets, even if this is contrary
to label data.
The family, genus, species, and authority appear with each
specimen. Each taxon, including species and even population,
has its own history recorded in a related set of databases.
This history includes synonymies, misspellings found in the
literature, and literature citations.
Ecological and geographical observations may be recorded, and
space is provided for recording meteorological conditions at
the time of collection.
Plant associations may be recorded and tied directly to the
taxa database that has the potential for recording all the categories
of information associated with insect taxa (see above).
Associated specimens (e.g., mate; predator, prey; mimic, model)
may also be recorded and tied directly to a therevid specimen.
Collectors, collecting methods, and inclusive collecting dates
are recorded.
Determiner, date of determination, loan information (institution,
loan number and date), and current deposition information is
recorded for each specimen.
Insect stage at time of collection and stage(s) in collection
(including dates of pupation and eclosion), preservation method,
dissections, and sex are also recorded for each specimen.
Other
databases created that are not specimen oriented include:
A reprint database, with full citations (including
translations) of literature concerning therevids, including
the kind(s) of taxonomic treatment for each species mentioned
in the article (e.g., original description, revision, habitat,
faunal list, catalog, bioecology, figure, key) and key words.
As mentioned earlier, this database is related to the taxa database.
Questions arising from those inputting or proofing
the data can be entered into an electronic record. Questions
are kept on file indefinitely as a record of the kinds of questions
encountered and their resolution. Each record includes a date
and time stamp as well as a reference to any of the databases
for which the user may have had a question.
On-line help databases for data entry and other
users is provided. These databases explain the overall view
of the data set, menus, navigation, operations (finding, editing,
saving, scripts, buttons, etc.) and backup procedures, and details
each field and the kind of data expected to be included.
All
therevid specimens on deposit at the University of Illinois from collections
made in Australia (except from Irwin's most recent expedition) are
in the databases. The number of records entered into the major databases
as of 24 March 1996 is:
Specimens....................9160
Lots.........................1727
Taxa.........................2036
People........................498
Museums & Repositories.........65
Reprints.......................35
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