History of the database | Citing the database

The Universal Chalcidoidea Database currently contains original citations for all 31,000 taxonomic names made available within the Chalcidoidea. It also includes a comprehensive list of the various generic combinations and misspellings that have been used in the literature. In all nearly 50,000 different combinations and spellings are recorded. All names are supported by a citation of the published source from where they were obtained as are all taxonomic and nomenclatural acts noted within the database. Also included are over 120,000 host/associate records (including associations with food plants of the hosts) and more than 140,000 distribution records. The latter can be used to provide regional lists of Chalcidoidea.

A bibliographic database lists over 40,000 references that have been used in Chalcidoidea and this can be searched using 120 predefined keywords in order to locate references dealing with specified subjects. A similar search can also be conducted in the taxonomic part of the database. More than 350 images of a wide range of living chalcidoids are also available. The full set can be browsed or restricted to images specific to a particular family, genus or species. A new aspect of this database is the inclusion of .pdf files of references. Currently this is limited to papers by Girault (by permission of Michael Schauff) and Grandi (by permission of Jean-Yves Rasplus), but it hoped to increase the number over time. The presence of these .pdf files is indicated by a .pdf icon alongside the reference in the bibliographic database.

As with any work of this size there are unintentional errors. Hopefully these have been kept to a minimum. However, the author would be more than happy to hear of any mistakes that may be uncovered during its use, especially in the spelling of scientific names or incorrect source citations. Corrections can then be incorporated into any future updates of the database. Any comments that might improve the presentation or performance of the database would also be welcome. Please contact John Noyes at: Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, England UK (E-mail: J.Noyes@nhm.ac.uk).

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Last updated 19-Aug-2003 Dr B R Pitkin