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The principal information in DBIF is contained in separate tables, listing about
9,300 invertebrate, 5,800 host, and 800 literature source names. The invertebrates
include native, migrant and introduced species. Similarly, the host plants include
natives and aliens - both ornamental and crop plants. An interaction is the linked
information of an invertebrate and a host name, and the same interaction may be
reported by numerous sources. While most interactions are for herbivores and their
host plants, some data exist for animal hosts, e.g. aphids tended by ants, or herbivores
attacked by parasitoids. The interactions for animal hosts are not currently available
via this website however. DBIF also contains invertebrates related to the succession
of wood decay (i.e. saproxylic assemblages; see Alexander, 2002), although the focus
remains on living plants. Sources of data DBIF is founded on a systematically compiled
list of the British herbivorous invertebrate fauna. For most taxa, this was assembled
originally from the Royal Entomological Society’s series Check lists of British
Insects and Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects (http://www.royensoc.co.uk/publications.shtml).
Records of interactions were collated mostly from the published literature; sources
included books, checklists, journals and private correspondence (see: search for
sources). The slide collections at the Natural History
Museum, London, were consulted for gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), scales
and mealybugs (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) and thrips (Thysanoptera). To achieve as comprehensive
a coverage as possible, at least one major source was used from both the British
and continental European literature. Recently updated information In the recent
update of DBIF (2007 – 2008), the invertebrate checklists for some families were
updated from new sources (particularly within Coleoptera and Lepidoptera; details
in Family backgrounds). In such cases, species new
to the British fauna will have been added to the database, although the nomenclature
of old entries (pre-1990) may not have been updated (see: Limitations).
For families with no recent updating, both the species lists
and nomenclature will reflect the state of affairs when the last source was entered.
Ancillary information: attribute data There is a wealth of information associated
with the invertebrate and host names, and with the interactions themselves. Examples
include whether a host is important or unusual for a particular herbivore; which
herbivore stage uses the host; also, the site and mode of feeding (e.g. mining leaves),
the period of occurrence, and the native statuses of both herbivore and host. See:
How to interpret foodplant records
for guidance about interpreting records with different attributes. Warning: attribute
information was added as presented in each source, rather than being systematically
compiled for every herbivore, host or interaction (except the labels for life-cycle
stage and for trophic level, so herbivores can be distinguished from invertebrates
with animal hosts). Therefore some of the interactions may be missing attribute
data. Follow the links below to find out in detail which attributes are associated
with the main database components (Note that in some cases, only summary attribute
data is presented via this website): Attributes related to Invertebrate names (total
of 8) Attributes related to Host names (total of 6)
Attributes related to Interactions (total of 144)
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