Citizen Science is a burgeoning source of occurrence data used for easily detectable animal taxa such as mammals, birds and butterflies. Its performance on lesser known taxa, however, has until now been poorly analyzed. We selected Gerromorpha, Nepomorpha, and water dependent Leptopodomorpha (Hemiptera: Heteroptera), three groups of aquatic bugs which, due to their unattractive features, tend to appeal little to the wider public. We have selected the CS platform "iNaturalist" (www.inaturalist.org) as our source for this case study. Worldwide records dated up to 31th January 2016 were taken into consideration and we only considered "Research Grade" observations (georeferenced, with photo and date). Families were divided in three categories according to their preferred habitat (water surface, underwater, and shore). Three categories were also established according to the body size of each family: small (< 4.9 mm), medium (5.0-14.9 mm), large (> 15 mm). Most of the observations (n = 1167) came from North America and some from Europe; data pertaining to other regions was scarce. We found that the highest number of observations refer to easily detectable bugs. Inhabitants of the water surface represent more than half of the occurrence records, while about 40% refer to those that live underwater, and only 6% those that live on shores. The latter result is probably related to the cryptism of some groups. As expected, no records for benthic and marine taxa, and for true shore bugs (which are very hard to detect) were available. Most of the records concerned common species, but there were a few interesting observations made in unusual geographical areas, which are of particular scientific value. This data provides researchers with a useful contribution for neglected groups, even if it has many limitations, mainly due to the low detectability of many taxa when compared to more 'appealing' fauna.
Citizen Science and the challenge of the neglected insects: a focus on the aquatic Heteroptera
Cianferoni Fabio;De Felici Stefano;
2016
Abstract
Citizen Science is a burgeoning source of occurrence data used for easily detectable animal taxa such as mammals, birds and butterflies. Its performance on lesser known taxa, however, has until now been poorly analyzed. We selected Gerromorpha, Nepomorpha, and water dependent Leptopodomorpha (Hemiptera: Heteroptera), three groups of aquatic bugs which, due to their unattractive features, tend to appeal little to the wider public. We have selected the CS platform "iNaturalist" (www.inaturalist.org) as our source for this case study. Worldwide records dated up to 31th January 2016 were taken into consideration and we only considered "Research Grade" observations (georeferenced, with photo and date). Families were divided in three categories according to their preferred habitat (water surface, underwater, and shore). Three categories were also established according to the body size of each family: small (< 4.9 mm), medium (5.0-14.9 mm), large (> 15 mm). Most of the observations (n = 1167) came from North America and some from Europe; data pertaining to other regions was scarce. We found that the highest number of observations refer to easily detectable bugs. Inhabitants of the water surface represent more than half of the occurrence records, while about 40% refer to those that live underwater, and only 6% those that live on shores. The latter result is probably related to the cryptism of some groups. As expected, no records for benthic and marine taxa, and for true shore bugs (which are very hard to detect) were available. Most of the records concerned common species, but there were a few interesting observations made in unusual geographical areas, which are of particular scientific value. This data provides researchers with a useful contribution for neglected groups, even if it has many limitations, mainly due to the low detectability of many taxa when compared to more 'appealing' fauna.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
