Ophioninae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) collection of the I.I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology NAS of Ukraine

Study Extent

The dataset contains the biodata of Ophioninae collection is kept in the funds of I.I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology NAS of Ukraine (SIZK_Ichneumonidae(Ophioninae)). All specimens are pinned, fixed and dried. Each specimen is accompanied by labels. Ophioninae SIZK collection covers almost the whole territory of Ukraine and various habitat types both natural and anthropogenic. Specimens were collected in neighboring countries, such as Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Hungary and some specimens were collected in Indonesia, Peru, Madagascar. Identification of all species in the dataset was verified by comparison with the voucher specimens and confirmed by the leading taxonomists of Ophioninae.

Sampling

Successful identification to the species level in Ophioninae is possible only based on careful morphology studying, especially of head, meso- and metasoma structure. Males and females are useful for further preparation and examination, but identification will vary somewhat. These insects are typically large, slender, and orange, with compressed and curved abdomens. They possess prominent ocelli and are primarily active during the night, often being attracted to light sources. Typical habitats for Ophioninae are dry or wet grassland and shrub biotopes, but some species can migrate from the natural biotopes to anthropogenic ecosystems and live as synanthropes. Therefore, our Ophioninae collections focused on different grasslands and forest habitats. The material was collected in a number of expeditions and excursions carried out during the field seasons of the years 1907 - 2007. Adult Ophioninae were collected with a sweepnet and Malaise traps. Collected insects were stored in vials with ethylacetate vapors. During preparation in the laboratory, the specimens were pinned, fixed, dried and labeled. For identification, specimens were studied with MBS-9 and MBS-10 microscopes. All of the material is kept in the funds of I.I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology NAS of Ukraine, Kyiv (SIZK) as a part Ichneumonidae collection.

Quality Control

One of the most important steps in Ophioninae studying is verifying of correction of specimen identification. Therefore, all newly recorded species in Ukraine or new species in our collection need to be compared with the type specimen or at least the voucher specimen whose identification is undoubted. Also, we were using the OpenRefine (https://openrefine.org/) for checking the data quality and GBIF species matching tool (https://www.gbif.org/tools/species-lookup) for the taxonomic checking opensource software.

Method steps

1. Selection of the sites.
2. Collection of material in the field.
3. Fixation and drying in the laboratory.
4. Specimen identification.
5. Cataloging identified specimens and dataset preparation.
6. Data checking and cleaning.
7. Publication biodata on the GBIF.

The dataset covers only the species range of the Ophioninae subfamily.

1. Animalia
   rank: kingdom
2. Arthropoda
   rank: phylum
3. Insecta
   rank: class
4. Hymenoptera
   rank: order
5. Ichneumonidae
   rank: family
6. Ophioninae
   rank: subfamily

The dataset covers the almost entire territory of Ukraine. Also, collections from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Hungary, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Indonesia, Madagascar, Peru, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan are included in this dataset.