Syrphidae (Diptera, Brachycera) collection of the I.I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology NAS of Ukraine

Study Extent

The dataset contains the biodata of Syrphidae collection is kept in the funds of I. I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology NAS of Ukraine (SIZK_Syrphidae). The collection consists of two parts: the first contains the pinned and mounted specimens, and this collection is exemplary in our funds; in the second part of the collection there are only pinned specimens (not mounted), and this is a comparative material necessary for identifying species. As a rule, with the help of a dissecting needle with a hook at the end, terminalia are advanced in males. In many cases this makes it easier to identify questionable species. Syrphidae collection of SIZK covers almost the whole territory of Ukraine (there are practically no collection data from the central regions of Ukraine) and various habitat types both natural and anthropogenic.

Sampling

The material was collected in a number of expeditions and excursions carried out during the field seasons from March to October (mostly April–August). The main biotopes in which Syrphidae were collected are edges of mixed or deciduous forests, floodplain forests or meadow, marshes, orchards, roadsides. The flies were caught mainly by the standard method using an entomological net or sometimes exhauster. For identification of unknown and doubtful species, specimens were studied with MBS-9. Species identification was carried out using the general identification keys published in the works of Speight (2017), Bartsсh (2009), Van Veen (2010), as well as identification keys for individual genera in the works of various specialists. All material is kept in the funds of I.I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology NAS of Ukraine, Kyiv (SIZK) as a separate Syrphidae collection.

Quality Control

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. Pinning and mounting in the laboratory.
4. Specimen identification.
5. Making of labels for each pinned specimen.
6. Cataloging identified specimens and dataset preparation.
7. Data checking and cleaning.
8. Publication biodata on the GBIF.

The dataset covers only the species range of the Syrphidae family.

1. Animalia
   rank: kingdom
2. Arthropoda
   rank: phylum
3. Insecta
   rank: class
4. Diptera
   rank: order
5. Syrphidae
   rank: family

The dataset covers the almost entire territory of Ukraine, most of the material is collected in Kyiv, Rivne, Zakarpatska, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv, Sumy regions; little material has been collected from Volyn, Kherson, Ivano-Frankivsk, Odesa, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernivtsi, Cherkasy, Zaporizhya regions.