Dear Zeiri,

Preparing a checklist of insects occurring in some area/region/country is rather simple (especially according to technical point of view). First you need to check all literature data which are available for you (local and general papers, including eg. descriptions of species which are known from your area). It is possible that in some papers old scientific names are given so you must check them with new catalogues (if there are any) to be sure that checklist is "complete" and does not include synonims. Secondly, it is good to check some museums' collections to look for species which were collected in your area but the results have been published till your study. Checking entomological collections allow to verify old recods and to add new faunictic data too. When you plan to prepare a checklist for some country you should check at least entomological collections deposited in this coutry (but better to check some more, especially larger collections, eg. in Paris, London, Vien, Berlin, Praque, ect.).

I hope that this short comment will help you a little.

Good luck!

Radomir

Dear Zeiri,

Preparing a checklist of insects occurring in some area/region/country is rather simple (especially according to technical point of view). First you need to check all literature data which are available for you (local and general papers, including eg. descriptions of species which are known from your area). It is possible that in some papers old scientific names are given so you must check them with new catalogues (if there are any) to be sure that checklist is "complete" and does not include synonims. Secondly, it is good to check some museums' collections to look for species which were collected in your area but the results have been published till your study. Checking entomological collections allow to verify old recods and to add new faunictic data too. When you plan to prepare a checklist for some country you should check at least entomological collections deposited in this coutry (but better to check some more, especially larger collections, eg. in Paris, London, Vien, Berlin, Praque, ect.).

I hope that this short comment will help you a little.

Good luck!

Radomir

Dear Jaskula,

Thank you so much this will helps to initiate the work at least.

Kind Regards

Hi Zeiri, I have done many checklists. You can go through them. They are in my "publications" in RG.

Thank you George

I agree with all that Radomir states above but wish to add that you might consider going out and looking for some species of the designate group yourself... there is nothing like personally obtained records to add validity to a checklist! Happy hunting!

What i want to know is how to proceed to collect wasps?

Wasps are a relatively varied group, so the techniques for collecting them vary: some visit over ripe fruit; a few visit mercury vapour lamps at night; many visit flowers and can be collected there. Also, a sweep net is very useful, for many are found perched among low vegetation. Besides, parasitized larvae of Lepidoptera can be collected and the parasites bred through; for predatory wasps, one has to be out in the field with alert eyes and a good net. That is the only way to collect them. Spider wasps visit mercury vapour lamps, but are otherwise seldom met in nature. Fig wasps are, of course, found in figs, but you have to be there at just the right time; check ants for the wingless females of velvet ants (Mutillidae) which are actually wasps; Icheneumons are also not common, but the more time you spend in the field, the more you will get. Remember that sunny days are good for insects, don't go for mechanical 'every Thursday I walk along a 100 meter transect' sort of thing, go where your feet lead you, spend as much time as you can in the field and you will get good results. Happy hunting!

Thank you

Zeiri I agree with Radomir Jaskula and Peter Smetacek... they have given you detailed information about collecting insects and preparing their checklist. Best of luck for your research

Thank you

Zeiri, there is an article on collecting Hymenoptera in my publications list that wll be useful. Cheers, John

Thank you Dr. Jennings for your kindness.

my suggestions:

1) look at a published checklist referred to a larger region and copy it on database (word, excel, etc.). For each species you could add your records and notes

2) look at all the literature and all the papers related to the taxonomic group of the larger region

3) contact the colleagues specialist in that group

4) consult the collections of the museums where are preserved specimens collected in your area

5) When you completed the checklist, delete species that are not present

an example of a checklist:

Genus Orthops Fieber, 1858

Orthops basalis (A. Costa, 1853) (N, S, Si?, Sa)... to be deleted

Orthops campestris (Linnaeus, 1758) ... to be deleted

Orthops kalmi (Linnaeus, 1758)

COROLOGIA GENERALE: Paleartica

CHECK-LIST ITALIA: (N, S, Si, Sa)

STAZIONI DI RACCOLTA: Torreglia, 3.VII.1974, 2 exx., P.Dioli leg.; M.Venda versante Sud, 5.VI.1974, 1ex., P.Dioli leg.; Tramonte, 26.VI.1974, 1 ex., P.Dioli leg.

DATI IN LETTERATURA:

ECOLOGIA:

Orthops montanus (Schilling, 1836) (N, S) ... to be deleted

Orthops oleae Wagner, 1967 (Si) ... to be deleted

Genus Pachypterna Fieber, 1858 .

Pachypterna fieberi Fieber, 1858 (N)

COROLOGIA GENERALE: Paleartica

CHECK-LIST ITALIA: (N)

STAZIONI DI RACCOLTA: Torreglia, 3.VII.1974, 2 exx., P.Dioli leg.; M.Venda versante Sud, 5.VI.1974, 1ex., P.Dioli leg.; Tramonte, 26.VI.1974, 1 ex., P.Dioli leg. (C.D.)

DATI IN LETTERATURA:

ECOLOGIA

Genus Pantilius Curtis, 1833

Pantilius tunicatus (Fabricius, 1781) (N, S) ... to be deleted

Thank you so much Dr. Dioli for sharing such informations.

Can a Checklist be based only on literature ?

Hi Asma,

Obviously, further to a careful literature review, you can add personal communications (with other specialists), unpublished data, recent personal observations (based on field surveys), or data about the existing insect genera and species that you can find for example in museums of Natural History (insect collections). Good luck!!

Yes, a checklist can be based only on literature, but it might be useful to state this in the title of the checklist, eg., Checklist of Carthagian Wasps based on published records. Otherwise, readers who are under the impression that new data has been added might be disappointed and their opinion of your work might be negatively affected.

Please, find useful data through all of these internet links (books and articles) confirming my aforementioned statement that checklist may not be based only on literature review :

http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/158079/2/tb1557.pdf

http://research.amnh.org/iz/f/Carpenter_Kojima_1997_ves.pdf

http://fada.biodiversity.be/CheckLists/Insecta-Trichoptera.pdf

http://www.entomology.org.il/sites/default/files/pdfs/Ben-Dov-final.pdf

http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pubs-online/pdf/op13-6.pdf

http://molevol.cmima.csic.es/ribera/pdfs/Water_Beetles_kapitel_24.pdf

http://www.checklist.org.br/getpdf?SL029-09

Cheers

Another attached article related to this topic

Thank you Ramzi

Up to this all good advice let me give one more Zeiri, the work here is as hard as much recognized is local fauna. If you make your checkilst from a well studied area its really complicated, from countries like Tunisia where list of recorded species is relatively short it is quite easy, and I think also more interesting.