Description of the database

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)