Help - general hints
To get more specific help in any of the ‘Search Database’ sections, click on the help icon next to the search box, or on the Quickinfo Icon in any of the other pages.
Web browser recommendation
The RWC is best browsed with Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome, and good results are also usually obtained with Apple Safari. If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer (v.10), you might notice that some graphics features don't display properly (August 2013).
The most up-to-date supported versions of recommended browsers can be downloaded via the links below. Please note that browser versions in beta release may not be fully supported.
Searching the database
To query the database, type or paste free text into any of the search boxes. Case is not important. The text will then be autocompleted and you can select from a dropdown-list with full or partial matches.
Note that you can search for various information in the search boxes. For example, typing “myers” into the species search box not only retrieves taxa named after Myers (Itura myersi, Myersinella etc.) but also taxa described by Myers, Harring & Myers, etc. Similarly, any piece of text from bibliographic references can be filtered via the references search box, or all holotype specimens be listed by entering “holo” into the specimen search box.
Hyperlinks are included in all main pages to allow navigating back and forth between taxon names, bibliographic references, localities, specimen catalog numbers, etc. All will open in a new tab within the same window, so as not to lose track during searches. You can open as many tabs as you want.
Sorting and filtering data
You can sort and filter data in any of the lists retrieved from your searches. Click on (sort data) or (filter data) above the list.
Documentation of taxon records
To learn if and how a species record has been documented, and hence is potentially verifiable, click on the encoded number in the “Doc.”-field under “Observations”. A window will pop up and provide you with more detail about how a taxon has been presented in a publication, deposited in a collection, or if as yet unpublished images or specimen material are available for a record. On top of the window you'll be also told whether that is published information, or if it has been derived from collection material or unpublished field data.
To filter for species records by either taxonomical or geographical criteria, along with details on how they were documented, go to “Biogeography – Documented Records”.
Biogeography patterns
Distribution patterns throughout the six major zoogeographical regions are defined as follows:
- Holarctic (Hol): known from palaearctic and nearctic regions (includes artic-temperate taxa from colder climates).
- Western hemisphere (WHE) ("new world species"): known only from the Americas, i.e. neotropical and nearctic regions.
- Eastern hemisphere (EHE) ("old world species"): known from at least three of these regions: Palaearctis, Afrotropis, Orientalis, Australis. Not recorded from the Americas.
- Palaeotropical (PTR): known from throughout the Old World tropics, i.e. Afrotropis, Orientalis, Australis (note that this also includes non-tropical regions of Australia; Australian records therefore require a more detailed scrutiny). Not recorded from the neotropical region.
- Presumed Cosmopolite (PCO): known from at least four, but not all, of the six major regions, including both hemispheres. Occurrence in region(s) from which they have not yet been reported can be assumed.
- Cosmopolite (COS) (sensu stricto): known from all six major regions, but not necessarily from the Antarctic or Pacific regions. If a cosmopolite is also known from any of the latter two less explored regions, this is mentioned separately (CAN, CPA)
- All other, usually highly disjunct or somehow puzzling distribution patterns, are considered "odd".
N.B.: Western and Eastern hemispheres, as used in the RWC, differ from the strict geographical sense, by which portions of Europe and Africa west of the prime meridian (0° longitude) would belong to the Western hemisphere.
The addition of wide and global distribution patterns, as defined above, has been completed for all valid species. Occurrences in zoogeographical subregions are added locality by locality, and rely on verified records only. This is still work in progress.
To see a breakdown of major region records for single species into occurrences throughout subregions, as illustrated below, click on the 'Biogeography'-tab on the species page.
Abbreviations
IUI: Indicator of uncertainty of identification (e.g. 'cf.', 'aff.', '?', 'sp. near.', etc.)
Doc.: Documentation of species record
F, C, L: Field, Collection, Literature
- n.s. -: not (otherwise) specified
Collecting events - ORP: Oxidation-Reduction Potential (Redox), EC: Electrical Conductivity at 25°C, TDS: Total Dissolved Substances, Sal: Salinity
Repository acronyms: see here for full names of repositories
Biogeography sections: move cursor over abbreviations or checkmarks to get meaning for regions, distribution types, and documentation.
Technical terms
For the meaning of technical terms used in the RWC, such as related to nomenclatural status, nomenclatural availability criteria, and to type specimen material, we recommend consulting the Glossary contained in the ICZN.
Data sources
Sources for locality Information, environmental data, and occurrence records, are as follows:
Source |
| Source Code |
Literature | Published information | L |
Collection | Specimen preparations, Museum collections | C |
Collection, Literature | Specimen preparations and associated published information | L |
CJ in litt. | Unpublished Information, in correspondence | L |
CJ unpubl. | Unpublished Information, own observations (CJ) | F |
EX_K43, K52, K55, Gletscherbäche EX_Sengsengebirge EX_Mon EX_Haw EX_Eth | Expedition material Central Alps (Austria) Northeastern Limestone Alps (Austria) Mongolia 2005, 2006 Hawaii 1997, 2001 Ethiopia 2004 |
F |
Expedition, Literature | Expedition material and associated published information | L |