Overview
Gathering knowledge about the following extant insect groups: Archaeognatha (Microcoryphia), Coleorrhyncha, Embioptera, Notoptera (Grylloblattodea and Mantophasmatodea), Zoraptera and Zygentoma (Thysanura); and the following extinct groups: Archaeorthoptera, Cnemidolestida, Eoblattida, Permopsocida and Reculida. This grouping of Insecta as a single Species File is a matter of convenience and efficiency for managing the information of several small extant or extinct orders, not an implication of phylogeny.
The Miscellaneous Insecta Species File file offers a collection of richly-cited and annotated information on a number of small insect orders, extant and fossil. Data found here come from a collaboratively compiled database originating in an instance of TaxonWorks managed by the Species File Group. This site is built using TaxonPages, learn more here. These pages are built with open-source software; read more here about what drives them and how they are supported by the Species File Group and their many collaborators. To get further involved join weekly support meetings here.
Project development and maintenance
| name | role |
|---|---|
| Heidi Hopkins | Lead Curator |
| Tom Klein | Assistant Curator |
| Michael D. Maehr* | Founding Curator |
| David C. Eades* | Founding Species File Developer |
* Now inactive.
- Cite this website: Hopkins, H. & Klein, T., Miscellaneous Insecta Species File. [retrieval date]. https://misc.speciesfile.org. See also Terms of use.
Contribute or get help
The Earth’s biodiversity is vast and the data captured to describe it, while minimal in comparison, are still immense. All projects of this nature contain gaps and errors, and contributions and corrections from users are always welcome. Known gaps in this project may include an incomplete catalog of type-material, lack of species depictions, missing biological associations, incomplete distribution records, and incomplete taxonomic/publication histories. Report a problem, offer data, or get involved on our issue tracker if you would like to help us address these or other gaps in the data, or if you find a bug.
Extended data access
A goal of these pages is to ensure that the underlying data behind them are accessible in their digital format. By diversifying the ways the data are accessible (e.g. on the web page, in JSON, in Darwin Core standard), we increase the opportunities to both spot errors and provide new services and portals.
- Anyone interested in working on any group of insects contained in this project can obtain tutoring on how to use the rich, multi-faceted TaxonWorks’ interfaces (e.g. filters, reporting, downloads). Contact us on our issue tracker if you would like to pursue this opportunity.
- Data behind individual panels per page can be seen via the Sitemap functionality.
- Each page offers an option to download a DarwinCore formatted table containing all data for this taxon and its children.
- Panel data (each section on a page) and other information not available on these pages are accessible via a TaxonWorks API at https://sfg.taxonworks.org/api/v1.
- Core taxonomic data are exported to and available at the Catalogue of Life.
History
In August 2023 all data in the former Species File Websites were frozen and shortly thereafter migrated to TaxonWorks. As with all migrations of this nature the process is both lossy (e.g. some data could not be mapped with certainty) and improved (e.g. semantics of the new models have more precision and clarity). If you spot something that needs attention, please Report a problem or offer data (bugs or data issues).
In July 2026 six species file databases were combined to form Miscellaneous Insecta Species File, and six new groups of extant and extinct insects were added that did not previously have SFG coverage.
Support and funding
This database functionality and content is serviced in part by the Species File Group.
Terms of use
Unless otherwise noted (e.g. image licenses may vary) all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. (CC-BY)