LutzoDex™—A digital key for Brazilian sand flies (Diptera, Phlebotominae) <br />within an Android App

Abstract

Here we present an Android mobile application (app) for the identification of Brazilian phlebotomine sand fly species. The app, which is named LutzoDex™, relies on information included in a data source with morphological and morphometrical characters. This tool can present up to seven answer options to a question. Images of morphological structures can be referenced to make identification easier, and users can see a list of possible species based on the features they report. Maps are also used to determine the geographical distribution and whether the species is incriminated or suspected as a vector of Leishmania spp. in Brazil. The app is available free of charge in both English and Portuguese in the Google Play Store at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=max.com.lutzodex&amp;hl=pt_BR.

Uma Experiência Interdisciplinar De Projeto De Interface De Sistema Web Para Identificação Taxonômica De Exemplares Durante Pesquisas Em Biociências

“…Os sistemas computacionais de suporte à identificação taxonômica costumam ser chamados de chave interativas ou chaves virtuais. Apesar desse movimento ter começado há décadas, recentemente continuam surgindo novos sistemas computacionais de chave de identificação (Dal Molin;Tavares;Monjardim, 2019;Oliveira et al, 2017;Rocha et al, 2019). Entretanto, essas iniciativas costumam se concentrar em aspectos de Biociências para o conteúdo das chaves e de Ciência da Computação para construção do sistema.…”

Electronic identification keys for species with cryptic morphological characters: a feasibility study using some Thesium species

“…These comparative studies indicate that while electronic identification keys such as interactive photographic keys are effective when identifying charismatic species with large and clear morphological characters, they are often ineffective when identifying enigmatic species with cryptic morphological characters. Here cryptic characters (not to be confused with cryptic species) refer to any morphological character which might cause uncertainty or confusion during the identification process due to one or a combination of the following: (1) very small size [e.g., characteristics of leaf margins and venation in mosses (Stagg et al 2015); minute characters of armoured scale insects (Schneider et al 2019)], (2) obscure nature [e.g., subtle differences in bud colour of winter trees (Stagg and Donkin 2017); metasternum related characters in some parasitoid wasps (Klimmek and Baur 2018)], (3) intra-specific variation [e.g., flower colour variation in the carnivorous plant genus Drosera L. (Drinkwater 2009); pronotum colour variation in ladybirds (Jouveau et al 2018)], and (4) complicated structures associated with terminology that is difficult to interpret [e.g., inflorescences of grasses (Fish et al 2015); thorax morphologies of Brazilian sand flies (Rocha et al 2019)]. The challenge remains to determine which aspects are critical to produce electronic identification keys that can successfully identify species with cryptic morphological characters.…”