Beetles of the World is the first comprehensive interactive system for identifying all families, most subfamilies and selected tribes and genera of beetles from any part of the world. Anatomical, biogeographical and ecological information is included for each group, as well as images of representative species and lists of published references.

The database consists of a set of 945 taxa (family, subfamily, tribe or genus), each of which is coded for 324 characters with from 1 to 13 character states (usually 2 or 3). There are 6 additional text characters, which include short statements on geographic distribution, biology (habitat, feeding habits etc.), nomenclature and classification. Also included are images of representative species with their accompanying specimen data and acknowledgments, and a short list of references pertaining to each group.

Features


312 anatomical characters
3200 images
the Beetle Browser, an illustrated tool for finding the names of major beetle body parts
a glossary of terms
What can you do with this interactive system?

identify an adult beetle from any part of the world to family, usually to subfamily and occasionally to tribe or genus
obtain information on distribution, habits and habitat for a particular beetle group
obtain a list of references pertaining to a particular beetle group
produce a printed full description or diagnosis of a particular beetle group
find out the current family name of a taxon (given a name formerly in use)
obtain a list of beetle groups having a particular attribute (e.g. 8-segmented antennae)
obtain a list of beetle groups occurring in particular geographic areas
restrict an identification to one of the geographic areas
System requirements

Windows 95, 98, NT or later
SVGA monitor (1024 x 768 and thousands of colours recommended)
CD-ROM drive
Reviews
". . . this is an extremely useful aid for anybody not only seeking for identification of suprageneric beetle taxa, but also searching for information about beetle morphology, systematics, and even purely pictures of beetles and their lifestyle types."
M. Baehr (SPIXIANA, March 2003)

“Beetles of the World provides not just a very functional interactive key, but a huge and invaluable resource of information on Coleoptera, presented in a way that is useful to the beginner as to the specialist.”
Maxwell M. V. L. Barclay (Systematic Entomology 26, 130-131 2001)

“I have used and tested BW [Beetles of the World] in detail over a relatively long time and found it a very easy, informative and powerful tool for the identification of beetle families and other included taxa as well as an interesting source of knowledge on beetle morphology and taxonomy.”
J Kolibac (European Journal of Entomology, 98 2001)


Related Titles
Beetle Larvae of the World - Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval for Families and Sub-Families
(Windows Version)