Description :
Dataset comprises historical records from circa 1970 to 2019, focusing on Togo, Benin and Nigeria but with some additional material from further countries in tropical Africa.
The biodiversity centre of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Benin (IITA) houses together with the IFAN museum at Dakar, Senegal one of the largest collection of insects in West Africa. The geographic scope of the collection is mainly Benin, Nigeria and Togo with additional material from various countries in tropical Africa. It constitutes the largest non-plant biodiversity repository within all research centers of the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
The IITA insect collection includes to date more than 370,000 specimens and belongs to the few actives of its kind in the subregion. Roughly 6,000 species from 335 insect families have been identified from the sampled material, of which the Coleoptera and Lepidoptera build the most biodiverse orders with 2300 and 1200 identified species, respectively. On-going research on Diptera focusses mainly on Tephritidae but also on pollinating flies in the framework of a collaborative project (Pollinator Information Network for Two-Winged Insects (PINDIP)) (link to: https://www.pindip.org/) involving several Africa based taxonomic institutions and lead by the Royal Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium.
Link GBIF portal : https://www.gbif.org/dataset/781747f1-ebab-4eb0-beaf-1f88b3cfd65d
Project :
Title : PINDIP
Abstract : The PINDIP project, funded by the JRS Biodiversity Foundation, and headed by the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RCMA), will help redress that gap for sub-Saharan Africa, by partnering with museums in Africa to digitize and publish existing records on the group of insects known as Diptera (flies and mosquitoes), and increase the size and value of museum collections through field collections, and by documenting pollination interaction webs for the group. The Diptera families of interest are Bombyliidae, Calliphoridae, Mythicomyiidae, Nemestrinidae, Rhiniidae, Syrphidae and Tabanidae. The African institutions involved are: International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE, Nairobi, Kenya), National Museums of Kenya (NMK, Nairobi, Kenya), KwaZulu-Natal Museum (NMSA, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa), National Museum Bloemfontein (BMSA, Bloemfontein, South Africa), South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI, Pretoria, South Africa), and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA, Cotonou, Benin).
The PINDIP project, funded by the JRS Biodiversity Foundation and hosted at the Royal Museum for Central Africa, includes mobilization of Afrotropical pollinating fly (Diptera) data as a primary output. The Syrphidae dataset from IITA comprises approximately 2.600 specimens, predominantly from on Togo, Benin and Nigeria, and is a key output for this project. All associated specimens are housed at IITA Biodiversity Centre, Cotonou, Benin.
Funding : JRS Biodiversity Foundation
Contact : Jordaens Kurt (ADMINISTRATIVE_POINT_OF_CONTACT)
French Version
