PEN: Digitization: Enhancing LepNet: Digitization and integration of significant butterfly and moth collections from the upper Midwest Tension Zone region

鳞翅目（蝴蝶和飞蛾）是地球上最多样化的生物群体之一：全世界大约有160,000种，其中北美约有14,300种。飞蛾和蝴蝶是陆地栖息地的重要组成部分，也是世界上最多样化的植食性动物群体之一。这一昆虫群包括具有重要经济意义的物种。它们的幼崽以对人类有用的植物为食，包括谷物、棉花、烟草、木材和遮荫树。然而，许多成年蝴蝶是有益的传粉者，是保护的象征，如黑脉金斑蝶。鉴于它们的经济重要性和纯粹的美丽，蝴蝶和飞蛾是博物馆收藏中数量最多的昆虫群体之一，但在非联邦收藏的大约1500万标本中，只有一小部分的标本标签信息被数字记录下来，供研究人员和教育工作者查阅。该奖项将允许威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的威斯康星昆虫研究收集（WIRC）与北美网络主题收集网络（LepNet TCN）作为现有网络（PEN）的合作伙伴加入。分隔温带和亚北方生物群的植物区系“张力带”穿过大湖地区；威斯康辛州比其他州拥有更多的这一区域。WIRC的大部分鳞翅目标本都是在威斯康辛州收集的，因此他们的数据将填补我们对美国中西部上部鳞翅目物种知识的重要而关键的空白。该项目将为近7万份北美鳞翅目标本提供数字化和地理参考数据。目前，威斯康星州鳞翅目的记录在LepNet SCAN门户网站中很少。纳入WIRC数据集将显著增加大湖张力带地区大多数鳞翅目超科的物种水平发生数量，从而大大增加生态位建模的目标物种数量。项目人员将开发和实施一个工作流程，包括转录数据，将新的标本记录添加到WIRC现有的指定数据库中。这些数据将通过LepNet SCAN门户网站、iDigBio.org和GBIF.org提供，可供研究、教育和公共使用。此外，还将为中西部紧张地带及其周边地区约1500个鳞翅目成虫样本生成高分辨率图像。参与的本科生和研究生，以及实习生和志愿者，将在数据库工作流程，标本管理，成像和基于收集的研究方面接受培训和指导。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) are one of the most diverse groups of organisms on the planet: worldwide there are approximately 160,000 species, including around 14,300 species in North America. Moths and butterflies are a conspicuous component of terrestrial habitats and one of the most diverse groups of plant-feeding animals worldwide. This insect group includes species of great economic importance. Their juveniles feed on plants useful to humans, including grains, cotton, tobacco, and timber and shade trees. However, many of the adults are beneficial as pollinators and are icons of conservation as evidenced by Monarch butterflies. Given their economic importance and sheer beauty, butterflies and moths are one of the most abundant insect group in museum collections, but only a fraction of the approximately 15 million specimens in non-federal collections have had their specimen label information digitally recorded and accessible to researchers and educators. This award will allow the Wisconsin Insect Research Collection (WIRC) at UW-Madison to join with the Lepidoptera of North America Network Thematic Collection Network (LepNet TCN) as a Partner to Existing Network (PEN). A floristic “Tension Zone” separating temperate and sub-boreal biota passes through the Great Lake Region; Wisconsin contains a greater portion of this zone than any other state in which it is found. The majority of Lepidoptera specimens in the WIRC were collected in Wisconsin and their data will thus fill a significant and critical gap in our knowledge of Lepidoptera species in the upper Midwestern United States.This project will provide digitized and georeferenced data for nearly 70,000 North American Lepidoptera specimens. Currently, Wisconsin records for Lepidoptera are scarce in the LepNet SCAN portal. Inclusion of the WIRC dataset will significantly increase the number of species-level occurrences for the Great Lake Tension Zone region for most Lepidoptera superfamilies, greatly enhancing the target number of species for ecological niche modeling. Project personnel will develop and implement a workflow that involves transcribing data to add new specimen records to the WIRC’s existing Specify database. These data will be available through the LepNet SCAN portal, iDigBio.org, and GBIF.org, where they can be accessed for research, education, and public use. High-resolution images will also be generated for about 1,500 adult exemplar specimens for Lepidoptera species in and around the upper Midwest tension zone. Participating undergraduate and graduate students, as well as interns and volunteers, will be trained and mentored in databasing workflows, specimen curation, imaging, and collections-based research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.