REVSYS: Revisionary Synthesis of the Leafhopper Tribe Empoascini (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae)

该项目将使用新开发的电子工具来综合有关Empoascini叶蝉部落大约1000种的形态、地理分布和分类命名的信息。这个叶蝉部落是一个生态和经济上重要的植物吸液昆虫群体，分布在世界各地。物种鉴定目前很困难，因为相关信息要么分散在文献中，要么未发表，仅存在于博物馆标本标签上。该项目的具体目标包括：(1)将每个物种的形态和分布数据输入到一个可访问互联网的关系数据库中；(2)利用数据库建立联机交互识别键、物种描述、分布图和主-植物关联表；(3)出版传统属、种分类学专著；(4)升级作为先前REVSYS项目的一部分开发的分类软件，使其更加通用和用户友好。通过为分类修订研究提供改进的电子工具，该项目将有助于消除生物研究的分类障碍，使分类学家能够更有效地制作修订和识别密钥。通过综合生态数据并首次对这一大型植食昆虫群体进行综合分类处理，该项目将促进对具有实际或潜在经济重要性的物种的检测、鉴定和管理。

This project will use newly developed electronic tools to synthesize information on the morphology, geographic distribution, and taxonomic nomenclature for the approximately 1,000 species of the leafhopper tribe Empoascini. This leafhopper tribe is an ecologically and economically important group of plant sap-sucking insects distributed worldwide. Identification of species is currently difficult because relevant information is either scattered throughout the literature or unpublished, existing only on museum specimen labels. Specific goals of this project include (1) entering morphological and distributional data for each species into an internet-accessible relational database; (2) using the database to create on-line interactive identification keys, species descriptions, distribution maps, and tables of host-plant associations; (3) publishing traditional taxonomic monographs for genera and species of Empoascini; and, (4) upgrading taxonomic software developed as part of a previous REVSYS project to make it more versatile and user-friendly.By providing improved electronic tools for taxonomic revsionary studies, this project will help remove the taxonomic impediment to biological research by enabling taxonomists to become more efficient at producing revisions and identification keys. By synthesizing ecological data and providing the first comprehensive taxonomic treatment of this large group of plant-feeding insects, the project will facilitate detection, identification, and management of species of actual or potential economic importance.