A semantic model for species description applied to the ensign wasps (hymenoptera: evaniidae) of New Caledonia

Abstract

Taxonomic descriptions are unparalleled sources of knowledge of life's phenotypic diversity. As natural language prose, these data sets are largely refractory to computation and integration with other sources of phenotypic data. By formalizing taxonomic descriptions using ontology-based semantic representation, we aim to increase the reusability and computability of taxonomists' primary data. Here, we present a revision of the ensign wasp (Hymenoptera: Evaniidae) fauna of New Caledonia using this new model for species description. Descriptive matrices, specimen data, and taxonomic nomenclature are gathered in a unified Web-based application, mx, then exported as both traditional taxonomic treatments and semantic statements using the OWL Web Ontology Language. Character:character-state combinations are then annotated following the entity-quality phenotype model, originally developed to represent mutant model organism phenotype data; concepts of anatomy are drawn from the Hymenoptera Anatomy Ontology and linked to phenotype descriptors from the Phenotypic Quality Ontology. The resulting set of semantic statements is provided in Resource Description Framework format. Applying the model to real data, that is, specimens, taxonomic names, diagnoses, descriptions, and redescriptions, provides us with a foundation to discuss limitations and potential benefits such as automated data integration and reasoner-driven queries. Four species of ensign wasp are now known to occur in New Caledonia: Szepligetella levipetiolata, Szepligetella deercreeki Deans and Mikó sp. nov., Szepligetella irwini Deans and Mikó sp. nov., and the nearly cosmopolitan Evania appendigaster. A fifth species, Szepligetella sericea, including Szepligetella impressa, syn. nov., has not yet been collected in New Caledonia but can be found on islands throughout the Pacific and so is included in the diagnostic key.

Figure 1

Workflow for data entry and semantic annotation. Observational and nomenclatural data are edited and stored within the mx web application. These data can be exported as NL descriptions for publication, or as structured data in OWL format. The OWL-formatted description data are referenced within SP annotations entered, using Protégé, into a standalone OWL document.

Figure 2

An OWL/RDF model showing explicit semantic links between natural-language character matrix data, an ontological phenotype representation, and a museum specimen with taxonomic metadata. In (a), a character matrix cell (_:coding_2222) is represented using the CDAO, upper half, linked to a museum specimen (urn:catalog:NCSU:NCSU:34852) described with the Darwin-SW ontology for Darwin Core, lower half. An EQ representation of the phenotype denoted by the given character state has been composed using terms from the HAO and the PATO. The denotes property, from the IAO, is used to bridge observational data artifacts (CDAO data elements) to direct descriptions of organisms (as EQ phenotypes). By applying an OWL 2 DL reasoner to the character matrix model, we can infer phenotypic characteristics of associated specimens (dashed arrow) using an OWL property chain (b).

Figure 3

Brightfield images of the head and anterior thorax in New Caledonian Szepligetella species, lateral view. a) Szepligetella deercreeki Deans and Mikó sp. nov. b) Szepligetella irwini Deans and Mikó sp. nov. presence: absent (Fig. 7e) . . . Szepligetella sericea (Cameron 1883).

Figure 4

Brightfield images of the head and antenna in New Caledonian Evaniidae. a) Szepligetella deercreeki Deans and Mikó sp. nov., head, anterolateral view. b) Evania appendigaster (Linneaus 1758), head, anterolateral view. c) Szepligetella levipetiolata (Turner 1919), head, anterior view. d) Evania appendigaster (Linneaus 1758), head, lateral view. e) Szepligetella irwini Deans and Mikó sp. nov., antenna, lateral view.

Figure 5

Brightfield images and SEM micrographs of the mandible, head capsule and flagellomeres in New Caledonian Evaniidae. a) Evania appendigaster (Linneaus 1758), right mandible, anterior (ventral) view. b) Szepligetella levipetiolata (Turner 1919), right mandible, anterior (ventral) view. c) Evania appendigaster (Linneaus 1758), ventral region of head capsule. d) Szepligetella levipetiolata (Turner 1919), ventral region of head capsule. e) Evania appendigaster (Linneaus 1758), flagellomeres 4–7.

Figure 6

Brightfield images and SEM micrographs of New Caledonian Evaniidae. a) SEM micrograph of Szepligetella levipetiolata (Turner 1919), mesosoma, lateral view. b) Szepligetella levipetiolata (Turner 1919), head and mesosoma, dorsal view. c) Evania apendigaster (Linneaus 1758), mesosoma, lateral view. d) Szepligetella sericea (Cameron 1883). e) Szepligetella deercreeki Deans and Mikó sp. nov., head and mesosoma, posterodorsal view. f) Szepligetella irwini Deans and Mikó sp. nov., habitus, lateral view.

Figure 7

Brightfield images of New caledonian Evaniidae. a) Szepligetella levipetiolata (Turner 1919), left mid and hind tibiae and femora, lateral view. b) Szepligetella irwini Deans and Mikó sp. nov., left mid and hind tibiae and femora, lateral view. c) Evania appendigaster (Linneaus 1758), metapectal–propodeal complex and metasoma, posterolateral view. d) Szepligetella sericea (Cameron 1883), metapectal–propodeal complex and metasoma, posterolateral view. e) Szepligetella deercreeki Deans and Mikó sp. nov., metapectal–propodeal complex and metasoma, posterolateral view. f) Szepligetella deercreeki Deans and Mikó sp. nov., habitus, lateral view.

Figure 8

Brightfield images of the fore wing in New Caledonian Szepligetella species. (a, b) Szepligetella levipetiolata (Turner 1919). (c, d) Szepligetella sericea (Cameron 1883).

Figure 9

Brightfield images of the mesosoma and prosternum in New Caledonian Evaniidae, anterior view (propleura removed). a) Szepligetella levipetiolata (Turner 1919), mesosoma. b) Szepligetella levipetiolata (Turner 1919), prosternum. c) Evania appendigaster (Linneaus 1758), mesosoma. d) Evania appendigaster (Linneaus 1758), prosternum.