Behind the data: how the Cicindelidae matrix was built

The first version of the Cicindelidae matrix had 23 characters and covered 144 genera. Version 54 has 194 characters and covers 3,717 taxa. Between v1 and v54 lie 14 full validation cycles, 1,580 verified primary literature citations, and several hundred decisions about what counts as "good enough" data to record.

The 194 characters — what they cover

Characters fall into seven major groups. Morphological characters (habitus, head, labrum, mandibles, pronotum, elytra, legs, tarsi, abdomen, genitalia) form the largest block — 89 characters. Ecological characters (habitat type, activity time, microhabitat) add 18. Biogeographic characters (bioregion, country distribution, elevation range) contribute 22. Phenological characters (flight period by month, seasonal pattern, S0–S6 quality rating) add 14. Larval biology (burrow type, host substrate) contributes 9. Molecular and bibliographic characters complete the matrix.

The hardest decisions

The most difficult calls were what to record as "unknown" vs. "not recorded". A species described from a single 19th-century specimen in a European museum has no ecological data — but it has a mandible, a pronotum, and elytral maculation. Morphological characters can be scored from the type specimen; ecological characters cannot. The matrix uses an explicit quality rating (H/I/M/0) for each data dimension, distinguishing "well-documented" from "inferred" from "absent".

Validation against primary literature

Each major validation cycle cross-checked claims against primary taxonomic literature. The most intensive validation was against Wiesner (2020), Pearson & Vogler (2001), and Bouchard et al. (2011, 2024). Where sources conflict — and they do, frequently, in nomenclature and distribution — the matrix documents the conflict explicitly rather than silently choosing one source.

Version 54

v54 is the pre-press closure version — the version from which the monograph Genera and Subgenera of Tiger Beetles is derived. It represents the most complete treatment of Cicindelidae at genus level since Pearson & Vogler (2001). The full methodology is documented at world-tiger-beetles.com/methodology/.