PRINCIPLES OF TAXONOMY

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PRINCIPLES OF TAXONOMY
Interesting tool, need to understand
concept and meaning of ? Taxonomy ?
Systematics ? International code of
nomenclature
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TAXONOMY
(Greek, taxis arranged nomos law) ?
Making and maintaining collection ?
Differentiating species ? Identification (Keys)
and diagnosis of species and genera ?
Naming and describing species and genera
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WHAT IS A KEY ?
? A tool to identify of an unknown organism where
large numbers of taxa are difficult to
distinguish just by using the naked eye
and memory ? An Expert in the relevant field puts
together the information and builds the
key ? The builder of a key must choose features
that best distinguish between taxa. Each feature
has a number of states e.g. pink, yellow, blue
etc. ? Clearly defining these states is crucial
to the efficient working of a key
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DICHOTOMOUS KEY
? Dichotomous key form a series of numbered
questions arranged in couplets as shown
below 1. Antennae shorter than
head2 Antennae as long as or
longer than head3 2. Ocelli present
.4 Ocelli absent
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SYSTEMATICS
(Greek, systema a whole made of several
parts) ? Develops the classification of
organisms ? Species comparison and grouping into
higher categories ? Organisms are
arranged in definite, hierarchical order ?
The order of the system is based on
hypothesis of common descend (Study of
the kinds and diversity of organisms
and the relationships between them)
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TAXONOMIC HIERARCHY
Kingdom Animalia Phylum Arthropoda Class
Insecta Order Hymenoptera Family Apidae Genus
Apis Species mellifera Linn
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DEFINITION of BIOTAXONOMY
Simpson (1961)
Ross (1974)
Study of the kind and diversity of organisms
Integration several aspects of biology
Classification
Synthesis knowledge on biology from the very
beginning of finding, description, naming,
cataloging, and study of distribution
The relationships
Distribution
Evolution perspective
Evolution perspective
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CLASSIFICATION
? Arrangement of organisms into
taxonomic groups ? Natural classifications
are objective Monophyletic vs
Polyphyletic ? Artificial classifications
are subjective (The characters are not
considered in relation to their
Phylogeny)
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Monophyletic (Greek, monos one phyle tribe
ic consisting of)
?All members of which are derived from a common
ancestor and not excluding from an historical
group any descendants of the ancestor of
that groups Polyphyletic (Greek, polys many
phylon race ic of the nature of ) ? A Natural
or genetically cohesive lineage of Taxa
whose most recent common ancestor has given rise
to excluded Taxa of which at least one
of the sister group is only partly
included in the group

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INSECT MORPHOLOGY
VERY IMPORTANT
FOR IDENTIFICATION
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Bogor Reference Collection of Agricultural Insect
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NOMENCLATURE TYPES
? Formation and use of scientific names
? The Linnaean using a combination two words
of binomial scientific name of insects
Common name Honey Bee
Scientific Name Apis mellifera Linn ?
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
(ICZN), rules that must be obeyed ?
Registering all new names, making all new names
unique across Kingdom, and providing
authoritative guidance on the formation
of new names
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NOMENCLATURE TYPES
Guiding principles of the ICZN ?
Availability ? Validity ? Priority first
published name is the correct
one to use ? Typification
Data in the label, put in collection
somewhere, Type specimen
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TYPE AND VOUCHER MATERIAL
? Holotypes, Syntypes, Lectotypes, and Neotypes
are the bearers of the scientific names of all
animal taxa. ? International standards of
reference provide objectivity in zoological
nomenclature ? Types specimen or specimens should
be deposited in a reputable scientific
institution ? It is good practice to deposit
voucher specimens of any organisms studied and
published research papers on an institutional
collection, even if they are not new species
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THE TYPE A voucher specimen, providing a fixed
reference to the named taxon for all time
? HOLOTYPE A single specimen chosen as the
nomenclature type ?
SYNTYPES Two or more specimens included in the
type series, on which a description
of a new species is based ?
LECTOTYPE a single specimen selected from
syntypes of a previously described
species to serve as the
equivalent of the holotype ? NEOTYPE a
specimen chosen to fix the identity of
a previously described species whose
original type material has been
lost or destroyed.
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DATA TYPES
? Morphology Behaviour, Ecology, Distribution,
and Life cycle ? Embryology ? Physiology ?
Paleontology ? Genetics ? Biochemistry ?
Molecular data- DNA, protein sequencing ? Host-
Parasite relationships
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SPECIATION AND VARIATION
? Cryptic species species very difficult to
separate ? Subspecies ? Sibling species ?
Geographic variation size, available of food,
pattern ? Morphs social insect. Termites,
ants ? Sexual dimorphism wasps ? Races
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PHYLOGENY
? Phylogenetic systematic is a method of
systematic coherently formulated by Hennig
( 1950 1966 ). ? Cladistic methods, are used to
reconstruct the evolutionary history of
organisms ? Cladistic is important for
systematists when they construct
classification ? Phylogenetic tree a common
ancestors are identified
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REFERENCES
?Winston, J.E. 1999. Describing Species
Practical Taxonomic Procedure for Biologiests.
Columbia University Press. New York. 518pp ?
Quicke, D.L.J. 1993. Principles and Techniques of
Contemporary Taxonomy. Blackie Academic
Prefessional. London, New York, Tokyo,
Melbourne-Madras. 311pp ?Insect 2000.
(http//www.sp2000.org)
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Indo-Australasian leafhopper workers gather in Orange to develop web-based diagnostic systems for leafhopper determination.

The value of the internet for sharing information is being realised for leafhopper taxonomists with the development of web-based keys and comprehensive checklists for the leafhoppers and planthoppers of Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. The keys, which have been under development since February 1999, currently cover the Australian and New Zealand faunas with the Indonesian fauna currently under study. Gathering in Orange to plan future developments of the package are (from Left to Right Sri Suharni Siwi (CRIFC, Bogor, Indonesia), Murray Fletcher (NSW Agriculture, Australia) and Marie-Claude Larivière (Landcare Research, New Zealand).