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Title: A hymenopterist’s guide to the Hymenoptera Anatomy Ontology: utility, clarification, and future directions

Author
item SELTMANN, K. - North Carolina State University
item YODER, M. - North Carolina State University
item MIKO, I. - North Carolina State University
item FORSHAGE, M. - The Swedish Museum Of Natural History
item BERTONE, M. - North Carolina State University
item AGOSTI, D. - Plazi
item AUSTIN, A. - University Of Adelaide
item BALHOFF, J. - North Carolina State University
item BOROWIEC, M. - University Of California
item BRADY, S. - Smithsonian Institute
item BROAD, G. - Natural History Museum - London
item BROTHERS, D. - University Of Kwazulu-Natal
item BURKS, R. - The Ohio State University
item Buffington, Matthew
item CAMPBELL, H. - North Carolina State University
item DEW, K. - North Carolina State University
item ERNST, A. - North Carolina State University
item FERNANDEZ-TRIANA, J. - Agriculture Canada
item Gates, Michael
item GIBSON, G.A. - Agriculture Canada
item JENNINGS, J. - University Of Adelaide
item JOHNSON, N. - The Ohio State University
item KARLSSON, D. - Station Linne
item KAWADA, R. - Universidad De Sao Paulo
item KROGMANN, L. - State Museum Of Natural History
item MULLINS, P. - North Carolina State University
item OHL, M. - Humboldt University
item RASMUSSEN, C. - Aarhus University
item RONQUIST, F. - The Swedish Museum Of Natural History
item SCHULMEISTER, S. - Ludwig-Maximilians University
item SHARKEY, M. - University Of Kentucky
item TALAMAS, E. - University Of Kwazulu-Natal
item VIHELMSEN, L. - University Of Copenhagen
item WARD, P. - University Of California
item WHARTON, R. - Texas A&M University
item DEANS, A. - North Carolina State University
item Kula, Robert

Submitted to: Journal of Hymenoptera Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/18/2012
Publication Date: 5/31/2012
Citation: Seltmann, K.C., Yoder, M.J., Miko, I., Forshage, M., Bertone, M.A., Agosti, D., Austin, A.D., Balhoff, J.P., Borowiec, M.L., Brady, S.J., Broad, G.R., Brothers, D.J., Burks, R.A., Buffington, M.L., Campbell, H.M., Dew, K.J., Ernst, A.F., Fernandez-Triana, J.L., Gates, M.W., Gibson, G.P., Jennings, J.T., Johnson, N.F., Karlsson, D., Kawada, R., Krogmann, L., Mullins, P.L., Ohl, M., Rasmussen, C., Ronquist, F., Schulmeister, S., Sharkey, M.J., Talamas, E., Vihelmsen, L., Ward, P.S., Wharton, R.A., Deans, A.R., Kula, R.R. 2012. A hymenopterist’s guide to the Hymenoptera Anatomy Ontology: utility, clarification, and future directions. Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 27:67-88.

Interpretive Summary: The bees, wasps, and their relatives are amongst the most species diverse of insect groups. Scientific papers that focus on these insects often disagree on terminology used to describe body parts and anatomy. This paper draws together the authorities that specialize on taxonomy of bees and wasps to agree upon a system used to describe anatomical parts, thereby reducing confusion and improving communication amongst scientists. The users of this paper include other researchers in bees and wasps, as well as extension agents, biological control researchers, and port identifiers of invasive species.

Technical Abstract: Hymenoptera exhibit an incredible diversity of phenotypes, the result of ~240 million years of evolution and the primary subject of more than 250 years of research. Here we describe the history, development, and utility of the Hymenoptera Anatomy Ontology (HAO) and its associated applications. These resources are designed to facilitate accessible and extensible research on hymenopteran phenotypes. Conceptually, we discuss the roles of homology, “preferred terms”, and “structural equivalency”, with respect to the HAO. We also outline the use of Universal Resource Identifiers (URIs) and posit that they are a key element necessary for increasing the objectivity and repeatability of science that references hymenopteran anatomy. Pragmatically, we detail a mechanism (the “URI table”) by which authors can use URIs to link their published text to the HAO, and we describe an associated tool (the “Analyzer”) to derive these tables. These tools, and others, are available through the HAO Portal website (http://portal.hymao.org). We conclude by discussing the future of the HAO with respect to digital publication, cross-taxon ontology alignment, the advent of semantic phenotypes, and community-based curation.