Insects as radar targets: Morphometric Data

The dataset contains simple morphometric data (body length, body width, mass) for 597 individual adult, flight-capable, insects from 65 species. For those specimens for which the information is available, dorso-ventral thickness ("depth") and radar cross section data (for a radio frequency of 9.4 GHz) are also provided. The data have been collated from a number of sources, some published and others not previously openly accessible. The dataset was compiled in support of a program of research on the use of radar to observe insects in flight.

Methods
Morphometric data - body length, width, and dorso-ventral thickness (hereafter 'depth') - were obtained by measuring dead specimens with simple instruments with precision in the range 0.1 to 1 mm. Data derive from a number of independent field exercises and laboratory investigations, and instruments and measurement procedures will have varied. Masses were obtained from freshly killed specimens, or from specimens freshly frozen and kept frozen until weighing was possible, to minimise mass loss through dehydration; precision was typically 1 mg. For the radar measurements, see the publications from which these were drawn: these are identified in the related paper.