Unlocking Sclerodermus knowledge: a comprehensive database on this unique quasisocial genus of parasitoids

The genus Sclerodermus is unique among parasitoid Hymenoptera because, unlike most solitary species, it exhibits quasi-social behaviour: groups of females parasitise the host, lay eggs on it and work together to take care of the brood.
Here we have compiled a “Literature-database” of 278 studies from 1800 to 2023. The database was created using different databanks and cataloguing literature from different countries. A total of 28 words were used to form a pool of topics, which were assigned to each publication in order of importance, up to a maximum of four topic words per publication to indicate the principal subjects in the article. Each article was then assigned of one main topic selected among these four. The “Metadata-database” includes metadata from each study in terms of developmental time and brood size. Data (raw and mean) were extrapolated considering also, if detailed, the Sclerodermus species studied, the host species, the number of foundresses, the host size and the rearing conditions in which the tests were carried out (temperature, humidity, and photoperiod). When the data were not explicit in the text or in tables, they were obtained from the graphs, using the ENGAUGER DIGITALIZ application.

Sclerodermus属在寄生性膜翅目昆虫中独具特色，与其他多数独栖物种不同，它表现出准社会行为：一群雌性寄生于宿主身上，在其上产卵，并协同照顾幼虫。本研究汇集了自1800年至2023年的278篇研究文献，该数据库通过整合不同数据存储库及不同国家文献目录而构建。数据库中使用了28个词汇构建主题词库，这些主题词按照重要性顺序分配给每篇出版物，每篇出版物最多可分配四个主题词以指示文章的主要主题。每篇文章随后被分配一个主要主题，该主题从上述四个主题中选取。‘元数据数据库’则包含了每项研究的发展时间和幼虫群体大小的元数据。在数据外推时，亦考虑了研究的Sclerodermus物种、宿主物种、发现者数量、宿主体型以及实验进行的养殖条件（温度、湿度和光照周期）。当文本或表格中数据不明确时，通过ENGAUGER DIGITALIZ应用程序从图表中获取数据。