Phenotypes in Insect Biodiversity Research

This chapter provides a state-of-the-art report on ontology based efforts to generate more accessible phenotype data and some insights into challenges and barriers to effective implementation of semantic approaches in phenotype representation. Phenotypes have long been the primary data for classifying biodiversity. Even a casual reading of Aristotle’s History of Animals, arguably one of the first hierarchical, scientific classifications of life, reveals rich descriptions of arthropod phenotypes. Insect biodiversity research already uses ontologies, yet there remains some nescience or even skepticism regarding their application. The chapter provides use-cases that serve as examples where data generation and the process of discovery could benefit from an ontological approach. The default approach to describing phenotypes is currently natural language, and most researchers assume that the subtleties and extent of many characteristics can adequately be described only in prose.