Insektmobilen - National citizen science and DNA metabarcoding survey of flying insects in June 2018 and 2019

Occurrence
Latest version published by GBIF Secretariat on Aug 15, 2025 GBIF Secretariat
Home:
https://insektmobilen.snm.ku.dk/
Publication date:
15 August 2025
Published by:
GBIF Secretariat
License:
CC-BY 4.0

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 181,023 records in English (40 MB) - Update frequency: not planned
Metadata as an EML file download in English (39 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (16 KB)

Description

The Insectmobile (Insektmobilen) is a research project at the National History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, with the goal to investigate the diversity of flying insects in Denmark. In the summer of 2018, 2019 and 2020 almost 400 volunteers collected flying insects using large custom made insect nets mounted on the roof of their cars. The bulk insect samples were processed with a non-destructive DNA extraction DNA metabarcoding protocol (dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.bmunk6ve) and sequences were assigned taxonomy by importing the fasta file into GBIF's sequence ID tool (https://www.gbif.org/tools/sequence-id). The sequences were queried against a 99% clustered version of the BOLD Public Database v2024-01-06 public data (COI-5P sequences). The dataset contains unidentified sequences and potential errors and contaminants. For example, even though the primers used were developed as universal primers targeting freshwater insects, you will find other phyla, classes etc. We share these sequences and associated data for the data to be as open as possible, but please do reannotate sequences and filter the data for your specific needs prior to using the data for analysis. Please be aware that the samples may contain gut content of sampled insects and eDNA. Sequence identification certainty is captured in the identificationRemarks field. The bit score is the required size of a sequence database in which the current match could be found just by chance. The bit score is a log2 scaled and normalized raw score. Each increase by one doubles the required database size (2bit-score). The expect value is a parameter that describes the number of hits one can "expect" to see by chance when searching a database of a particular size. It decreases exponentially as the score of the match increases. Hence, a low expect value is better. How much of the query(input) sequence aligns with the match in the the reference database, in percent. Badges representing different identity thresholds (match types); Blast exact match = identity >= 99% and queryCoverage >= 80%. This is within the threshold of the OTU, Blast ambiguous match = identity >= 99% and queryCoverage >= 80%, but there is at least one more match with similar identity, Blast close match = identity < 99% but > 90% and queryCoverage >= 80%. It is something close to the OTU, maybe the same genus, Blast weak match = there is a match, but with identity < 90% or/and queryCoverage < 80%. Depending on the quality of the sequence, bit score, identity and expect value, a higher taxon could be inferred from this, Blast no match = no match to the reference database.

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 181,023 records.

3 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.

Occurrence (core)
181023
dnaDerivedData 
181117
ExtendedMeasurementOrFact 
181023
Multimedia 
181023

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Svenningsen C, P. Tøttrup A (2025). Insektmobilen - National citizen science and DNA metabarcoding survey of flying insects in June 2018 and 2019. Version 1.11. GBIF Secretariat. Occurrence dataset. https://ipt.gbif.org/resource?r=insektmobilen_citation_test_noresourcedoi&v=1.11

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is GBIF Secretariat. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 966797a7-18f3-40a5-948b-2cedf183d2b8.  GBIF Secretariat publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Secretariat.

Keywords

Occurrence; SamplingEvent; NaturalHistoryCollection; EnvironmentalDnaAndMetagenomics; CitizenScience; Occurrence

Contacts

Cecilie Svenningsen
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator ●
  • Point Of Contact
  • Data administrator
Global Biodiversity Information Facility
DK
Anders P. Tøttrup
  • Originator ●
  • Point Of Contact
  • Associate Professor
Natural History Museum of Denmark
DK
Isabel Calabuig
  • Distributor
  • Node Manager & Data curator
DanBIF, Danish Biodiversity Information Facility
DK

Geographic Coverage

Data was collected in Denmark.

Bounding Coordinates South West [54.648, 8.146], North East [57.584, 15.124]

Taxonomic Coverage

The project targeted flying insects specifically, but a universal primer was used. We have included all sequences and associated taxonomic assignments although some may appear odd, it is our hope that updated reference database may improve the taxonomy of the sequences in the long run and hence their re-usability.

Kingdom Chromista, NA, Plantae, Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda, Rotifera, Nemertea, Annelida, Chordata, Rhodophyta, Oomycota, Echinodermata, Mollusca, Porifera, Tardigrada, Nematoda, Ochrophyta, NA, Cnidaria
Class Protura, Hydrozoa, Haptoglossa, Palaeonemertea, Clitellata, Polychaeta, Florideophyceae, Hoplonemertea, Arachnida, Diplopoda, Mammalia, Pycnogonida, Collembola, Dorylaimida, Gastropoda, Demospongiae, Peronosporea, Chromadorea, Bangiophyceae, Eurotatoria, Insecta, Cypriniformes, NA, Scyphozoa, Malacostraca, Eutardigrada, Crinoidea
Order Symphypleona, Clionaida, Peyssonneliales, Amphipoda, Hildenbrandiales, Hemiptera, Sarcoptiformes, Opiliones, Artiodactyla, Coronatae, Phasmida, Monostilifera, Enchytraeida, Bubarida, Cyprinidae, Bangiales, Gigartinales, Ceramiales, Julida, Ixodida, Crassiclitellata, Thysanoptera, Neuroptera, Longidoridae, Dermaptera, Haplosclerida, Bdelloidea, Anthoathecata, Ephemeroptera, Araneae, Scopalinida, Mesostigmata, Plecoptera, Rhipidiales, Lepidoptera, Leptomitales, Diptera, Cumacea, Entomobryomorpha, Polyxenida, Trichoptera, Polymastiida, Ploima, Pantopoda, Pseudoscorpiones, Phyllodocida, Parachela, Desmacellida, Archinemertea, Littorinimorpha, Poecilosclerida, Orthoptera, Zygentoma, Rhabditida, NA, Coleoptera, Rhodymeniales, Odonata, Mecoptera, Hymenoptera, Comatulida, Saprolegniales, Peronosporales, Psocodea, Trombidiformes, Leptothecata, Albuginales, Stylommatophora, Poduromorpha, Bathynellacea, Isopoda, Protura

Temporal Coverage

Start Date / End Date 2018-06-01 / 2018-06-30
Start Date / End Date 2019-06-01 / 2019-06-30

Project Data

No Description available

Title Insektmobilen
Identifier insektmobilen_DNA
Funding The research project was funded by Aage V. Jensen Naturfond and The Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science, Grant/Award Number: 7072- 00014B

The personnel involved in the project:

Cecilie Svenningsen

Sampling Methods

We recruited citizen scientists to drive with car nets in close proximity to their home address in June and July 2018. The car net was funnel- shaped with a detachable sampling bag at the far end for sample collection. Metal guy- line adjusters enabled adjustment to car length and allowed the net to be used on most car types (Figure 1). The measurements of the net were as follows: front height: 75 cm; front width: 100 cm; length: 140 cm; width of sampling bag: 29 cm; mesh size at the bottom (grey fabric): 2 × 1 mm; and mesh size for the rest of the net (white fabric): ~0.3 mm. Custom tent poles (L: 209 cm, D: 8 mm) supported the opening of the net Citizen scientists were recruited by the Natural History Museum of Denmark (NHMD). The citizen scientists received a simple sampling protocol, and video tutorials and FAQ sheets along with the sampling equipment. Sampling of each route was carried out once during two time intervals on the same day: between 12 and 15 h (midday) and again between 17 and 20 h (evening) with a maximum speed of 50 km/h and weather conditions of at least 15°C, an average wind speed of maximum 6 m/s and no rain. Insects were collected in individual sampling bags that were placed in 96% pure ethanol and stored in double-sealed plastic bags before the citizen scientists sent the samples back to the research institution.

Study Extent Sampling was carried out in Denmark in the month of June of 2018 and 2019.

Method step description:

  1. Please consult the following publications and their supplementary material for more information: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ddi.13532 https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/icad.12694 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0833 https://www.protocols.io/view/insects-and-dna-metabarcoding-insectmobile-laborat-261ge46qdv47/v1

Collection Data

Collection Name Natural History Museum of Denmark
Collection Identifier ACC.NO. 2018-EN-001DK
Specimen preservation methods Alcohol

Bibliographic Citations

  1. Svenningsen, C. S., Peters, B., Bowler, D. E., Dunn, R. R., Bonn, A., & Tøttrup, A. P. (2024). Insect biomass shows a stronger decrease than species richness along urban gradients. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 17(2), 182-188. https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12694