Ladybird Beetle Records in Belgium with Habitat and Substrate Data

Belgian territory is covered by a dataset of approximately 80,000 records of ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae). The data, maintained by the Belgian Ladybird Working Group Coccinula, originates from a merge of four regional databases, museum collections, and literature, with records dating from 1800 onward. Collection events include species, counts, life stage, date, location, and habitat details, with geographic coverage for at least 85% of 5x5km UTM grid cells in Belgium.

Use Cases

• Modeling species distribution and habitat suitability based on location, habitat type, and surrounding landscape data.
• Analyzing temporal population trends for native ladybird species based on observation dates spanning over two centuries.
• Studying the association between ladybird beetles and specific substratum plants noted in the records.
• Evaluating sampling method effectiveness (e.g., sweep nets, light traps) based on recorded collection techniques.

Strengths

• Approximately 80,000 records provide substantial observational data.
• Spatial coverage is extensive, with records for at least 85% of all 5x5km UTM grid cells (N=1376) in Belgium.
• Data includes multiple habitat and environmental variables such as substratum plants, sampling method, and soil type.
• Long temporal range, with records compiled from 1800 onwards, including 15% from museum collections and literature.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• The published dataset is stated to contain only the original INBO database, suggesting the full merged dataset may not be available.

Provenance

Source

Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Belgian Ladybird Working Group Coccinula, and merged regional databases.

Collection Method

Merged from four sources: INBO database, DFF database, Observations.be data, and the Walloon Region Online Encoding Tool. Data collected via field surveys by over 500 volunteers using methods like sweep nets and visual search.

Time Range

Records from 1800 onwards.

Geography

Belgium (Flemish Region, Walloon Region, Brussels Capital Region).