DOI: 10.5061/dryad.fqz612jwx
title: CanFlyet: Habitat zone and diet trait dataset for Diptera species of Canada and Greenland

description: True flies (Diptera) are an ecologically important group that play a role
 in agriculture, public health, and ecosystem functioning. As researchers
 continue to investigate this order, it is beneficial to link the growing
 occurrence data to biological traits. However, large-scale ecological
 trait data are not readily available for fly species. While some databases
 and datasets include fly data, many ecologically relevant traits for taxa
 of interest are not included. In this dataset we provide ecological traits
 (habitat and diet) for fly species of Canada and Greenland having
 occurrence records on the Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD). Trait data
 were compiled based on literature searches conducted from April 2021 -
 April 2024 and assigned at the lowest taxonomic level possible. This
 dataset contains trait information for 990 taxa: 981 records identified to
 the species level, and 9 taxa only identified to the genus level. The
 species in the dataset are found across 380 genera, 34 subfamilies, and 61
 families. This dataset allows for assignment of traits to occurrence data
 for Diptera species and can be used for further research into the ecology,
 evolution, and conservation of this order. 
description: The fly species were chosen for inclusion in this dataset by
 first downloading data for Diptera from Canada and Greenland from BOLD
 directly into R using BOLD’s application programming interface (API) on
 June 24th, 2021. The records were filtered based on the requirements
 outlined in Majoros et al. (2023), and the remaining species were chosen
 for analysis and inclusion in this dataset. Additional species from
 Greenland were chosen based on occurrence records from GBIF (GBIF.org
 (June 24th, 2021)) GBIF Occurrence Download
 (https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.mk52hp) and included in the dataset. The
 biological traits for each species were determined and assigned through
 literature searches conducted from April 2021 - April 2024. Through the
 Omni Academic search tool available through the University of Guelph and
 Google Scholar, traits were found using the following search terms: trait
 AND “Taxonomic name”, habitat AND “Taxonomic name”, diet AND “Taxonomic
 name”, “Feeding mode” AND “Taxonomic name”, biology AND “Taxonomic name”,
 “Natural history” AND “Taxonomic name”, “Life history” AND “Taxonomic
 name”, taxonomy AND “Taxonomic name”, catalogue AND “Taxonomic name”, and
 “Field guide” AND “Taxonomic name”. Traits were assigned to the lowest
 taxonomic level possible; however, not all traits could be assigned at the
 species level. For these species, traits were assigned using data from the
 next lowest level available, whether genus, subfamily, or family. The full
 analysis this data was used for is outlined in Majoros et al. (2023) and
 the code is available at
 https://github.com/S-Majoros/Population_Genetic_Structure. 
 Majoros, S.E., Adamowicz, S.J. & Cottenie, K.
 (2023). Novel pipeline for large-scale comparative population genetics.
 bioRxiv. doi: 10.1101/2023.01.23.524574
description: The dataset is provided in three formats. Only the xlsx file
 requires Microsoft Excel to open. All files contain the same dataset and
 information. 
description: # CanFlyet: Habitat Zone and Diet Trait Dataset for Diptera Species of
 Canada and Greenland ## Version history #### Update June 10, 2024 Made
 several formatting changes and corrected errors in the dataset. A
 taxonRank column was added and the referenceNumber column was renamed to
 “Number_of_references_consulted”. #### Update April 29, 2024 Based on
 feedback from peer reviewers, the trait assignments and categories have
 been updated. Additional search terms were added, and an additional
 extensive literature search was conducted resulting in over 400 new
 references. Trait categories were redefined. “Phytophagous” and
 "Omnivore" were removed as categories, and “Leaf/Root/Stem
 Feeding”, “Nectar/Pollen/Honeydew Feeding”, “Detritus and Algae Feeding”,
 “Kleptoparasitic” and “Ployphagous” were added. “Fungivore” has been
 renamed to “Mycophagous”. The “Unclear” category has been added for taxa
 where there is not enough information to make a trait assignment. Taxa may
 now also have two trait categories separated by “or”. In this case, it was
 unclear which was the most common trait category. Due to the new
 literature search and updated trait categories, assigned traits have been
 updated for over 700 species. The traitAssignmentLevel column has been
 split into three columns, one for habitat, adult diet and larval diet.
 This makes it clear which taxonomic level each individual trait assignment
 came from. A notes column was also added to provide some additional
 information and details about the diet and habitat of the taxa. We request
 that researchers cite this paper when using this dataset: Majoros, S.E.
 & Adamowicz, S.J. (2023). CanFlyet: Habitat Zone and Diet Trait
 Dataset for Diptera Species of Canada and Greenland. bioRxiv. doi:
 10.1101/2023.03.15.532812. ## Description of the Data and file structure
 Description: This dataset contains habitat, larval diet, and adult diet
 for True Fly (Diptera) species in Canada. The fly species were chosen for
 inclusion in this dataset by first downloading data for Diptera from
 Canada and Greenland from BOLD directly into R using BOLD’s application
 programming interface (API) on June 24th, 2021. The records were filtered
 based on the requirements outlined in Majoros et al. (2023), and the
 remaining species were chosen for analysis and inclusion in this dataset.
 Additional species from Greenland were chosen based on occurrence records
 from GBIF (GBIF.org (June 24th, 2021), GBIF Occurrence Download
 ([https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.mk52hp](https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.mk52hp))
 and included in the dataset. The biological traits for each species were
 determined and assigned through literature searches conducted from April
 2021 - April 2024. Through the Omni Academic search tool available through
 the University of Guelph and Google Scholar, traits were found using the
 following search terms: trait AND “Taxonomic name”, habitat AND “Taxonomic
 name”, diet AND “Taxonomic name”, “Feeding mode” AND “Taxonomic name”,
 biology AND “Taxonomic name”, “Natural history” AND “Taxonomic name”,
 “Life history” AND “Taxonomic name”, taxonomy AND “Taxonomic name”,
 catalogue AND “Taxonomic name”, and “Field guide” AND “Taxonomic name”.
 Traits were assigned to the lowest taxonomic level possible; however, not
 all traits could be assigned at the species level. For these species,
 traits were assigned using data from the next lowest level available,
 whether genus, subfamily or family. The full analysis this data was used
 for is outlined in Majoros et al. (2023) and the code is available at
 [https://github.com/S-Majoros/Population_Genetic_Structure](https://github.com/S-Majoros/Population_Genetic_Structure). Dataset Contents: Number of columns: 18 Number of rows: 1981 Column List: * id: The serial number for each record. * taxonRank: The taxonomic level the record has been identified to. * order: The order level taxonomic classification. * family: The family level taxonomic classification. * subfamily: The subfamily level taxonomic classification. * genus: The genus level taxonomic classification. * specificEpithet: The species level taxonomic classification. * scientificName: The scientific name of the species. * habitat: The habitat in which the taxon is found. Taxa can be assigned terrestrial (taxa that live primarily in land habitats), aquatic (taxa that live primarily in water bodies or associated habitats) or semi-aquatic (taxa that primarily live in wet habitats and require high levels of moisture and some elements of both terrestrial and aquatic habitats). * traitName: The name of the biological trait. The traits included are adultDiet and larvalDiet. * traitValue: The trait category assigned to the species. Taxa can be assigned Predaceous (taxa who prey on insects or other animals), Mycophagous (those who feed on fungi), Saprophagous (those who feed on decaying organic matter), Nectar/Pollen/Honeydew Feeding (taxa that primarily feed on nectar, pollen and/or honeydew), Parasitic (those who live and feed in or on an organism of another species), Parasitoid (organism whose young develop within a host, eventually resulting in host death), Leaf/Root/Stem Feeding (those who feed on the leaves, roots and/or stems of plants), Detritus and Algae Feeding (those who feed on small particles of algae and detritus), Kleptoparasitic (those who take food and resources from another species), Polyphagous (those who engage in more than three of the other feeding modes), NonFeeding (those who do not feed at the specified life stage), and Unclear (taxa for which there is not enough information to make a trait assignment). The taxa can also be assigned a combination of these categories. In this case, the categories are separated by “and”. For example, “Saprophagous and Predaceous”. For cases where it is unclear which diet is more common, the categories are separated by “or”. For example, “Saprophagous or Predaceous”. * traitAssignmentLevelHabitat: The taxonomic level from which the habitat assignment was obtained and assigned. * traitAssignmentLevelAdultDiet: The taxonomic level from which the adult diet assignment was obtained and assigned. * traitAssignmentLevelLarvalDiet: The taxonomic level from which the larval diet assignment was obtained and assigned. * notes: Additional information on the habitat and diet of the taxa. Information is provided for the lowest taxonomic level used for the trait assignments if available. * basisOfRecord: Where the trait data was obtained from. * Number_of_references_consulted: The number of sources referenced when obtaining the trait information for each taxon. * reference: The title and DOI of the references used for the trait assignment. Full references are included in the manuscript. File Structure: File List: DipteraTraitDataset.csv, DipteraTraitDataset.xlsx, DipteraTraitDataset.tsv File Descriptions: The dataset files contain the habitat and diet for Diptera species from Canada and Greenland. All files contain the same dataset, just with different file formats. ## Sharing/Access Information: This data is also available at [https://github.com/S-Majoros/Diptera_Dataset_Phylogenetic_Tree](https://github.com/S-Majoros/Diptera_Dataset_Phylogenetic_Tree) Data was derived from the sources outlined in Appendix 1 of Majoros & Adamowicz (2023). References: Majoros, S.E. & Adamowicz, S.J. (2023). CanFlyet: Habitat Zone and Diet Trait Dataset for Diptera Species of Canada and Greenland. bioRxiv. doi: 10.1101/2023.03.15.532812. Majoros, S.E., Adamowicz, S.J. & Cottenie, K. (2023). Novel pipeline for large-scale comparative population genetics. bioRxiv. doi: 10.1101/2023.01.23.524574