Help Using the MCZ Type Database
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Quick search

"Quick search" field allows for rapid searching using such criteria as the family, genus, species, author, and year of the current combination. DO NOT use "and" or "or" operators (the default operator is "and"). If you cannot find what you are looking for using "Quick search", go to full "Search" screen.

Search tips

1. Searching is case-insensitive.

2. Use the "Name" field to enter a family, genus, species, author, or year of the original combination; you can combine any or all of the search criteria e.g., typing Buprestis Horn in the "Name" field will result in a list of species of Buprestis described by Horn but not by LeConte or other authors.

3. You can use the following symbols to perform more advanced searches:

"=" sign followed by a word will look for the exact spelling e.g., =Mantis will find all species of the genus Mantis but not Mantispa

"*"sign followed by a combination of letters will find all records having entries ending in this combination e.g., *cephalus will find Conocephalus, Brachycephalus etc.

"*"sign inserted between two combinations of letters will find all records having entries beginning and ending with these combinations e.g., v*sus will find vitosus, variolosus etc.

4. To speed up the searches try to use multiple criteria to limit the number of found records- the greatest time is spent in sorting large numbers of records.

Notes about data

1. The "Current name" information is not complete for all taxa; if the search does not produce any results use the "Name" field.

2. The "Label" data should be treated with great caution: the information in the field is a direct transliteration of the writing on the type labels, and as such is often incomplete, e.g., a search for United States will produce no results since only the states or their abbreviations (frequently nonstandard) are included on the labels.

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