Alan Brindle’s contribution to UK Diptera recording as revealed in the Manchester Museum card index

By Phil Brighton

Summary

Alan Brindle (1915–2001), former Keeper of Entomology at the Manchester Museum, made significant contributions to British Diptera recording. This report analyses his personal card index of 1,756 cards (8,342 records covering 988 species), recently scanned and transcribed through a project involving the author, the Tanyptera Project, RECORD and Manchester Museum. The data were standardised, georeferenced, taxonomically updated using the UK Species Inventory, and analysed in R to examine temporal, taxonomic, and geographic patterns. Results show strongest coverage for craneflies and other larger Diptera, reflecting Brindle’s research interests. Recording peaked in the 1950s and again in the early 1970s, with activity concentrated in Lancashire, Cheshire, and nearby regions but including notable surveys at sites such as Malham and Blean Woods. The dataset clarifies Brindle’s long-term national contribution and provides an important resource for completing regional Diptera checklists and supporting future biological recording work.

Supporting files

Raw data extracted from the Card index:

ABC_data (XL file)

Scanned Diptera card index (PDF downloads):

AB2_1(Trichoceridae-Scatopsidae)

AB2_2(Cecidomyiidae-Empididae)

AB2_3(Dolichopodidae-Conopidae)

AB3_1(Tephritidae-Clusiidae)

AB3_2(Odiniidae-Calyptratae)

AB1_1_Tipulidae(A-L)

AB1_2_Tipulidae(M-U)

Card index credits