Welcome to SPIDA-web

An identification system developed by Martin T. Do and Kimberly N. Russell

*The ID engine for the males is not functional at this time (11/05). We hope to have it up this winter.

How the system works

You will initially be asked to log in. To get an account, just send an e-mail request.
Once logged in, you will be presented with a menu that will allow you to upload an image from your hardrive. Be sure to select the appropriate sex and view.
Click on the 'submit' button.
You will be presented
- EITHER with the top three matches, listed in order of confidence. Information on all species will automatically be uploaded from a database.
- OR a message stating that your image is likely from a species not included in our system. [Keep in mind that 33 species are represented by only one sex (the other sex has yet to be described)]
- OR an error message (if your image is the wrong shape, size or type).
**The accuracy of identifications is dependent on the quality and size of the training set, i.e., the more individuals used to train the ANN, the more likely the system will be able to accurately generalize. All species which have less than 20 individuals in the training set are identified by the warning "Warning: Species had limited data for training ".

**IF the closest match found is from a rare species (rare = less than 3 individuals in the training set), you will recieve an alert message "Warning: Species had insufficient data for training". User discretion should be used in this case, as we are unable to predict the accuracy of such identifications.

RELEVANT STRUCTURES for identification [adult specimens only!]
- FEMALES: the epigynum
- MALES: the pedipalp
IMAGE PRE-PROCESSING
- General image requirements
  - Image should be cropped square
  - Image should be 51 x 51 pixels
  - Image should be converted to grayscale
  - Image should be in JPEG or TIFF format
- Positioning: FEMALES
  - Center the structure and crop out as much of the background as possible (use image below as a guide)
  - Moderate image processing is acceptable, e.g., contrast, brightness (generally, if it makes the features stand out, it will help with the ID).
- Positioning: MALES
  - You must submit a ventral and retrolateral view of the pedipalp (see examples below). To help with standardization, use a guide to rotate the retrolateral view such that most of the cymbium (hairy portion) is on the right hand side and most of the bulb is on the left.
  - Use the left palpus if possible. Otherwise, you will need to flip the image before submission in an image processing program.
  - Do what you can to eliminate the background, especially if it is textured.
Click here for tips using Adobe Photoshop CS