Macroecological links between the Linnean, Wallacean, and Darwinian shortfalls

Species are the currency of most biodiversity studies. However, many shortfalls and biases remain in our biodiversity estimates, preventing a comprehensive understanding of the eco-evolutionary processes that have shaped the biodiversity currently available on Earth. Biased biodiversity estimates also jeopardize the effective implementation of data-driven conservation strategies, ultimately leading to biodiversity loss. Here, we delve into the concept of the Latitudinal Taxonomy Gradient (LTG) and show how this new idea provides an interesting conceptual link between the Linnean (i.e., our ignorance of how many species there are on Earth), Darwinian (i.e., our ignorance of species evolutionary relationships), and Wallacean (i.e., our ignorance on species distribution) shortfalls. More specifically, we contribute to an improved understanding of LTGs and establish the basis for the development of new methods that allow us to: (i) better account for the integration between different shortfalls and, (ii) estimate how these interactions may affect our understanding about the evolutionary components of richness gradients at macroecological scales.This manuscript is partially derived from a working group on “Biodiversity Shortfalls” held in November 2019 and sponsored by the National Institutes for Science and Technology (INCT) in Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity Conservation (CNPq proc. 465610/2014-5 and FAPEG proc. 201810267000023). JJMG and LEF are supported by Ph.D. and M.Sc. scholarships from CAPES, while LM and RBP are supported by postdoctoral fellowships from CAPES (PNPD). JS was funded by the funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (grant agreement #843234; project: TAXON-TIME) and by the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (IF_ERC). GT and LJ are supported by a DTI fellowships from CNPq, while JAFD-F, LGL, and CJBC are supported by Productivity Grants from CNPq.Peer reviewe

Historical biogeography of the Fanniidae (Insecta, Diptera): A commentary on the age of the family Biogeografia histórica de Fanniidae (Insecta, Diptera): Un comentario sobre la edad de la familia

In a study on Fanniidae biogeography, Dominguez & Roig-Juñent (2011) argued that the family had a Pangeic origin, Late Jurassic/early Cretaceous (~146 Ma). However, recent literature on Diptera supports that Schizophora radiation occurred during Cenozoic. Fanniidae is a widespread taxon and it was interpreted under the maximum vicariance paradigm; the consequence was an analysis with no alternative hypothesis, but Pangeic origin. We verified that Fanniidae historical narrative was incongruent with the Gondwana sequential break-up. A second analysis, assuming the Fanniidae origin during early Paleocene (65 Ma), showed congruence with recent geological events and with the Muscidae diversification, a closely related Muscoidea family. Our hypothesis suggests that the Fanniidae originated in Paleogene and they were affected by few events of vicariance and several expansions during Cenozoic.En un estudio sobre biogeografía de Fanniidae, Domínguez & Roig-Juñent (2011) argumentaron que la familia era de origen Pangeico, Jurásico superior/Cretáceo inferior (~146 Ma). Sin embargo, literatura reciente sobre Diptera, confirma que la radiación de Schizophora ocurrió durante el Cenozoico. Fanniidae es un taxón ampliamente distribuido y fue interpretado bajo el paradigma de máxima vicarianza; la consecuencia, fue un análisis sin hipótesis alternativas, pero de origen pangeico. Nosotros verificamos que la narrativa histórica de Fanniidae es incongruente con la quiebra secuencial de Gondwana. Un segundo análisis, asumiendo el origen de Fanniidae durante el Paleoceno inferior (65 Ma), mostró congruencia con eventos geológicos recientes y con la diversificación de Muscidae, una familia de Muscoidea próximamente relacionada. Nuestra hipótesis sugiere que Fanniidae se originó en el Paleógeno y fueron afectados por pocos eventos de vicarianza y muchas expansiones durante el Cenozoico

Wing shape is influenced by environmental variability in Polietina orbitalis (Stein) (Diptera: Muscidae)

ABSTRACT We measured variation and covariation in wing morphology in six populations of the fly Polietina orbitalis (Stein) (Diptera: Muscidae) to test for geographic morphological structure. Additionally, we examined the role of environmental variables in determining geographic variation in wing shape. We sampled five populations in the state of Paraná, southern Brazil (Colombo, Fênix, Guarapuava, Jundiaí do Sul and Ponta Grossa), and one in Paraguay (Mbaracayú). We choose 15 landmarks to describe the wing shape and size and 19 environmental variables to describe the local environmental conditions. Our results showed that P. orbitalis wing shape, but not size, varies geographically. A canonical variate analysis showed the existence of two clusters of populations based on wing shape. These groups compare populations in which the wing is slender with groups in which the wings are broad. These shape differences were correlated with variation in elevation, precipitation and temperature but were not allometric. Taken together, these results suggest that wing shape differences in P. orbitalis populations are due to a plastic response to local environmental conditions

A key and checklist to the Neotropical forensically important "Little House Flies" (Diptera: Fanniidae)

ABSTRACT Fanniidae (Insecta: Diptera) is a relatively small family (ca. 350 spp.) with five genera, of which Fannia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 and Euryomma Stein, 1899 have Neotropical distributions. Some of these species are almost always found in forensic studies. Forensically relevant species have been neglected, despite recent forensic studies that suggest their importance for estimating post-mortem interval (PMI). Thus, current and updated keys to identify adults or larvae on carcasses are unavailable for the most important species. While immature stages are important in estimating PMI, evidence suggests that adults (Fanniidae as well as other families) may also be useful for this purpose. Here we provide a key to males of the species of Fanniidae (found on corpses and other decomposing organic matter) with a checklist of species that have been used in forensics in the Neotropical region. The key comprises all 38 species of Fannia and Euryomma that have already been successfully used in forensics, and species that are potentially useful for estimating PMI. These records were found after reviews of the literature and data from entomological collections. Photographs and illustrations of the main characters in the key are provided

Figure 3 in Four new species of the genus Trichomyia - subgenus Septemtrichomyia Bravo (Diptera: Psychodidae: Trichomyiinae) from Brazil

Figure 3. (a–k) Trichomyia gabia sp. nov. (a) Head; (b) right wing; (c) arm of gonocoxite, in ventral view; (d) palpus; (e) male terminalia, lateral; (f) tergum VII; (g) cercus, in lateral view; (h) scape, pedicel and basal flagellomeres; (i) cerci, epandrium, hypoproct; (j) male terminalia, dorsal; (k) aedeagus and parameres. Abbreviations: aed = aedeagus, agx = arm of gonocoxite, cer = cercus, ep = epandrium, gst = gonostylus, hyp = hypoproct, pmd = dorsal paramere, pmv = ventral paramere, tgVII = tergum VII.Published as part of <i>Araújo, Maíra Xavier, Dos Santos, Claudiney Biral, Bravo, Freddy & de Carvalho, Claudio J.B., 2017, Four new species of the genus Trichomyia - subgenus Septemtrichomyia Bravo (Diptera: Psychodidae: Trichomyiinae) from Brazil, pp. 1713-1725 in Journal of Natural History 51 (29-30)</i> on page 1718, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2017.1353148, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/5182293">http://zenodo.org/record/5182293</a&gt

Figure 5 in Four new species of the genus Trichomyia - subgenus Septemtrichomyia Bravo (Diptera: Psychodidae: Trichomyiinae) from Brazil

Figure 5. (a–i) Trichomyia menezesi sp. nov. (a) Head; (b) right wing; (c) palpus; (d) cercus, in dorsal view; (e) scape, pedicel and basal flagellomeres; (f) cerci, epandrium, hypoproct; (g) male terminalia, dorsal; (h) tergum VII; (i) bristles of tergum VII (paratype). Abbreviations: aed = aedeagus, agx = arm of gonocoxite, cer = cercus, ep = epandrium, gst = gonostylus, pm = paramere.Published as part of Araújo, Maíra Xavier, Dos Santos, Claudiney Biral, Bravo, Freddy & de Carvalho, Claudio J.B., 2017, Four new species of the genus Trichomyia - subgenus Septemtrichomyia Bravo (Diptera: Psychodidae: Trichomyiinae) from Brazil, pp. 1713-1725 in Journal of Natural History 51 (29-30) on page 1722, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2017.1353148, http://zenodo.org/record/518229