Mantodea, Blattodea, Orthoptera, Dermaptera, and Phasmida of Canada

In the last 40 years, the number of species in the orthopteroid orders has increased by ~10% from that known in 1979. The largest order, the Orthoptera, has increased from 205 to 235 species known in Canada. The number of Blattodea has increased from 14 to 18 species, while Dermaptera has increased from 5 to 6 species. The number of species of Mantodea (3) and Phasmida (1) known in Canada have remained unchanged. Most new species records reported in Canada since 1979 have resulted from new collections along the periphery of the range of more widespread species. Some species reported since 1979 are recent introductions to Canada, including species restricted to homes or other heated buildings. The taxonomy of these orders has also changed, with only the Dermaptera having maintained its order definition since the 1979 treatment. Additional orthopteroid species are likely to occur in Canada, particularly in the orders Orthoptera and Blattodea. DNA barcodes are available for more than 60% of the species known to occur in Canada

Remarkable fly (Diptera) diversity in a patch of Costa Rican cloud forest : Why inventory is a vital science

Study of all flies (Diptera) collected for one year from a four-hectare (150 x 266 meter) patch of cloud forest at 1,600 meters above sea level at Zurqui de Moravia, San Jose Province, Costa Rica (hereafter referred to as Zurqui), revealed an astounding 4,332 species. This amounts to more than half the number of named species of flies for all of Central America. Specimens were collected with two Malaise traps running continuously and with a wide array of supplementary collecting methods for three days of each month. All morphospecies from all 73 families recorded were fully curated by technicians before submission to an international team of 59 taxonomic experts for identification. Overall, a Malaise trap on the forest edge captured 1,988 species or 51% of all collected dipteran taxa (other than of Phoridae, subsampled only from this and one other Malaise trap). A Malaise trap in the forest sampled 906 species. Of other sampling methods, the combination of four other Malaise traps and an intercept trap, aerial/hand collecting, 10 emergence traps, and four CDC light traps added the greatest number of species to our inventory. This complement of sampling methods was an effective combination for retrieving substantial numbers of species of Diptera. Comparison of select sampling methods (considering 3,487 species of non-phorid Diptera) provided further details regarding how many species were sampled by various methods. Comparison of species numbers from each of two permanent Malaise traps from Zurqui with those of single Malaise traps at each of Tapanti and Las Alturas, 40 and 180 km distant from Zurqui respectively, suggested significant species turnover. Comparison of the greater number of species collected in all traps from Zurqui did not markedly change the degree of similarity between the three sites, although the actual number of species shared did increase. Comparisons of the total number of named and unnamed species of Diptera from four hectares at Zurqui is equivalent to 51% of all flies named from Central America, greater than all the named fly fauna of Colombia, equivalent to 14% of named Neotropical species and equal to about 2.7% of all named Diptera worldwide. Clearly the number of species of Diptera in tropical regions has been severely underestimated and the actual number may surpass the number of species of Coleoptera. Various published extrapolations from limited data to estimate total numbers of species of larger taxonomic categories (e.g., Hexapoda, Arthropoda, Eukaryota, etc.) are highly questionable, and certainly will remain uncertain until we have more exhaustive surveys of all and diverse taxa (like Diptera) from multiple tropical sites. Morphological characterization of species in inventories provides identifications placed in the context of taxonomy, phylogeny, form, and ecology. DNA barcoding species is a valuable tool to estimate species numbers but used alone fails to provide a broader context for the species identified.Peer reviewe

Comprehensive inventory of true flies (Diptera) at a tropical site

Peer reviewe

Comprehensive inventory of true flies (Diptera) at a tropical site

Estimations of tropical insect diversity generally suffer from lack of known groups or faunas against which extrapolations can be made, and have seriously underestimated the diversity of some taxa. Here we report the intensive inventory of a four-hectare tropical cloud forest in Costa Rica for one year, which yielded 4332 species of Diptera, providing the first verifiable basis for diversity of a major group of insects at a single site in the tropics. In total 73 families were present, all of which were studied to the species level, providing potentially complete coverage of all families of the order likely to be present at the site. Even so, extrapolations based on our data indicate that with further sampling, the actual total for the site could be closer to 8000 species. Efforts to completely sample a site, although resource-intensive and time-consuming, are needed to better ground estimations of world biodiversity based on limited sampling

A revision of the genus Rudolfina Roháček (Sphaeroceridae: Limosininae)

The genus Rudolfina Roháček, 1987 is revised and redefined with the description of the following nine new species, all from the New World: R. bucki sp. nov. (Mexico), R. exuberata sp. nov. (widespread, from USA to Brazil), R. howdeni sp. nov. (Mexico), R. megepandria sp. nov. (Mexico), R. newtoni sp. nov. (Mexico), R. pauca sp. nov. (Guatemala, Mexico), R. pilosa sp. nov. (Mexico), R. remiforma sp. nov. (Mexico) and R. tumida sp. nov. (Mexico, USA). Rudolfina is compared to closely related genera in the Archiceroptera genus complex, which in turn is recognized as part of a large, mostly Neotropical clade including Robustagramma Marshall & Cui, 2005, Pterogramma Spuler, 1924, Aptilotella Duda, 1924, Bitheca Marshall, 1987, Bromeloecia Spuler, 1924 and Archiceroptera Papp, 1977

Fig. 21 in A revision of the genus Rudolfina Roháček (Sphaeroceridae: Limosininae)

Fig. 21. Distribution of species of New World Rudolfina Roháček, 1987. A. R. cavernicola Marshall & Fitzgerald, 1997, R. digitata Marshall, 1991 and R. tumida sp. nov. B. R. bucki sp. nov., R. megepandria sp. nov. and R. howdeni sp. nov. C. R. pauca sp. nov., R. pilosa sp. nov., R. newtoni sp. nov. and R. remiforma sp. nov. D. R. exuberata sp. nov.Published as part of Paiero, Steven Mark & Marshall, Stephen A., 2020, A revision of the genus Rudolfina Roháček (Sphaeroceridae: Limosininae), pp. 1-48 in European Journal of Taxonomy 593 on page 44, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2020.593, http://zenodo.org/record/365977

First record of Paintedhand Mudbug (Lacunicambarus polychromatus) in Ontario and Canada and the significance of iNaturalist in making new discoveries

Paintedhand Mudbug (Lacunicambarus polychromatus (Thoma, Jezerinac & Simon 2005)) (Decapoda: Cambaridae) was recently discovered at three locations in Windsor, Ontario. These represent the first reports of this burrowing crayfish in Canada. iNaturalist, a nature app and website designed to record photo-based observations of plants and animals, was instrumental in facilitating this discovery. We discuss the importance of collaborative platforms, such as iNaturalist, for linking naturalists and citizen scientists to taxonomic experts around the globe

New species and distributional records of Aleocharinae (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) from Ontario, Canada, with a checklist of recorded species

The Aleocharinae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) of Ontario were reviewed in the context of recently studied material, primarily from insect surveys conducted by the University of Guelph Insect Collection (Ontario, Canada). Aleochara daviesi Klimaszewski & Brunke sp. n., Agaricomorpha websteri Klimaszewski & Brunke sp. n., Atheta (Microdota) alesi Klimaszewski & Brunke sp. n., Dinaraea backusensis Klimaszewski & Brunke sp. n., and Strigota obscurata Klimaszewski & Brunke sp. n. are described as new to science. We also report 47 new Ontario records and 24 new Canadian records. Callicerus rigidicornis (Erichson) and Alevonota gracilenta (Erichson) are newly reported from North America as adventive species. A checklist, with Canadian distributions by province, of the 224 species of Aleocharinae known from Ontario is given. The following species are placed in subjective synonymy with Dexiogyia angustiventris (Casey): (De. asperata (Casey) syn. n., De. abscissa (Casey) syn. n., De. tenuicauda (Casey) syn. n., De. intenta (Casey) syn. n., De. alticola (Casey) syn. n.). The following species are placed in subjective synonymy with Acrotona subpygmaea (Bernhauer): (Ac. avia (Casey) syn. n., Ac. puritana (Casey) syn. n.). Lectotypes are designated for Thiasophila angustiventris Casey, Th. asperata Casey, Ischnoglossa intenta Casey, Oxypoda rubescans Casey, Chilopora americana Casey, Chilopora fuliginosa Casey, Coprothassa smithi Casey, Atheta subpygmaea Bernhauer, Colpodota puritana Casey, Strigota seducens Casey, Trichiusa compacta Casey, Trichiusa hirsuta Casey and Trichiusa robustula Casey