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Aim: Understanding biodiversity patterns is crucial for prioritizing future conservation efforts and reducing the current rates of biodiversity loss. However, a large proportion of species remain undescribed (i.e. unknown biodiversity), hindering our ability to conduct this task. This phenomenon, known as the 'Linnean shortfall', is especially relevant in highly diverse, yet endangered, taxonomic groups, such as insects. Here we explore the distributions of recently described freshwater insect species in Europe to (1) infer the potential location of unknown biodiversity hotspots and (2) determine the variables that can anticipate the distribution of unknown biodiversity. Location: The European continent, including western Russia, Cyprus and Turkey. Methods: Georeferenced information of all sites where new aquatic insect species were described across Europe from 2000 to 2020 was compiled. In order to understand the observed spatial patterns in richness of recently described species, spatial units were defined (level 6 of HydroBASINS) and associated with a combination of a set of socioeconomic, environmental and sampling effort descriptors. A zero‐inflated Poisson regression approach was used to model the richness of newly described species within each spatial unit. Results: Nine hundred and sixty‐six recently described species were found: 398 Diptera, 362 Trichoptera, 105 Coleoptera, 66 Plecoptera, 28 Ephemeroptera, 3 Neuroptera, 2 Lepidoptera and 2 Odonata. The Mediterranean Basin was the region with the highest number of recently described species (74%). The richness of recently described species per spatial unit across Europe was highest at mid‐elevation areas (between 400 and 1000 m), latitudes between 40 and 50° and in areas with yearly average precipitation levels of 500–1000 mm, a medium intensity of sampling effort and low population density. The percentage of protected areas in each study unit was not significantly related to the richness of recently described species. In fact, 70% of the species were found outside protected areas. Main conclusions: The results highlight the urgent need to concentrate conservation efforts in freshwater ecosystems located at mid‐altitude areas and out of protected areas across the Mediterranean Basin. The highest number of newly described species in those areas indicates that further monitoring efforts are required to ensure the aquatic biodiversity is adequately known and managed within a context of growing human impacts in freshwater ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A new species of the genus Athripsodes from the Iberian Peninsula is described and illustrated: Athripsodes alentexanus sp. nov. Adults of the new species are close to those of A. taounate Dakki & Malicky, 1980 and A. ygramul Malicky & Lounaci, 1987, but the shape of their inferior appendages provides the most striking distinction between males of these three species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hitherto unknown larva of Apatania theischingerorum Malicky 1981 is described, based on the association with adult females using sequence data from the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase region. Genetic data confirmed the distinct status of this taxon within the parthenogenetic Apatania muliebris complex (Schmid 1954). We provide information on the morphology of the larva and figure the most important diagnostic features. Apatania theischingerorum is morphologically close to A. fimbriata (Pictet 1834). In the context of the Apataniidae key of Waringer et al. (2015), the species pair can be separated by pleural setation patterns on abdominal segment I and by their distribution ranges in Europe: A. fimbriata is known from the Alps, the western and central highlands, the western plains, the Hungarian lowlands and the Carpathians, whereas A. theischingerorum has been recorded exclusively on the Iberian peninsula.