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Recently, a species ofOrthoceratiumwas collected in Greece that differs morphologically from the European species commonly presumed to beOrthoceratiumlacustre(Scopoli, 1763). Verification of the identity of the Greek species through comparison with 460 specimens ofOrthoceratiumfrom 17 West Palaearctic and one Afrotropical country, and examination of existing type material, revealed that the species recognized asO.lacustrein northwestern Europe for over 250 years is actuallyO.sabulosum(Becker, 1907), the other known species in the genus, which was originally described from Tunisia. Although the types ofO.lacustrehave been lost, a comparison of the distribution ranges of both species in Europe provided evidence that the species collected in Greece is conspecific withO.lacustre. Both species have distinct distributions in the West Palaearctic, withO.lacustrelargely restricted to the northern border of the Mediterranean basin, andO.sabulosummore widespread, occurring in northwestern Europe, the western, southern, and eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East, and the Afrotropical Region (Tanzania). Both species are redescribed and fully illustrated, a neotype is designated forO.lacustreand a lectotype forO.sabulosum, and a key to males and females is provided. The misidentifications that lasted for over two centuries are explained by the omission by previous authors to study the type specimens, and inaccuracies in species descriptions and keys.

During the “Our Planet Reviewed” French Guiana 2014-2015 expedition, Diptera were collected in seven habitat types over an approximately 1 km2 area in the Mitaraka Mountains of southwestern French Guiana. Sixteen collecting methods were used, seven of which yielded multiple samples containing Dolichopodidae. The survey produced a total of 4918 specimens of Dolichopodidae, belonging to 244 morphospecies, 31 genera including four new ones, and 10 recognized subfamilies. This is the highest dolichopodid species richness thus far recorded from a single location anywhere in the world. Three taxa could be identified to species level and all represent first records for French Guiana. Paraclius Loew, 1864, Chrysotus Meigen, 1824 and Medetera Fischer von Waldheim, 1819 were the most speciose genera. Paraclius represented by 50 species, exhibited an unprecedented species richness, mainly in the palm swamps. The three most productive methods in terms of numbers of specimens collected (68% of all specimens obtained using the three methods combined), SLAM traps, sweep nets, and a 6 m long Malaise trap, each yielded between 78 and 90 species, with approximately half of the species from each trap type unique to that method. Both blue, white or yellow pan traps, on the contrary, captured less than 20 species, and overall yellow traps were clearly the least efficient. Pan trap yields, however, were severely affected by repeated heavy rainfall. The highest species richness was recorded around the drop zone and in the base camp, on river banks and in river bank forests, with 40 to 60% of species unique to one of these habitat types. Forty-five species were collected on ‘savanes roches’, and 14 species on inselbergs, with four species shared by both types of rocky outcrops and uniquely found on them.

Nanium Townes, 1967 is a small New World parasitoid wasp genus in the subfamily Ctenopelmatinae Förster, 1869 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). Previously, it comprised five species: one from North America and four from Costa Rica. The current study reviews the Neotropical species of the genus, and includes descriptions of two new species, N. medianum Reshchikov & Sääksjärvi sp. nov. from Ecuador and N. atitlanensis Reshchikov & Sääksjärvi sp. nov. from Guatemala. A key to the species is provided.

This article introduces the biodiversity survey “Our Planet Reviewed” in the south of French Guiana organized in February–March and August 2015. It has enabled more than 50 scientists to inventory the following groups: Actinopterygii, Amphibia, Annelida, Arachnida, Insecta, Mollusca and Squamata, with a particular effort on diverse and little-known orders, such as Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera and Hymenoptera. The forested area under investigation presents a mosaic of hills and inselbergs, with a wide variety of ecosystems. The main objectives were to discover new species for science, report first records for French Guiana, and establish a baseline inventory for biogeographic studies. The organisation of the field trip and post-field phase are supported by coordinators of major taxonomic groups. Authorisations and associated commitments, including Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) are specified. The sampling effort, in terms of number and diversity of methods, is certainly the largest ever made in French Guiana over a short period of time. Thirteen different trap types were used including four types of interception traps and nine types of attraction-based traps. Active research methods (13 techniques) and extraction from the substrate (five techniques, including Winkler sieves, emergence from dead wood, etc.) completed the sampling array. The sample processing procedure describes the difference between active collecting and the longer and more complex process of processing massive samples of traps such as window pane flight intercept traps, Malaise traps, colored pan traps and automatic light traps. After a sorting phase that lasted less than a year for most groups, a network of 165 taxonomic experts was mobilized by the coordinators to study the sorted specimens. The data are stored and managed in an observations database and in the database of the collections of the Museum national d'Histoire naturelle (Paris). Data are widely disseminated, notably in France via the Inventaire national du Patrimoine naturel (INPN) and internationally by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). This introductory article will be supplemented by a second paper, which will analyse research results three years after the survey and assess the effectiveness of the expedition in advancing taxonomic knowledge.

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 Zurquí de Moravia, San José Province, Costa Rica (hereafter referred to as Zurquí), 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 Zurquí with those of single Malaise traps at each of Tapantí and Las Alturas, 40 and 180 km distant from Zurquí respectively, suggested significant species turnover. Comparison of the greater number of species collected in all traps from Zurquí 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 Zurquí 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.

Cheiromyia carolina Limeira-de-Oliveira & Brooks sp. nov. and C. nordestina Limeira-de-Oliveira & Cumming sp. nov. are described from Brazil, and C. fuscipennis Pollet & Brooks sp. nov. is described from the Mitaraka Mountains in southwestern French Guiana. New distribution records are reported for C. brevitarsis Brooks, C. palmaticornis (Parent) and C. pennaticornis (Parent), and a revised key to males of the eight known species of Cheiromyia Dyte, 1980 is provided. The female of C. pennaticornis is also described for the first time.

All Taxa Biodiversity Inventories or ATBI’s face considerable challenges, relat-ed to sample processing, specimen identification and research outputs. In thisrespect “Our Planet Reviewed French Guiana” 2014–2015 Expedition can beconsidered a real success. This survey was conducted in the Mitaraka Moun-tains (south-western French Guiana) in February–March and August 2015 andinvolved 50 researchers, including 28 entomologists. During the first fieldworkperiod, over 31 different collecting techniques were applied and 401 traps wereoperational in a perimeter of ca 1 km² around the base camp. A total of 223 in-vertebrate samples were gathered, split up into ca 30 dipteran fractions and ul-timately disseminated among 32 taxonomic specialists. Results on the Dipterafauna of Mitaraka are presented, with some families considerably exceedingthe species richness recorded during the ZADBI survey at Zurquí (Costa Rica).