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Jaschhof, Mathias, Levesque-Beaudin, Valerie (2022): Cabamofa alexsmithi sp. nov., the second species of Cabamofa in Costa Rica (Diptera: Bibionomorpha: Sciaroidea incertae sedis). Zootaxa 5195 (2): 196-200, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5195.2.9

Louse flies (Diptera, Hippoboscidae) are ectoparasites often found on birds. As they spend most of their life on their host, they are not often collected or studied. Hence, little is known about their species richness and prevalence on raptors in Canada. In this study, louse flies were collected from 184 out of 1467 raptors examined during the 2020 fall migration in southern Ontario, Canada, giving an overall prevalence of 12.5%. In total, 256 louse fly specimens were collected (mean intensity = 1.41) representing four species (identified morphologically, with support of DNA barcoding): Icosta americana (91.9%), Ornithomya anchineuria (0.3%), O. avicularia (7.3%) and O. bequaerti (0.3%). Mite clusters were found on 42% of O. avicularia. This study also presents the first North American record for O. avicularia and the presence of O. bequaerti in Europe was confirmed for the first time. Based on the different parameters recorded during banding, it appears that the host species and the month play a part in the presence of louse flies on the host. Further study of louse flies is needed to better understand their prevalence across different bird groups and geographic distribution., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • The overall prevalence of louse flies on raptors was 12.5%. • Host species and month influence the presence of louse flies. • Ornithomya avicularia is recorded from North America for the first time. • Ornithomya bequaerti is confirmed for the first time from Europe. • Icosta americana was the most abundant louse fly (91.9%).

Global gradients in species biodiversity are expected to reflect tighter packing of species closer to the equator. Yet, empirical validation of these patterns has so far focused on less diverse taxa, with comparable assessments of mega-diverse groups historically constrained by the taxonomic impediment. Here we assess the temporal and spatial turnover dynamics of arthropod communities sampled across 129 globally distributed monitoring sites. Overall, we encountered more than 150,000 unique BINs (i.e., species proxies). We show that global differences in community compositional change are linked to latitudinal, spatial, and temporal gradients, which are largely consistent across biogeographic regions. This general latitudinal imprint on community composition provides a mechanistic underpinning for global biodiversity gradients.

The identity, richness, and abundance of true flies (Diptera) from the nests of three cavity-nesting raptors (Aves) were investigated in northern Nova Scotia, Canada. After fledging, flies were extracted from the nest material using Berlese funnels within an emergence chamber. Thirty-one species/morphospecies from 14 families were collected, including eight new records for Nova Scotia and two new records for eastern North America.

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Molecular Ecology Resources published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. To associate specimens identified by molecular characters to other biological knowledge, we need reference sequences annotated by Linnaean taxonomy. In this study, we (1) report the creation of a comprehensive reference library of DNA barcodes for the arthropods of an entire country (Finland), (2) publish this library, and (3) deliver a new identification tool for insects and spiders, as based on this resource. The reference library contains mtDNA COI barcodes for 11,275 (43%) of 26,437 arthropod species known from Finland, including 10,811 (45%) of 23,956 insect species. To quantify the improvement in identification accuracy enabled by the current reference library, we ran 1000 Finnish insect and spider species through the Barcode of Life Data system (BOLD) identification engine. Of these, 91% were correctly assigned to a unique species when compared to the new reference library alone, 85% were correctly identified when compared to BOLD with the new material included, and 75% with the new material excluded. To capitalize on this resource, we used the new reference material to train a probabilistic taxonomic assignment tool, FinPROTAX, scoring high success. For the full-length barcode region, the accuracy of taxonomic assignments at the level of classes, orders, families, subfamilies, tribes, genera, and species reached 99.9%, 99.9%, 99.8%, 99.7%, 99.4%, 96.8%, and 88.5%, respectively. The FinBOL arthropod reference library and FinPROTAX are available through the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility (www.laji.fi) at https://laji.fi/en/theme/protax. Overall, the FinBOL investment represents a massive capacity-transfer from the taxonomic community of Finland to all sectors of society.

The reliable taxonomic identification of organisms through DNA sequence data requires a well parameterized library of curated reference sequences. However, it is estimated that just 15% of described animal species are represented in public sequence repositories. To begin to address this deficiency, we provide DNA barcodes for 1,500,003 animal specimens collected from 23 terrestrial and aquatic ecozones at sites across Canada, a nation that comprises 7% of the planet’s land surface. In total, 14 phyla, 43 classes, 163 orders, 1123 families, 6186 genera, and 64,264 Barcode Index Numbers (BINs; a proxy for species) are represented. Species-level taxonomy was available for 38% of the specimens, but higher proportions were assigned to a genus (69.5%) and a family (99.9%). Voucher specimens and DNA extracts are archived at the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics where they are available for further research. The corresponding sequence and taxonomic data can be accessed through the Barcode of Life Data System, GenBank, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and the Global Genome Biodiversity Network Data Portal., Measurement(s)DNA • digital imagingTechnology Type(s)taxonomic diversity assessment by targeted gene survey • digital curationFactor Type(s)species • geographic location • habitatSample Characteristic - OrganismMetazoaSample Characteristic - Environmentterrestrial biome • freshwater biome • marine biomeSample Characteristic - LocationCanada Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: 10.6084/m9.figshare.10298354

The taxonomy of genus Paramyia Williston is revised for the Nearctic region north of Mexico, including the description (morphological and molecular) and illustration of 10 new species and re-description of Paramyia nitens. Morphological keys to the species of males and females are provided. The following new species are described: Paramyia anguliloba sp. n., P. brevikeraia sp. n., P. incrassatoloba sp. n., P. nigritarsi sp. n., P. lustrum sp. n., P. lutea sp. n., P. pseudonitens sp. n., P. silvestris sp. n., P. rectiloba sp. n., P. wheeleri sp. n.. Paramyia hungarica is also discussed in relation to the Nearctic species.

Accurate and cost-effective methods for tracking changes in arthropod communities are needed to develop integrative environmental monitoring programs in the Arctic. To date, even baseline data on their species composition at established ecological monitoring sites are severely lacking. We present the results of a pilot assessment of non-marine arthropod diversity in a middle arctic tundra area near Ikaluktutiak (Cambridge Bay), Victoria Island, Nunavut, undertaken in 2018 using DNA barcodes. A total of 1264 Barcode Index Number (BIN) clusters, used as a proxy for species, were recorded. The efficacy of widely used sampling methods was assessed. Yellow pan traps captured 62% of the entire BIN diversity at the study sites. When complemented with soil and leaf litter sifting, the coverage rose up to 74.6%. Combining community-based data collection with high-throughput DNA barcoding has the potential to overcome many of the logistic, financial, and taxonomic obstacles for large-scale monitoring of the Arctic arthropod fauna.

A Canadian traveler returns from Irak and Afghanistan reporting larvae expulsion during micturition. We report the first case of urinary myiasis in Canada and discuss the differential diagnosis and clinical approach to this rare disease.

Monitoring changes in terrestrial arthropod communities over space and time requires a dramatic increase in the speed and accuracy of processing samples that cannot be achieved with morphological approaches. The combination of DNA barcoding and Malaise traps allows expedited, comprehensive inventories of species abundance whose cost will rapidly decline as high-throughput sequencing technologies advance. Aside from detailing protocols from specimen sorting to data release, this paper describes their use in a survey of arthropod diversity in a national park that examined 21 194 specimens representing 2255 species. These protocols can support arthropod monitoring programs at regional, national, and continental scales.

Although insects dominate the terrestrial fauna, sampling constraints and the poor taxonomic knowledge of many groups have limited assessments of their diversity. Passive sampling techniques and DNA-based species assignments now make it possible to overcome these barriers. For example, Malaise traps collect specimens with minimal intervention while the Barcode Index Number (BIN) system automates taxonomic assignments. The present study employs Malaise traps and DNA barcoding to extend understanding of insect diversity in one of the least known zoogeographic regions, the Saharo-Arabian. Insects were collected at four sites in three countries (Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia) by deploying Malaise traps. The collected specimens were analyzed by sequencing 658 bp of cytochrome oxidase I (DNA barcode) and assigning BINs on the Barcode of Life Data Systems. The year-long deployment of a Malaise trap in Pakistan and briefer placements at two Egyptian sites and at one in Saudi Arabia collected 53,092 specimens. They belonged to 17 insect orders with Diptera and Hymenoptera dominating the catch. Barcode sequences were recovered from 44,432 (84%) of the specimens, revealing the occurrence of 3,682 BINs belonging to 254 families. Many of these taxa were uncommon as 25% of the families and 50% of the BINs from Pakistan were only present in one sample. Family and BIN counts varied significantly through the year, but diversity indices did not. Although more than 10,000 specimens were analyzed from each nation, just 2% of BINs were shared by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, 4% by Egypt and Pakistan, and 7% by Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The present study demonstrates how the BIN system can circumvent the barriers imposed by limited access to taxonomic specialists and by the fact that many insect species in the Saharo-Arabian region are undescribed.

SummaryMonitoring changes in terrestrial arthropod communities over space and time requires a dramatic increase in the speed and accuracy of processing samples that cannot be achieved with morphological approaches.The combination of DNA barcoding and Malaise traps allows expedited, comprehensive inventories of species abundance whose cost will rapidly decline as high-throughput sequencing technologies advance.Aside from detailing protocols from specimen sorting to data release, this paper describes their use in a survey of arthropod diversity in a national park that examined 20,000 specimens representing 2200 species.These protocols can support arthropod monitoring programs at regional, national, and continental scales.

Recent estimates suggest that the global insect fauna includes fewer than six million species, but this projection is very uncertain because taxonomic work has been limited on some highly diverse groups. Validation of current estimates minimally requires the investigation of all lineages that are diverse enough to have a substantial impact on the final species count. This study represents a first step in this direction; it employs DNA barcoding to evaluate patterns of species richness in 27 orders of Canadian insects. The analysis of over one million specimens revealed species counts congruent with earlier results for most orders. However, Diptera and Hymenoptera were unexpectedly diverse, representing two-thirds of the 46 937 barcode index numbers (=species) detected. Correspondence checks between known species and barcoded taxa showed that sampling was incomplete, a result confirmed by extrapolations from the barcode results which suggest the occurrence of at least 94 000 species of insects in Canada, a near doubling from the prior estimate of 54 000 species. One dipteran family, the Cecidomyiidae, was extraordinarily diverse with an estimated 16 000 species, a 10-fold increase from its predicted diversity. If Canada possesses about 1% of the global fauna, as it does for known taxa, the results of this study suggest the presence of 10 million insect species with about 1.8 million of these taxa in the Cecidomyiidae. If so, the global species count for this fly family may exceed the combined total for all 142 beetle families. If extended to more geographical regions and to all hyperdiverse groups, DNA barcoding can rapidly resolve the current uncertainty surrounding a species count for the animal kingdom. A newly detailed understanding of species diversity may illuminate processes important in speciation, as suggested by the discovery that the most diverse insect lineages in Canada employ an unusual mode of reproduction, haplodiploidy. This article is part of the themed issue ‘From DNA barcodes to biomes’.

1. We examined whether local assemblages of temperate forest Diptera are structured or simply random sets of species, and at what scale any patterns become apparent. Nested patterns of α-, β-, and γ-diversity in higher Diptera (Schizophora) were described using additive partitioning, to determine the spatial scale contributing the most to species richness. Patterns were examined for Schizophora, two subordinate taxonomic groups (Calyptratae, Acalyptratae) and common versus rare species. 2. A hierarchically nested design was used with three spatial scales: three sites, four stands per site, six trees per stand. Flies were sampled using trunk traps and flight intercept traps in June-July 2008 in sugar maple stands in southwestern Quebec forest fragments. 3. Species diversity and composition were non-random at all scales, and varied across scales and among subgroups. Smaller scales (β1: between trees) seem to structure species composition of Schizophora, Calyptratae and Acalyptratae. Common species varied more at finer scales (α1: within trees); rare species varied more at large scales (β3: between sites). The scale contributing the most to γ-diversity varied across the groups, but β1 was the overall trend. 4. Diversity patterns differed from those in other forest arthropod taxa, in which larger scales drive overall patterns. This may be explained by the high ecological diversity in Diptera, in which species occurrence is often dictated by the presence of ephemeral, patchy resources within larger sites. The overall similarity from site to site is difficult to explain without genetic evidence as to the extent of dispersal of Diptera between sites.