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We conducted an island-wide survey of the Caribbean islands Puerto Rico and Vieques, U.S.A. during late 2018 and early 2019 to document the current richness of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). We used a combination of larval surveys and adult trapping using baited CDC light traps and BG-Sentinel traps across 41 of the 78 municipalities. We collected 9 genera, 12 subgenera, and 31 species, which when combined with past studies yields 44 species on the islands. We also note species occurrences across habitat types and elevations from around the islands. One new record, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) obturbator Dyar and Knab, is noted. However we found no evidence of the presence of Aedes albopictus (Skuse), an invasive found throughout the Caribbean, or Aedes (Fredwardsius) vittatus (Bigot), an exotic species recently reported in the Dominican Republic and Cuba. Habitat associations and information regarding the medical importance of species are also included. Given that the islands often experience outbreaks of several arboviruses, obtaining a complete picture of the species present is of high importance., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To document the diversity and distribution of mosquitoes inhabiting the Mexican state of Nuevo León, collection trips were conducted to all physiographic regions (Grand Northamerican Plains, Coastal Plain of North Gulf, and Sierra Madre Oriental) and subregions across the state. A total of 3,176 specimens were collected. Additionally, we re-examined mosquito specimens in two Mexican entomological collections: The Collection of Insects and Mites of Medical Importance and the Collection of Arthropods of Medical Importance. These represent the two culicid subfamilies Anophelinae and Culicinae, 8 tribes, 12 genera, 25 subgenera, and 64 named species. Of these, 1 tribe, 2 genera, 5 subgenera, and 14 species are new records for the mosquito fauna of Nuevo León. Three undescribed species were collected. Two are described in this study: Aedes (Ochlerotatus) amateuri Ortega & Zavortink n. sp., and Aedes (Protomacleaya) lewnielseni Ortega & Zavortink n. sp. The third belongs to the genus Wyeomyia. Twelve species previously recorded from Nuevo León were not collected during this study. Taxonomic notes, new distribution limits, and comments about the medical importance of some species are reported., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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.

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., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Over a nine year period beginning in 2007 we surveyed the insects of the Algodones Dunes, Imperial Count, California, as part of a study undertaken for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. In a series of 22 collecting trips ranging in duration from 2 to 8 days we thus far have accumulated records of 1,840 species, 21 orders and 244 families from the dunes. Hymenoptera constituted the most diverse order, comprising about 45% of all the species recovered. Insect diversity and abundance peaked during the hottest part of the year between the months of May and September. Life history traits of the insects sampled included herbivores (29.6%), parasitoids (28.7%), predators (18.1%), pollen/nectar feeders (10.9%), detritivores (6.2%) and scavengers (2.4%). Seventy-nine or 4% of the insect species collected in the dunes have been solely recorded from there, and 3% of the species almost certainly derive from adjacent aquatic habitats or agricultural ecosystems, as their life histories could not be completed in Algodones Dunes habitat. The insect fauna of the Algodones Dunes is unexpectedly rich and diverse.

To document the diversity and distribution of mosquito species inhabiting the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, collection trips were conducted to all physiographic regions (Grand Northamerican Plains, Coastal Plain of North Gulf, and Sierra Madre Oriental) and subregions across the state. Additionally, we re-examined mosquito specimens in two Mexican entomological collections: the Collection of Insects and Mites of Medical Importance and the Collection of Arthropods of Medical Importance. In total, 3,931 specimens were collected. These represent the two Culicidae subfamilies Anophelinae and Culicinae, 10 tribes, 17 genera, 27 subgenera, 80 named species, and 2 undescribed species. Of these, 3 tribes, 6 genera, 7 subgenera, and 20 species are new records for the mosquito fauna of Tamaulipas. Fourteen species recorded in the historical records were not found in collections made for this study. Taxonomic notes, new distribution limits, and comments about the medical importance of some of the species collected are reported., (© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Aedes brelandi Zavortink is reported for the first time outside of the United States, where it has been found in northern and central parts of Mexico. Ae. triseriatus (Say) is reported in northern and central Mexico and Ae. zoosophus Dyar and Knab is recorded in southern Mexico. Collection records for these species in northern, central, and southern Mexico showing the current distribution of the Aedes Triseriatus Group are included., (© 2014 The Society for Vector Ecology.)

Mosquitoes of the genus Orthopodomyia (Diptera: Culicidae) are little known and of uncertain epidemiological importance. In the United States, there are three Orthopodomyia species (i.e., Or. signifera (Coquillett), Or. alba Baker, and Or. kummi Edwards); they are all members of the Signifera Group based on the current morphological taxonomy. In the course of identifying recently collected specimens, a problem was found with the current key morphological characters for separating the fourth instar larvae of Or. signifera and Or. kummi. Internal transcribed spacer two sequences of the rDNA were obtained to resolve the identities. The Orthopodomyia internal transcribed spacer two ranged in size from 193 (Or. kummi) to 244 bp (Or. signifera) (mean = 218 bp) and were slightly Adenine/Thymine enriched (44.7% Guanine/Cytosine on average). Putative secondary structures reveal structural homologies (four domains) consistent between species that also feature conserved sequences specific to mosquitoes (e.g., a conserved motif on the 3' aspect of the longest helix: GARTACATCC). Sequence analyses suggest that in certain areas of southwestern North America, hybridization may occur between Or. kummi and Or. signifera. Furthermore, our analyses confirm that Or. californica (a junior synonym of Or. signifera) is indeed Or. signifera. To our knowledge, this is the first sequence-based phylogenetic and molecular analysis of the Orthopodomyia.

Mosquitoes and other macro arthropods were collected in September 2008 from bucket bromeliads in the vicinity of the Wayqecha Cloud Forest Research Center in southeastern Peru, an area for which there are no published data. Range extensions of culicid species are reported.

As a result of action by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the specific names Aedes albothorax (Theobald, 1907), Ae. circumluteolus (Theobald, 1908), and Ae. mcintoshi Huang, 1985, are conserved for common African mosquitoes; a neotype for albothorax is designated; and the specific name Banksinella pallid Theobald, 1907, is suppressed.

The female, male, male genitalia, pupa, and larva of Culex biscaynensis, a new species in the Bisulcatus Group of subgenus Micraedes, are described and illustrated. The species, which is presently known only from south Florida, United States, is most similar to Culex (Micraedes) antillummagnorum Dyar.

The major contributions of John N. Belkin to the field of mosquito systematics are noted. Hallmarks of his publications are presented and his hypotheses about the evolution, speciation, competition, distribution and classification of mosquitoes are summarized. The current status of the field of mosquito systematics is examined. It is argued that mosquito systematics is still largely at the alpha taxonomy level, that at best only 25-50% of mosquito species are known, and that we have not even begun to develop a natural classification for the Culicidae. It is concluded that there will be little improvement in the status of mosquito taxonomy unless there is increased support for systematics.