Alessandre Pereira-Colavite

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.Brian Brown et al. report the results of the Zurquí All Diptera Biodiversity Inventory project, one of the largest efforts to date to directly assess species richness of a megadiverse order of insects. The authors identified 41,001 flies to 4332 species, including 73 of the worlds 160 Diptera families.

Catalogue of Syringogastridae (Diptera, Diopsoidea)

The catalogue of the Syringogastridae is updated, including now 21 extant species and two fossil records, all belonging to the genus Syringogaster Cresson. References to all known bibliography are given, totaling 27 records. A full list of the type-series and distribution records are also presented.

Catalogue of Neotropical Curtonotidae (Diptera, Ephydroidea)

The Neotropical species of Curtonotidae are updated and catalogued. A total of 33 species names are listed, including two fossil taxa and one nomem dubium. Valid and invalid names and synonyms are presented, totaling 45 names. Bibliographic references are given to all listed species, including information about name, author, year of publication, page number, type species and type locality. Lectotype and paralectotypes are designated to Curtonotum punctithorax (Fischer, 1933). Curtonotum simplex Schiner, 1868 stat. rev. is recognized as a valid name. Key-Words. Acalyptratae; Curtonotum; Hunchbacked flies; Lectotype; Paralectotype; Schizophora; Type material.

Catalogue of the Teratomyzidae (Diptera, Opomyzoidea) of the World

A catalogue of Teratomyzidae of the world is presented comprising 23 described species in seven genera. Geographic records for nine undescribed species are also listed. All valid names and synonyms are presented, totaling 34 names. All references known to us from the taxonomic and biological literature, including information about name, author, year of publication, page number, type genus, type species, type locality and references are given to the categories of family, genus and species. Camur willii McAlpine has its distributional record enlarged to Paraná (Brazil).

New distribution records for Muscidae (Insecta: Diptera) in Latin America

The geographical distribution of Muscidae from Latin America has been extended. The following eight genera, including 28 species, were collected: Cyrtoneurina (2 spp.), Cyrtoneuropsis (8 spp.), Dolichophaonia (1 sp.), Neomuscina (7 spp.), Ophyra (1 sp.), Phaonia (2 spp.), Philornis (5 spp.), and Polietina (2 spp.). New records and additional collecting data have been provided for Brazil, Colombia, and Costa Rica, including reference maps for the species listed.

Catalogue of the ctenostylidae (Diptera, schizophora) of the world.

A catalogue of Ctenostylidae of the world is presented comprising 14 described species in seven recognized genera. An unnamed species of Ctenostylum Macquart from Costa Rica is also listed. All valid and invalid names and synonyms are presented, totaling 33 names. All references known to us from the taxonomic and biological literature, including references for figures and plates are included. Condition and sex of the type material, type location and geographic distributions with new records for some species are also included. Lochmostylia lopesi Keiser and Tauroscypson andina Aczél have their distributional records enlarged to Paraná (Brazil) and Rondônia (Brazil) respectively. Tauroscypson andina is recorded from Brazil for the first time.