Phylogenomic analysis of Tachinidae (Diptera: Calyptratae: Oestroidea): a transcriptomic approach to understanding the subfamily relationships.

Tachinidae is the second most species-rich family of Diptera. It comprises four subfamilies, and all of its members have parasitoid habits. We present the first phylogenomic analysis of Tachinidae using transcriptomic data, based on 30 species. We constructed four datasets: three using translated data at the amino acid level (100% coverage, with 106 single-copy protein-coding genes; 75% coverage, with 1359 genes; and 50% coverage, with 1942 genes). The trees were estimated by analysing four matrices using maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony inferences, and only minor differences were found among them. Overall, our topologies are well resolved, with high node support. Polleniidae is corroborated as a sister group to Tachinidae. Within Tachinidae, our results confirm the hypothesis (Phasiinae + Dexiinae) + (Tachininae + Exoristinae). Phasiinae, Dexiinae and Exoristinae are recovered as monophyletic, and Tachininae as polyphyletic. Once again, the tribe Myiophasiini (Tachininae) composes a fifth lineage, clade sister to all the remaining Tachinidae. The Neotropical tribe Iceliini, formerly in Tachininae, is recovered within Exoristinae, sister to Winthemiini. In general, our results are congruent with recent phylogenetic studies that include tachinids, with the important confirmation of the subfamilial relationships and the existence of a fifth lineage of Tachinidae.

Annotated Catalog of Vespid Hosts (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) of Tachinidae (Diptera), with Description of a New Species of Ophirion Townsend from Brazil.

Although tachinids parasitize a wide variety of insects, vespid wasps are not commonly recorded as hosts. Three lineages of Tachinidae are parasitoids of larvae of eusocial Vespidae, namely the Old World tribe Anacamptomyiini and some Neotropical species of the Blondeliini genera Ophirion Townsend and Lixophaga Townsend. The taxonomy of anacamptomyiine species has been improved and clarified in the last decades, but Neotropical species of Ophirion and Lixophaga are still difficult to identify, preventing further studies in the group. I present here an annotated catalog of vespid hosts of Tachinidae, with an overview of host use and oviposition strategies of their parasitoid species. Moreover, I describe a new host record for O. lenkoi sp. nov. Gudin and L. punctata (Townsend), reared from a nest of Polybia (Myrapetra) scutellaris (White) in Nova Europa, São Paulo, Brazil. Ophirion lenkoi sp. nov. is described and L. punctata is redescribed, with two new junior synonyms proposed: L. fitzgeraldi (Curran), syn. nov., and L. dubiosa (Thompson), syn. nov. I also include illustrations of type material and discuss the most relevant diagnostic characters for species of both genera. Lastly, I argue that the biology of Lixophaga species may be a suitable model to understand how tachinids were able to explore eusocial vespid hosts.

Vertical stratification of insect abundance and species richness in an Amazonian tropical forest.

Tropical forests are among the most biodiverse biomes on the planet. Nevertheless, quantifying the abundance and species richness within megadiverse groups is a significant challenge. We designed a study to address this challenge by documenting the variability of the insect fauna across a vertical canopy gradient in a Central Amazonian tropical forest. Insects were sampled over two weeks using 6-m Gressitt-style Malaise traps set at five heights (0 m-32 m-8 m intervals) on a metal tower in a tropical forest north of Manaus, Brazil. The traps contained 37,778 specimens of 18 orders of insects. Using simulation approaches and nonparametric analyses, we interpreted the abundance and richness of insects along this gradient. Diptera, Hymenoptera, and Coleoptera had their greatest abundance at the ground level, whereas Lepidoptera and Hemiptera were more abundant in the upper levels of the canopy. We identified species of 38 of the 56 families of Diptera, finding that 527 out of 856 species (61.6%) were not sampled at the ground level. Mycetophilidae, Tipulidae, and Phoridae were significantly more diverse and/or abundant at the ground level, while Tachinidae, Dolichopodidae, and Lauxaniidae were more diverse or abundant at upper levels. Our study suggests the need for a careful discussion of strategies of tropical forest conservation based on a much more complete understanding of the three-dimensional distribution of its insect diversity.

The SISBIOTA-Diptera Brazilian Network: A long-term survey of Diptera from unexplored Brazilian Western Arc of Amazon, Cerrado, and Pantanal

ABSTRACT The SISBIOTA-BRASIL was a three-year multimillion-dollar research program of the Brazilian government to document plants and animals in endangered/understudied areas and biomes in Brazil. Distributional patterns and the historical events that generated them are extensively unknown regarding Brazilian fauna and flora. This deficiency hinders the development of conservation policies and the understanding of evolutionary processes. Conservation decisions depend on precise knowledge of the taxonomy and geographic distribution of species. Given such a premise, we proposed to research the diversity of Diptera of the Brazilian western arc of Amazon, Cerrado, and Pantanal in the states of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Rondônia. Three important biomes of the South American continent characterize these Brazilian states: Amazon forest, Cerrado (Brazilian Savannah), and Pantanal. Besides their ecological relevance, these biomes historically lack intensive entomological surveys. Therefore, they are much underrepresented in the Brazilian natural history collections and in the scientific literature, which is further aggravated by the fact that these areas are being exponentially and rapidly converted to commercial lands. Our project involved over 90 collaborators from 24 different Brazilian institutions and one from Colombia among researchers, postdocs, graduate and undergraduate students, and technicians. We processed and analyzed nearly 300,000 specimens from ~60 families of Diptera collected with a large variety of methods in the sampled areas. Here, we provide a detailed overview of the genera and species diversity of 41 families treated. Our results point to a total of 2,130 species and 514 genera compiled and identified for the three states altogether, with an increase of 41% and 29% in the numbers of species and genera known for the three states combined, respectively. Overall, the 10 most species-rich families were Tachinidae, Cecidomyiidae, Tabanidae, Psychodidae, Sarcophagidae, Stratiomyidae, Bombyliidae, Syrphidae, Tephritidae, and Asilidae. The 10 most diverse in the number of genera were Tachinidae, Stratiomyidae, Asilidae, Mycetophilidae, Syrphidae, Tabanidae, Muscidae, Dolichopodidae, Sarcophagidae, and Chloropidae. So far, 111 scientific papers were published regarding taxonomic, phylogenetic, and biogeographical aspects of the studied families, with the description of 101 new species and three new genera. We expect that additional publications will result from this investigation because several specimens are now curated and being researched by specialists.