Puparium of Merosargus cingulatus Schiner, 1868 and Ptecticus lanei James, 1941 (Diptera: Stratiomyidae: Sarginae), with new geographical records for the species and a list of all known immatures of the subfamily.

The puparia of Merosargus cingulatus Schiner, 1868 and Ptecticus lanei James, 1941, two Neotropical species of Sarginae (Stratiomyidae), are described and illustrated based on 19 and 17 immatures of each species, respectively. The specimens were collected in rotting vegetal material in Carambe, state of Paran, Brazil. Images of reared adults of both species are provided, allowing future identifications of specimens. New distributional records include the first occurrences of M. cingulatus in the Brazilian states of Cear, Maranho, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Rio de Janeiro. With these two new descriptions, immature stages (6th instar and/or puparium) of 29 species of Sarginae are now known, with only eight species known from the Neotropical Region.

An unknown world in the Neotropical region: a complete life cycle of a new species of Monoclona Mik, 1886 (Diptera: Mycetophilidae: Sciophilinae).

Popularly known as fungus gnats, Mycetophilidae are found in humid environments usually associated with mushrooms and decaying wood. Their immature forms often feed on fungus fruiting bodies. Similar to most bibionomorphans, mycetophilids need due attention concerning their taxonomy and information on their natural history, especially in the Neotropical region. This work describes Monoclona carambeiensis sp. nov., a new species of Monoclona Mik, and furnishes information on the morphology of adults and immatures, besides notes and photographs on the life cycle of the species. Immature forms present on a piece of decaying wood with lichens and fungi were collected from Carambe, Paran, and reared in the laboratory. The emerged adult male was fixed in 80% ethanol. This is the first study describing an immature of a Neotropical species of Monoclona, and also the first record of the genus in the state of Paran, Brazil. This is the third Neotropical species of Mycetophilidae to have its life cycle described, for a fauna with over 1,100 known species.

Catalogue of Lygistorrhinidae (Diptera: Bibionomorpha) types housed in the collection of the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.

This paper provides a catalogue of the type specimens of Lygistorrhinidae (Diptera: Bibionomorpha) held in the collection of the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil (MZUSP). Label information and type condition of the six type specimens (three holotypes and three paratypes) of four species are provided, along with high resolution images of the types and their labels.

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.

FAMILY DITOMYIIDAE.

The Ditomyiidae are a family belonging to the suborder Bibionomorpha, until now without records to Colombia. This work reports the first record of the genera Rhipidita and Calliceratomyia for the Colombian region.

FAMILY DIADOCIDIIDAE.

Diadocidiidae are a small family belonging to the suborder Bibionomorpha. Three species were described for the Neotropical region, two from Costa Rica and one from Brazil, and one additional undescribed species from Colombia is reported here for the first time.

FAMILY KEROPLATIDAE.

Currently, 86 genera are ascribed to the Keroplatidae, with about 950 known species. The family includes three subfamilies: Arachnocampinae, Macrocerinae, and Keroplatinae. Both Macrocerinae and Keroplatinae are found in Colombia, with five described species distributed in four genera. The available information about Colombian keroplatids is compiled, with new records for five genera.

FAMILY RANGOMARAMIDAE.

This small family of Diptera is poorly known in Colombia. In the present catalogue, we feature a single report for the country, of a species of the genus Eratomyia.

FAMILY ANISOPODIDAE.

This considerably small family is poorly known in Colombia, with only two species reported for the genus Sylvicola Harris (1776) so far. We synonymize Neomesochria Amorim & Tozoni (1994) to Mycetobia Meigen (1818), hence transferring the Dominican amber species Neomesochria antillea (Grimaldi 1991) and N. cryptambra (Grimaldi 1991), and the recent Neotropical species N. limanda (Stone 1966) and N. stonei (Lane & d'Andretta 1958) back to the genus Mycetobia. This paper provides new records for Mycetobia and Olbiogaster Osten-Sacken (1886) for Colombia.

FAMILY BIBIONIDAE.

The Bibionidae are a family belonging to the suborder Bibionomorpha with four genera and 17 species known from Colombia. This work expands the distribution of these species to other localities in the country.

A new species of Forcipomyia (Microhelea) Meigen (Insecta: Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from the Neotropical region.

We describe and illustrate a new species of biting midge belonging to the subgenus Forcipomyia (Microhelea), from the Estação Biológica de Boracéia, São Paulo State, Brazil. We include illustrations of the mouthparts, head, thorax, legs, abdominal setae, and habitus. The new species is similar to the few other recorded Neotropical species of biting midges, such as Forcipomyia (Microhelea) alleni, Forcipomyia (Microhelea) castneri, Forcipomyia (Microhelea) grandcolasi, and Forcipomyia (Microhelea) tettigonaris. However, it can be distinguished by the combination of external characters, such as the number of plates on the maxilla, the number of denticles on the mandible, the size of the labellum, and the morphology of the palpus. The two female specimens examined were found biting on a female stick bug, Paraphasma paulense (Phasmida: Pseudophasmatidae), which was attracted to a light trap.

Catalogue of the type-specimens of Bolitophilidae, Diadocidiidae and Ditomyiidae (Diptera, Bibionomorpha) in the Natural History Museum, London

Catalogue of the type-specimens of Bolitophilidae, Diadocidiidae and Ditomyiidae (Diptera, Bibionomorpha) in the Natural History Museum, London. A commented list of the types of three families of Bibionomorpha - Bolitophilidae, Diadocidiidae and Ditomyiidae - housed at the Natural History Museum (London) is provided. This includes four holotypes and one paratype of five species of Bolitophilidae; one paratype and three syntypes of two species of Diadocidiidae; and 17 holotypes, 91 paratypes, four lectotypes, and fourteen paralectotypes of 38 species of Ditomyiidae. Lectotypes are designated for the Neotropical species of the ditomyiids Australosymmerus (Melosymmerus) bisetosus Edwards, 1940 and A. (M.) pediferus Edwards, 1940.