Wing interference patterns are consistent and sexually dimorphic in the four families of crane flies (Diptera, Tipuloidea).

Wing interference patterns (WIP) are stable structural colors in insect wings caused by thin-film interference. This study seeks to establish WIP as a stable, sexually dimorphic, species-level character across the four families of Tipuloidea and investigate generic level WIP. Thirteen species of Tipuloidea were selected from museum specimens in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University collection. One wing from a male and female of each representative species was excised and mounted to a slide with coverslip, placed against a black background, and imaged using an integrated microscope camera. Images were minimally retouched but otherwise unchanged. Descriptions of the WIP for each sex of each species are provided. Twelve of thirteen species imaged had WIP, which were stable and species specific while eight of those twelve had sexually dimorphic WIP. Comparisons of three species of Nephrotoma were inconclusive regarding a generic level WIP. Gnophomyiatristissima had higher intraspecific variation than other species examined. This study confirms stable, species specific WIP in all four families of crane flies for the first time. More research must be done regarding generic-level stability of WIP in crane flies as well as the role sexual and natural selection play in the evolution of wing interference patterns in insects.

Taxonomic review of Tipula (Vestiplex Bezzi) crane flies (Diptera: Tipulidae) in Mongolia.

Fourteen species of Tipula (Vestiplex Bezzi, 1924) crane flies (Diptera, Tipulidae) known from Mongolia are taxonomically revised. Identification keys for males and females, redescriptions and illustrations of all species are presented. Most genital structures are illustrated for the first time. Tipula (V.) jakut Alexander, 1934 is designated as junior synonym of T. (V.) sintenisi Lackschewitz, 1933; T. (V.) kamchatkana Alexander, 1934 is designated as junior synonym of T. (V.) mediovittata Mik, 1889. Tipula (V.) balioptera Loew, 1863 and T. (V.) leucoprocta Mik, 1889 are listed as new records for the Mongolian fauna.

Importance of building a digital species index (spindex) for entomology collections: A case study, results and recommendations.

The Entomology Collection at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (ANSP) contains approximately four million insect specimens including some of the oldest in the Western Hemisphere. Like most large entomology collections, no complete inventory of the species represented in the collection was available and even a physical search for a species could not ensure that all available specimens would be recovered for study. Between 2010 and 2014, we created a species-level index (called here spindex) of all species and their specimen counts at ANSP, along with each species' location in the collection. Additional data captured during the project included the higher level classification of each species and type of specimen preparation. The spindex is searchable online: http://symbiont.ansp.org/entomology/. The spindex project documented 96,126 species in the ANSP Entomology Collection, representing about 10% of the described insect fauna. Additionally, over 900 putative primary types were discovered outside the Primary Type Collection. The completion of this project has improved access to the collection by enabling scientists and other users worldwide to search these collection holdings remotely and has facilitated staff in curation, research, collection management and funding proposals. A spindex is an important tool that is overlooked for planning and carrying out specimen level digitisation. This project is a case study for building a species-level index. A detailed protocol is provided, along with recommendations for other collections, including cost estimates and strategies for tracking progress and avoiding common obstacles.

Communities associated with the Functional Process Zone scale: A case study of stream macroinvertebrates in endorheic drainages.

Rivers are being increasingly analyzed from a holistic scale focus, imposing the challenge to establish a clear sampling framework that integrates complex valley-to-reach hydrogeomorphic features. Here, we address this challenge by examining macroinvertebrate communities of different hydrogeomorphic patches, or Functional Process Zones (FPZs), established by the GIS-based model RESonate. We delineated FPZs across three endorheic drainages in the Great Basin, USA, using a self-emerging clustering method that classifies segments of rivers with similar hydrogeomorphic characteristics. We sampled macroinvertebrate communities across different FPZs. We examined the taxonomic and functional organizations of these communities, and we assessed the relative contributions of in-stream and watershed-scale environmental filters in structuring these communities. We found discreet macroinvertebrate communities associated with FPZs across drainages, where elevation prevailed on valley confinement in structuring these communities. Communities of upland FPZs exhibited a higher heterogeneity suggested by higher ß-diversity and nested structure of communities, while lowland FPZs showed a higher pairwise abundance agreement across communities. Eltonian trait composition, primarily describing bionomic traits, showed a higher degree of niche differentiation in upland FPZs, thereby increasing the overall ecosystem function. Differences in variance partitioning among environmental filters acting at different spatial scales show a strong spatial structure in the response of communities in different FPZs. Overall, environmental filters had a stronger control of the communities' functional organization than the taxonomic composition. Our results support the paradigm of different FPZs having distinct communities that express different ecosystem properties. Findings of this study constitute a fruitful avenue for expanding community-based research using the FPZ template as a tool for riverine ecology. However, the unique nature of rivers in endorheic basins needs to be considered when applying our conclusions to other systems, as some findings (e.g., the higher community homogenization in lowland FPZs) might be specific to this rarely examined type of river systems.

Revision of the subgenus Dicranomyia (Erostrata) Savchenko, 1976 (Diptera, Limoniidae) of Japan.

The six Japanese species of the subgenus Dicranomyia (Erostrata) Savchenko, 1976 are revised. D. (E.) globithorax Osten Sacken, 1869 and D. (E.) tabashii (Alexander, 1934) are newly recorded from Japan. We elevate the two subspecies of D. globithorax to species rank based on distinct morphological differences. Three new species, D. (E.) reniformis sp. nov., D. (E.) submelas sp. nov., and D. (E.) yazuensis sp. nov. are described. The male genitalia of all Japanese species and female ovipositors of four of the six species are illustrated, and the habitus of adults are photographed. A key to the Japanese species of the subgenus is provided.

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.

Remarkable fly (Diptera) diversity in a patch of Costa Rican cloud forest: Why inventory is a vital science.

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.

LepNet: The Lepidoptera of North America Network.

The Lepidoptera of North America Network, or LepNet, is a digitization effort recently launched to mobilize biodiversity data from 3 million specimens of butterflies and moths in United States natural history collections (http://www.lep-net.org/). LepNet was initially conceived as a North American effort but the project seeks collaborations with museums and other organizations worldwide. The overall goal is to transform Lepidoptera specimen data into readily available digital formats to foster global research in taxonomy, ecology and evolutionary biology.

The first description of the larva and pupa of crane fly genus Phyllolabis Osten Sacken, 1877 (Diptera, Limoniidae, Limnophilinae), with information for understanding the phylogenetic relationships and systematical position of the genus.

Description, illustrations and habitat characteristics are given for the previously unknown last instar larvae and pupae of the genus Phyllolabis Osten Sacken, 1877 of the eastern palaearctic species Phyllolabis mongolica Podenas and Gelhaus, 2012 (Diptera: Limoniidae, Limnophilinae). Diagnostic features and phylogenetic relationships are discussed. Characters of the immatures stages of Phyllolabis shows similarities with the genus Austrolimnophila, Epiphragma and Dactylolabis and based on this investigation Phyllolabis is moved back into subfamily Limnophilinae s.l., albeit as one of its basal lineages.

Caloparyphus palaearcticus sp. n. (Diptera, Stratiomyidae), the first record for the soldier fly genus in the Palaearctic.

Caloparyphus palaearcticus sp. n. is described from Russia and two localities in Mongolia and is the first representative of this genus in the Palaearctic and the only species found outside the New World. The morphological characters of the species are described and illustrated, and relationships to related species of Caloparyphus are discussed.

A contribution to mayfly studies of Western Mongolia (Insecta, Ephemeroptera).

Streams in the Mongolian Altai Mountains are mostly fed from glaciers and are extreme conditions for mayflies because of high elevation, low temperatures and low annual precipitation. Previous information about mayflies of Western Mongolia is scarce, but with this study a total of 38 species belonging to 26 genera and subgenera and 8 families of mayflies has been recorded in the Mongolian Altai region. Study material was entirely imagos and collected from 78 sites during expeditions led by the Mongolian Aquatic Insect Survey in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Raptobaetopus tenellus, Caenis luctuosa and Caenis rivulorum are recorded as new to the fauna of Mongolia, and there are new distribution records for Ameletus montanus, Baetis (Acentrella) lapponica, Baetis sibiricus, Baetis (Labiobaetis) attrebatinus, Centroptilum luteolum, Procloeon pennulatum, Ephemerella aurivillii, Serratella setigera, Ephemera sachalinensis, Ecdyonurus (Afronurus) abracadabrus, Cinygmula kurenzovi, Ecdyonurus (Afghanurus) vicinus and Epeorus (Belovius) pellucidus from the Mongolian Altai region. Baetis vernus and Ephemerella aurivillii are the most frequently encountered species in this region.

Review of the last instar larvae and pupae of Hexatoma (Eriocera) and Hexatoma (Hexatoma) (Diptera, Limoniidae, Limnophilinae).

Description, illustrations and habitat characteristics are given for the previously unknown larvae and pupae of Nearctic species Hexatoma (Eriocera) californica, H. (E.) fuliginosa and East Palaearctic species H. (E.) sachalinensis, H. (E.) stackelbergi, H. (E.) ussuriensis and H. (s.str.) nubeculosa. Hexatoma (E.) sachalinensis, H. (E.) stackelbergi, and H. (s.str.) nubeculosa are reported new for Mongolia based on larval and reared adult collections. There are no distinguishing morphological characters to separate last instar larvae of the subgenera H. (Eriocera) and H. (Hexatoma), while pupae of these subgenera can be separated by the size and shape of the spines on the terminal segments. This study indicates that microscopic setae on the last abdominal segment, length of maxillary palpi, sclerotization of the spiracular field, length of spiracular lobes, length of setae on the apical part of the ventral lobes, the shape of the labrum and the arrangement of sensory structures on the labrum are the main larval characters to distinguish among species in this genus. The shape and length of the respiratory horns, size and number of the horns of the cephalic crest, length of the antennal sheaths, the lengths of the sheaths of the legs, size and shape of tubercles on the antennal scape are the main distinguishing pupal characters for the species of this genus. Nearly all known species of Hexatoma develop in sand or gravel in bottom of large and medium size rivers, smaller streams and creeks while last instar larvae and pupae can be found in the riparian zone, usually in gravel, sand or under stones.

A new species of Heterangaeus Alexander, 1925 crane flies (Diptera: Pediciidae) from north-central Mongolia with first description of the larva for the genus.

A new species of Pediciidae, Heterangaeus mongolicus is described from specimens collected during the fieldwork of the Mongolian Aquatic Insect Survey Project in north-central Mongolia, Tov Aimag (district). Descriptions and illustrations of the distinguishing morphological features are provided. Habitat information is presented. Female ovipositor and larvae of Heterangaeus are described and illustrated for the first time. This discovery of Heterangaeus in Mongolia represents a 1700 kilometer extension of the known distribution for the genus.

Stream invertebrate communities of Mongolia: current structure and expected changes due to climate change.

BACKGROUND: Mongolia's riverine landscape is divided into three watersheds, differing in extent of permafrost, amount of precipitation and in hydrological connectivity between sub-drainages. In order to assess the vulnerability of macroinvertebrate communities to ongoing climate change, we consider the taxonomic and functional structures of stream communities in two major watersheds: The Central Asian Internal Watershed (CAIW) and the Arctic Ocean Watershed (AOW), together covering 86.1% of Mongolia's surface area. We assess the consequences of the hydrological connectivity between sub-drainages on the nestedness and distinctness of the stream communities. And accordingly, we discuss the expected biotic changes to occur in each watershed as a consequence of climate change. RESULTS: Gamma and beta diversities were higher in the CAIW than the AOW. High community nestedness was also found in the CAIW along with a higher heterogeneity of macroinvertebrate assemblage structure. Assemblages characteristic of cold headwater streams in the CAIW, were typical of the drainages of the Altai Mountain range. Macroinvertebrate guilds of the CAIW streams exhibited traits reflecting a high stability and low resilience capacity for eutrophication. In contrast, the community of the AOW had lower nestedness and a combination of traits reflecting higher stability and a better resilience capacity to disturbances. CONCLUSION: Higher distinctness of stream communities is due to lower connectivity between the drainages. This was the case of the stream macroinvertebrate communities of the two major Mongolian watersheds, where connectivity of streams between sub-drainages is an important element structuring their communities. Considering differences in the communities' guild structure, hydrological connectivity and different magnitudes of upcoming impacts of climate change between the two watersheds, respective stream communities will be affected differently. The hitherto different communities will witness an increasing differentiation and divergent adaptations for the upcoming changes. Accordingly, in an increasing awareness to protect Mongolia's nature, our results encourage adapting conservation planning and management strategies specifically by watershed.

The new era of the livestock production in Mongolia: Consequences on streams of the Great Lakes Depression.

Mongolia, a landlocked country of the Central Asian plateau, is experiencing a significant modification of herding practices coupled with an increase in livestock numbers. These modifications lead to increasing impacts of grazing on the Mongolian steppes with major consequences on the waterbodies. We researched the impacts of grazing intensity on the streams of the Great Lakes Depression in northwestern Mongolia. We assessed the level of watershed and stream bank erosion and the type of vegetation structure. We calculated the livestock densities per watershed and linked them to the stream water discharge through a new metric (I(CU)). I(CU) was created as a function of cattle unit density and water discharge, having water discharge at a stream section reflecting its location in the drainage and therefore accounting for the surface area drained upstream. We measured also the major nutrients in the stream water and researched the causalities between the grazing and the impairment of watersheds and streams. Our results suggest that the increase of livestock numbers is reaching beyond the grassland and affecting the stream ecosystem. Two major impacts were highlighted by this study, 1) the extensive watershed and stream bank erosion and 2) the increase in concentration of suspended particles and orthophosphate in stream systems. When compared with past values from literature, our results show recent eutrophication of the streams compared to the pre-liberalization of the herding activity in Mongolia (before 1991). Consequently the continued uncontrolled increase of livestock numbers could threaten the conservation of the Mongolian waterbodies, with notable consequences on the life of the nomadic population of the Central Asian Plateau.

Genitalic stridulation during copulation in a species of crane fly, Tipula (Bellardina) sp. (Diptera: Tipulidae) / Estridulación genital durante la cópula en una especie de mosca grulla, Tipula (Bellardina) sp. (Dípteros: Tipulidae)

The male genitalia of many animal groups have elaborate and species-specific forms. One hypothesis  to explain why this is so is that male genitalia function as stimulatory devices that are under sexual selection by cryptic female choice. This report is based on a videotaped observation of a single male of an unidentified species of Tipula (Bellarina) from San José Province, Costa Rica. A male crane fly stridulated (produced vibrations) during copulation using sustained and stereotyped movements of file and scraper structures on his genitalia. Males of related species have similar file and scraper structures on their genitalia, suggesting that they probably also stridulate during copulation. Rev. Biol. Trop. 57 (Suppl. 1): 251-256. Epub 2009 November 30.

Un macho de Tipula (Bellardina) sp. estriduló (produjo vibraciones) por medio de movimientos estereotipados de estructuras de sus órganos genitales durante varios minutos de la cópula. Los machos de algunas especies relacionadas poseen estructuras similares, lo cual sugiere que también estridulan durante la cópula.