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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #344952
Research Project: Systematics of Flies of Importance in Agroecosystems and the Environment

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: First comprehensive inventory of a tropical site for a megadiverse group of insects, the true flies (Diptera)

Author
item BROWN, BRAIN - Natural History Museum Of Los Angeles County
item BORKENT, ART - Royal British Columbia Museum
item ALDER, PETER - Clemson University
item AMORIM, DALTON DE SOUZA - Universidade De Sao Paulo
item BARBER, KEVIN - Forest Service - Canada
item BICKEL, DANIEL - Australian Museum
item BOUCHER, STEPHANIE - McGill University - Canada
item BROOKS, SCOTT - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada
item BURGER, JOHN - University Of New Hampshire
item BURINGTON, Z. - Wright State University
item CAPELLARI, RENATO - University Of Brazil
item COSTA, DANIEL N. - Universidade Federal Do Parana
item CUMMING, JEFFREY - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada
item CURLER, GREG - Mississippi State University
item DICK, CARL - Western Kentucky University
item EPLER, J. - Non ARS Employee
item FISHER, ERIC - California Department Of Agriculture
item GAIMARI, STEPHEN - California Department Of Agriculture
item GELHAUS, JON - Drexel University
item GRIMALDI, DAVID - American Museum Of Natural History
item HASH, JOHN - University Of California
item HAUSER, MARTIN - California Department Of Agriculture
item HIPPA, HEIKKI - University Of Turku
item IBANEZ-BERNAL, SERGIO - Institute De Ecologia - Mexico
item JASCHHOF, MATHIAS - Station Linne
item KAMENEVA, ELENA - National Academy Of Sciences Of Ukraine
item HASH, JOHN - University Of California
item HAUSER, MARTIN - California Department Of Food And Agriculture
item KERR, PETER - California Department Of Food And Agriculture
item KORMEYEV, VALERY - National Academy Of Sciences Of Ukraine
item KORYTKOWSKI, CHESLAVO - Natural History Museum Of Los Angeles County
item KUNG, GIAR-ANN - Natural History Museum Of Los Angeles County
item KVIFTE MIKALSEN, GUNNAR - Natural History Museum - Norway
item LONSDALE, OWEN - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada
item MARSHALL, STEPHEN - University Of Guelph
item MATHIS, WAYNE - Smithsonian Institute
item MICHELSEN, VERNER - Natural History Museum Of Denmark
item NAGLIS, STEFAN - University Of Zurich
item Norrbom, Allen
item PAIERO, STEVEN - Environment Canada
item PAPE, THOMAS - Natural History Museum Of Denmark
item PEREIRA-COLAVITE, ALESSANDRE - Non ARS Employee
item POLLET, MARC - Research Institute For Nature And Forest (INBO)
item ROCHEFORT, SABRINA - McGill University - Canada
item RUNG, ALESSANDRA - California Department Of Food And Agriculture
item RUNYON, JUSTIN - Rocky Mountain Research Station
item SAVAGE, JADE - Universite De Sherbrooke
item SILVA, VERA - Non ARS Employee
item SINCLAIR, BRADLEY - Canadian Food Inspection Agency
item SKEVINGTON, JEFFREY - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada
item STIREMAN, JOHN - Wright State University
item SWANN, JOHN - University Of Calgary
item VILKAMAA, PEKKA - Finnish Museum Of Natural History
item WHEELER, TERRY - McGill University - Canada
item WHITWORTH, TERRY - Washington State University
item WONG, MARIA - Natural History Museum Of Los Angeles County
item WOOD, D. MONTY - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada
item WOODLEY, NORMAN - Retired ARS Employee
item YAU, TIFFANY - University Of Guelph
item ZAVORTINK, THOMAS - Dominican University Of California
item ZUMBADO, MANUEL - Universidad De Costa Rica

Submitted to: Communications Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/20/2018
Publication Date: 3/22/2018
Citation: Brown, B.V., Borkent, A., Alder, P.H., Amorim, D., Barber, K., Bickel, D., Boucher, S., Brooks, S.E., Burger, J., Burington, Z.L., Capellari, R.S., Costa, D.R., Cumming, J.M., Curler, G., Dick, C.W., Epler, J.H., Fisher, E., Gaimari, S.D., Gelhaus, J., Grimaldi, D.A., Hash, J., Hauser, M., Hippa, H., Ibanez-Bernal, S., Jaschhof, M., Kameneva, E.P., Hash, J., Hauser, M., Kerr, P.H., Kormeyev, V., Korytkowski, C.A., Kung, G., Kvifte Mikalsen, G., Lonsdale, O., Marshall, S.A., Mathis, W., Michelsen, V., Naglis, S., Norrbom, A.L., Paiero, S., Pape, T., Pereira-Colavite, A., Pollet, M., Rochefort, S., Rung, A., Runyon, J.B., Savage, J., Silva, V.C., Sinclair, B.J., Skevington, J.H., Stireman, J.O., Swann, J., Vilkamaa, P., Wheeler, T., Whitworth, T., Wong, M., Wood, D., Woodley, N., Yau, T., Zavortink, T.J., Zumbado, M.A. 2018. First comprehensive inventory of a tropical site for a megadiverse group of insects, the true flies (Diptera). Communications Biology. 2018(1):1-21.

Interpretive Summary: Flies are one of the megadiverse orders of insects and one of the major components of world biodiversity. They include agricultural pests, disease vectors, pollinators, predators and parasitoids, and detritivores critical for nutrient recycling. This study inventoried fly diversity from a single small site in Costa Rica for a 1-year period, where more than 4300 species were collected, indicating that fly diversity in the tropics is even greater than previously estimated, particularly for some of the smallest flies, such as gall midges and coffin flies. This information will be useful to biologists, conservationists, and other scientists interested in biodiversity.

Technical Abstract: Tropical insect biodiversity remains largely unknown for most research sites in the world, due to the overwhelming number of species and lack of focus by taxonomists. Single-site studies are necessary, however to establish baselines for comparative studies across space, and as the basis for ecological analyses. Here we report that inventory of a four hectare tropical cloud forest in Costa Rica for one year yielded 4,348 species of Diptera. Seventy-three families were present, all of which were studied to the species level, providing complete coverage of the order. In contrast to the known world fauna, dominated by the relatively large-bodied Tipulidae and Tachinidae, the Zurquí de Moravia fauna is richest in tiny flies, particularly of the little-studied families Cecidomyiidae and Phoridae. Malaise traps collected the most species, followed by light traps and emergence traps. 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. Our data provide the first verifiable basis for Diptera diversity at a single site in the tropics. Even so, extrapolations based on our data show that our sampling was not complete and indicate the need for further inventories.