Abstract
Insect taxonomy is fundamental to global biodiversity research, but few studies have been conducted to track progress in this field using objective criteria. This study reports publishing trends in the taxonomy of four diverse, globally-distributed insect families from 1946 to 2012 to elucidate recent progress and the current status of insect taxonomy. Publications included in the Zoological Record online literature database were analyzed for Cicadellidae (leafhoppers), Miridae (plant bugs), Pyralidae (moths) and Staphylinidae (rove beetles). Data on numbers of new species, article length, species description length, authorship and collaborations, and taxonomic journals were extracted and compiled for each year. The results showed that (1) the number of taxonomic papers increased before 1980, followed by a steep decline with subsequent partial recovery; (2) the number of papers describing new species generally mirrored the trend in numbers of new species, suggesting no overall change in the proportion of larger, synthetic works (monographs) and more such work is encouraged; (3) the average number of new species described per publication decreased over the time period investigated, but with an increase in the average description pages per new species; (4) researchers from Europe and North America continue to produce the most taxonomic research on three of the four families, but the main center for Cicadellidae taxonomy has recently shifted to Asia; (5) collaboration among authors within and across continents has increased as indicated by increases in coauthored papers; and (6) journal prevalence differed for the four families and the top 10 most utilized journals for each family were given out for reference. Based on the analysis of the publication trend of the four families, we found that the overall trend toward increasing rates of species discovery is encouraging. But more human resources training and financial support on taxonomic work are required in order to complete a global faunistic inventory in a reasonable timeframe. Future study that conducts more in-depth and comprehensive analysis based on more families is required to reflect the overall trend of the insect taxonomy.
Highlights
Insects are the most diverse group of animals on the planet accounting for more than half of all known living organisms (Erwin 1982, 1997; Novotny et al 2002; Chapman 2009)
More recent positive trends in new species discovery began around 2000 in all four families, but only three of the four families continue to increase, with the most dramatic increase occurring in Staphylinidae, for which a new high was reached in 2012
The numbers of new species described per year in Cicadellidae and Miridae have not yet reached their previous peaks and in 2012 were only near the overall average for the time period considered
Summary
Insects are the most diverse group of animals on the planet accounting for more than half of all known living organisms (Erwin 1982, 1997; Novotny et al 2002; Chapman 2009). Considerable ongoing taxonomic work is needed to provide a foundation for other biological research and classification as well as identification tools crucial to research on ecology and pest management in agriculture and forestry (Van Emden 1957) and ecosystem services (Tancoigne et al 2014). Based on a study of the Zoological Record, Tancoigne & Dubois (2013) concluded that current taxonomy is not meeting its objective of providing a complete scientific inventory and classification of the earth’s living taxa (“taxonomic inertia”). They attributed taxonomic inertia to problematic scientific policy, inadequate funding and a shortage of taxonomists
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