Taxonomic Catalogue Research Articles

Synopsis of the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) of Costa Rica

Based on an exhaustive review of the bibliography, and consultation of entomological collections around the world, we present an illustrated catalog with 16 Castniidae taxa present in Costa Rica. Corybantes veraguana veraguana (Westwood, 1877) is recorded for the first time in the country and new records are reported for rare and little-known species such as Athis analibiae (Espinoza-Sanabria & González, 2005), Athis delecta (Schaus, 1911) and Mirocastnia pyrrhopygoides smalli Miller, 1980. A taxonomic catalog of each taxon is included, as well as general information on geographic distribution, biogeography, ecology, seasonality, flight habits, material examined, and illustrations of males and females for all those taxa known from more than one specimen from Costa Rica.

Contributions to the amphibians and reptiles of Myanmar: insights from the Leonardo Fea legacy housed at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales of Madrid

The Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN) holds a significant repository of historical specimens collected by Leonardo Fea in Myanmar from 1885 to 1889, which have remained overlooked for decades. In this work, we present a commented taxonomic catalogue of the MNCN amphibians and reptiles collected by L. Fea. Based on this material, we unveil the first documented record of Wijayarana melasma in Myanmar and identify a potential new species of Leptobrachium. Also, the collection contains several topotypes of six species: Limnonectes macrognathus, Orixalus carinensis, Chirixalus doriae, Xenophrys parva, Brachytarsophrys carinense, and Leiolepis ocellata. These findings emphasize the crucial role of scientific collections in revealing information that have gone unnoticed for more than a century, hinting at a potential underestimation of Myanmar's biodiversity.

Callainireinwardtia Savage (Diptera, Muscidae) is a Cyrtoneurininae of uncertain position: Systematics and description of a new species from Brazil

Callainireinwardtia Savage is a genus of Neotropical Cyrtoneurininae known from Callainireinwardtia woodi Savage, a species only known from six specimens collected in Costa Rica. Considering the combination of a bare anepimeron, metallic blue-green color, and the morphology of the post-abdomen, the original author proposed that the genus belongs to Reinwardtiini, whose taxa are considered to belong to Cyrtoneurininae or Reinwardtiinae in more recent classifications. Here, we have described Callainireinwardtia papaveroisp. nov. isolated from Brazil. For the first time, we also tested the phylogenetic position of the genus using molecular markers (AATS, CAD, EF1-α) based on a taxonomic sample of Muscidae. We could amplify EF1-α from C. papaveroisp. nov. and analyzed the dataset using maximum likelihood. Although different analytical strategies yielded different results for the sister group of the genus, we recovered its position among Cyrtoneurininae in all cases, corroborating the previous hypothesis. Depending on the partitioning scheme, Callainireinwardtia is either a sister group of Synthesiomyia, the clade (Synthesiomyia nudiseta + Neomuscina), or a clade composed of eight Cyrtoneurininae genera (Synthesiomyia, Neomuscina, Chaetagenia, Eginia, Muscina, Passeromyia, Philornis, and Pseudoptilolepis). Considering the limitations of our dataset, the sister-group hypothesis should be carefully considered. We have also provided a key for the identification of the genus and its species, a distribution map, and an updated taxonomic catalog of the genus.

The taxonomic catalog of the Brazilian fauna: biodiversity and geographical distribution of Triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) in Brazil

The taxonomic catalog of the Brazilian fauna: biodiversity and geographical distribution of Triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) in Brazil

Refining the Taxonomic Catalog of the Brazilian Fauna: some species of Darwin wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) erroneously reported for Brazil

Refining the Taxonomic Catalog of the Brazilian Fauna: some species of Darwin wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) erroneously reported for Brazil

Expanding the taxonomic catalog of Brazilian meiofauna: diversity and distribution of the neglected phyla Tardigrada, Gastrotricha, and Kinorhyncha

Expanding the taxonomic catalog of Brazilian meiofauna: diversity and distribution of the neglected phyla Tardigrada, Gastrotricha, and Kinorhyncha

Brazilian Scarabaeoidea (Insecta: Coleoptera) in the Taxonomic Catalogue of the Brazilian Fauna, with a key for families and subfamilies

Brazilian Scarabaeoidea (Insecta: Coleoptera) in the Taxonomic Catalogue of the Brazilian Fauna, with a key for families and subfamilies

DNA barcoding of reef-associated fishes of Saint Martin's Island, Northern Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh.

This study employs the DNA barcoding approach to make a molecular taxonomic catalog of reef fishes of Saint Martin's Island (SMI), an ecologically critical area (ECA), and Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Bangladesh. DNA barcoding, along with morphological analysis, confirmed 84 reef-associated fish species in SMI belonging to 16 orders, 39 families, and 67 genera. A total of 184 sequences were obtained in this study where 151 sequences (534-604 bp) of 81 species were identified from the COI barcode gene and 33 sequences (609 bp) of 19 species from the 16S rRNA gene region which were submitted to the GenBank and Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD). Among these sequences, 70 sequences of the COI gene and 16 sequences of 16S rRNA gene region from 41 species were submitted for the first time into the GenBank from Bangladesh. For molecular characterization analysis, another 37 sequences of 15 reef fish species of SMI were added from previous studies, making a total of 221 DNA sequences which comprised 179 sequences of 96 species for the COI gene and 42 sequences of 26 species for the 16S rRNA gene region. The COI sequences contain 145 haplotypes with 337 polymorphic sites, and the mean genetic distances within species, genera, and families were calculated as 0.34%, 12.26%, and 19.03%, respectively. On the contrary, 16S rRNA sequences comprised 31 haplotypes with 241 polymorphic sites, and the mean genetic divergences within species, genera, and families were 0.94%, 4.72%, and 12.43%, respectively. This study is a significant contribution to the marine biodiversity of Bangladesh which would facilitate the assessment of species diversity for strategizing management action. It is also an important input to the DNA barcode library of reef fishes of the northern Bay of Bengal.

Two ptiliid species of the subgenus Flachiana Sundt (Coleoptera: Ptiliidae: Acrotrichis) new to Korea

The genus Acrotrichis is the largest genus of the family Ptiliidae, which has 233 valid species under the genus. The subgenus Flachiana belonging to the genus Acrotrichis has 10 species and is recognized by their large and domed pronotum and unique genital characteristics. Currently, Acrotrichis lewisii (Matthews, 1884) is the only species reported in Korea under Flachiana, although seven Flachiana species have been recorded in Japan. In this study, we report two additional species, A. similaris Sundt, 1969 and A. yazakii Sundt, 1969 from the Korean peninsula. Illustrations of their habitus, diagnostic characters, distributional map, a key to the Korean Acrotrichis species, and a taxonomic catalogue of the subgenus Flachiana are also provided.

A Taxonomic Survey of Physics-Informed Machine Learning

Physics-informed machine learning (PIML) refers to the emerging area of extracting physically relevant solutions to complex multiscale modeling problems lacking sufficient quantity and veracity of data with learning models informed by physically relevant prior information. This work discusses the recent critical advancements in the PIML domain. Novel methods and applications of domain decomposition in physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) in particular are highlighted. Additionally, we explore recent works toward utilizing neural operator learning to intuit relationships in physics systems traditionally modeled by sets of complex governing equations and solved with expensive differentiation techniques. Finally, expansive applications of traditional physics-informed machine learning and potential limitations are discussed. In addition to summarizing recent work, we propose a novel taxonomic structure to catalog physics-informed machine learning based on how the physics-information is derived and injected into the machine learning process. The taxonomy assumes the explicit objectives of facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration in methodology, thereby promoting a wider characterization of what types of physics problems are served by the physics-informed learning machines and assisting in identifying suitable targets for future work. To summarize, the major twofold goal of this work is to summarize recent advancements and introduce a taxonomic catalog for applications of physics-informed machine learning.

Suspension of oral hygiene practices highlights key bacterial shifts in saliva, tongue, and tooth plaque during gingival inflammation and resolution

Experimentally induced gingivitis is associated with inflammatory and microbiological changes in an otherwise healthy subject, demonstrating the impacts of discontinuing oral hygiene routines. Understanding the bacterial dynamics during the induction and resolution of gingival inflammation will aid in the development of bacterial prognostic tests and probiotics for severe oral disease. We profiled the bacterial community in 15 healthy subjects who suspended all oral-hygiene practices for three weeks. Saliva, tongue, subgingival, and supragingival plaque samples were collected over seven weeks and showed a return to community baseline after oral hygiene practices were resumed. Stronger temporal changes in subgingival and supragingival plaque suggest these sample types may be preferred over saliva or tongue plaque for future prognostics. Taxonomic groups spanning ten phyla demonstrated consistent abundance shifts, including a significant decrease in Streptococcus, Neisseria, and Actinomyces populations, and an increase in Prevotella, Fusobacterium, and Porphyromonas populations. With four distinct oral sites surveyed and results mapped to the Human Oral Microbiome Database reference set, this work provides a comprehensive taxonomic catalog of the bacterial shifts observed during the onset and resolution of gingival inflammation.

Taxonomic and Biological Aspects of the Azotidae Family (Insecta: Hymenoptera)

The Azotidae are hyperparasitoids linked to alleridae, mealybugs (Insecta: Hemiptera), and egg parasitoids. Azotidae Family Nikol'skaya & Yasnosh, 1966 was accepted by the authority of the name: In the taxonomic catalog of the fauna of Brazil and list of flora of Brazil 2020. The Azotidae were formerly included as a subfamily of the Aphelinidae. This manuscript aimed to establish the biological characteristics of the Azotidae. The bibliographic research was carried out from 1970 to July 2022, using manuscripts present in digital platforms such as Biological Abstract, Periodicals, and Scielo. Thus, the present study increases our knowledge to better understand the intricacies of the bioecology, geographic distribution, and taxonomy of the Azotidae.

The taxonomic catalog of the Brazilian fauna: Dermaptera and Phasmatodea (Insecta), with commentaries on species list, types, authorship and distribution

The taxonomic catalog of the Brazilian fauna: Dermaptera and Phasmatodea (Insecta), with commentaries on species list, types, authorship and distribution

Ephemeroptera (Insecta) da região metropolitana de Santarém, Pará, Brasil

Abstract With the objective of improving the knowledge about Ephemeroptera in the North region of Brazil, the group’s first survey was carried out for the metropolitan region of Santarém, Pará, Brazil. The specimens analyzed were collected from 2019 to 2020 in 27 aquatic environments distributed in the region. The nymphs were captured in the streams with aquatic entomological nets, in addition to manual collection on the substrates. Adults were collected using light traps and flight intercept traps. To complement the inventory, a bibliographic survey of species previously recorded in the area was carried out. For this, the Taxonomic Catalog of Fauna of Brazil, the website Ephemeroptera in South America and scientific articles were consulted. As a result, eight families, 23 genera and 31 species/morphospecies were recorded for the region, with 13 new records for Pará and 19 for the metropolis of Santarém. This study demonstrates the relevance of surveys for the knowledge of biodiversity and for understanding the geographic distribution of taxa.

Indexing Biotic Interactions in GBIF data

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF 2022a) has indexed more than 2 billion occurrence records from 70,147 datasets. These datasets often include "hidden" biotic interaction data because biodiversity communities use the Darwin Core standard (DwC, Wieczorek et al. 2012) in different ways to document biotic interactions. In this study, we extracted biotic interactions from GBIF data using an approach similar to that employed in the Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI; Poelen et al. 2014) and summarized the results. Here we aim to present an estimation of the interaction data available in GBIF, showing that biotic interaction claims can be automatically found and extracted from GBIF. Our results suggest that much can be gained by an increased focus on development of tools that help to index and curate biotic interaction data in existing datasets. Combined with data standardization and best practices for sharing biotic interactions, such as the initiative on plant-pollinators interaction (Salim 2022), this approach can rapidly contribute to and meet open data principles (Wilkinson 2016). We used Preston (Elliott et al. 2020), open-source software that versions biodiversity datasets, to copy all GBIF-indexed datasets. The biodiversity data graph version (Poelen 2020) of the GBIF-indexed datasets used during this study contains 58,504 datasets in Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) format, totaling 574,715,196 records. After retrieval and verification, the datasets were processed using Elton. Elton extracts biotic interaction data and supports 20+ existing file formats, including various types of data elements in DwC records. Elton also helps align interaction claims (e.g., host of, parasite of, associated with) to the Relations Ontology (RO, Mungall 2022), making it easier to discover datasets across a heterogeneous collection of datasets. Using specific mapping between interaction claims found in the DwC records to the terms in RO*1, Elton found 30,167,984 potential records (with non-empty values for the scanned DwC terms) and 15,248,478 records with recognized interaction types. Taxonomic name validation was performed using Nomer, which maps input names to names found in a variety of taxonomic catalogs. We only considered an interaction record valid where the interaction type could be mapped to a term in RO and where Nomer found a valid name for source and target taxa. Based on the workflow described in Fig. 1, we found 7,947,822 interaction records (52% of the potential interactions). Most of them were generic interactions (interacts_with, 87.5%), but the remaining 12.5% (993,477 records) included host-parasite and plant-animal interactions. The majority of the interactions records found involved plants (78%), animals (14%) and fungi (6%). In conclusion, there are many biotic interactions embedded in existing datasets registered in large biodiversity data indexers and aggregators like iDigBio, GBIF, and BioCASE. We exposed these biotic interaction claims using the combined functionality of biodiversity data tools Elton (for interaction data extraction), Preston (for reliable dataset tracking) and Nomer (for taxonomic name alignment). Nonetheless, the development of new vocabularies, standards and best practice guides would facilitate aggregation of interaction data, including the diversification of the GBIF data model (GBIF 2022b) for sharing biodiversity data beyond occurrences data. That is the aim of the TDWG Interest Group on Biological Interactions Data (TDWG 2022).

Towards a unified taxonomic catalogue for the Chilean cacti: assembling molecular systematics and classical taxonomy

The competition between floristic catalogues and the nomenclatural issues of the treated taxa, is a problem for the botanical knowledge of countries. Consequently, it seems to be necessary to merge former taxonomical proposals into a unified list based on phylogenetic hypotheses, the rules of nomenclature and dichotomous keys to the Chilean subfamilies, tribes and genera. With this approach we here propose an updated catalogue of the Chilean cacti. It would be necessary to merge the various taxonomic proposals into a unified list based on both phylogenetic hypotheses and the rules of nomenclature. With this approach, we here propose to updated the catalogue of Chilean cactus. A neotype was designated for Echinocactus jussieui. In addition, we present a dichotomous taxonomic key to the Chilean subfamilies, tribes, and genera.

Listado de la artropodofauna del macizo de Sierra Nevada (Almería y Granada, España)

We present a list of the arthropod fauna of Sierra Nevada (latitude 36.927 and 37.23; longitude -3.571 and -2.646) which includes 3953 records represented as 6 classes, 33 orders, 268 families, 1884 genera and 3940 species (of which 169 are endemic), indicating the bibliographic reference of the citation and the corresponding taxonomic information. The elaboration of this list, and its future updates, attempts to alleviate the lack of knowledge that still exists about the arthropods present in Sierra Nevada; offering an essential resource to generate knowledge about the entomological biodiversity of this massif, as well as to propose adequate conservation strategies. The work "Los Insectos de Sierra Nevada. 200 years of history" (Ruano et al. 2013) has been the primary source of citations and we have completed it with those taxa not included in it or appearing in the scientific literature later. The scientific names have been validated based on different taxonomic catalogues and the knowledge of experts and under criteria of coherence, relevance and timeliness. The list is available in GBIF in Darwin Core format (https://doi.org/10.15470/nt5nsx) and part of the material cited is deposited in the collections of the Zoology Department of the University of Granada (https://ccz.ugr.es/)

The Tadpoles of the Iron Quadrangle, Southeastern Brazil: A Baseline for Larval Knowledge and Anuran Conservation in a Diverse and Threatened Region

Knowledge of tadpole morphology and natural history is essential to understand and protect anuran diversity. We provide a regional taxonomic catalog of the tadpoles that occur in the Iron Quadrangle (IQ, Quadrilátero Ferrífero), a hotspot of amphibian diversity and highly threatened region in southeastern Brazil. Using a standardized methodology, free-living larvae of 67 species belonging to 25 genera and 11 families are described and illustrated, including photographs of most species in life, natural history notes, and taxonomic comments. Larvae of seven species and/or candidate species (viz., Fritziana aff. fissilis, Bokermannohyla gr. circumdata, Bokermannohyla aff. nanuzae, Pithecopus aff. rohdei, Scinax aff. machadoi, Scinax aff. perereca, and Scinax rogerioi) are described for the first time and compared to congeners. Most tadpoles of candidate species exhibited remarkable differences in morphology compared to closely related congeners, which could provide diagnostic characters for further formal descriptions. The observed material of many of the previously known tadpoles deviated from published descriptions, which might be useful in future taxonomic studies (e.g., providing characters for the taxonomic delimitation of either small-range species or widespread cryptic species complexes). Illustrated dichotomous and multi-access identification keys are presented, allowing most species to be readily identified using reliable characters. Considering the high-level threat and huge impacts on IQ's biodiversity and ecosystem services, particularly from mining, the results presented here provide an important foundation for research and conservation of anuran in this region. Finally, we stress that IQ harbors one of the most ecomorphologically diverse Brazilian tadpole assemblages.

DROP: Molecular voucher database for identification of Drosophila parasitoids.

Molecular identification is increasingly used to speed up biodiversity surveys and laboratory experiments. However, many groups of organisms cannot be reliably identified using standard databases such as GenBank or BOLD due to lack of sequenced voucher specimens identified by experts. Sometimes a large number of sequences are available, but with too many errors to allow identification. Here, we address this problem for parasitoids of Drosophila by introducing a curated open-access molecular reference database, DROP (Drosophila parasitoids). Identifying Drosophila parasitoids is challenging and poses a major impediment to realize the full potential of this model system in studies ranging from molecular mechanisms to food webs, and in biological control of Drosophila suzukii. In DROP, genetic data are linked to voucher specimens and, where possible, the voucher specimens are identified by taxonomists and vetted through direct comparison with primary type material. To initiate DROP, we curated 154laboratory strains, 856 vouchers, 554 DNA sequences, 16genomes, 14 transcriptomes, and six proteomes drawn from a total of 183 operational taxonomic units (OTUs): 114 described Drosophila parasitoid species and 69 provisional species. We found species richness of Drosophila parasitoids to be heavily underestimated and provide an updated taxonomic catalogue for the community. DROP offers accurate molecular identification and improves cross-referencing between individual studies that we hope will catalyse research on this diverse and fascinating model system. Our effort should also serve as an example for researchers facing similar molecular identification problems in other groups of organisms.

An annotated type catalogue of the centipedes (Myriapoda: Chilopoda) held in the Zoological Museum Hamburg.

Centipedes (Myriapoda: Chilopoda) are carnivorous arthropods that live in leaf litter and soil habitats on all continents except Antarctica. Roughly 3,300 species have been described to date but the taxonomy is still progressing and requires a thorough documentation of type material and type deposits. In this paper we provide an annotated catalogue of the centipede type collection at the Zoological Museum (ZMH) in Hamburg. This collection comprises 490 type specimens belonging to 141 taxa originally described as species, subspecies and varieties. More than half of these taxa were described by the pioneering myriapodologists Carl Graf Attems (Vienna) and Karl Kraepelin (Hamburg). The collection includes material representing 93 valid species or subspecies and contains specimens predominantly from Australia (33%), Asia (22%), Africa (20%) and South America (20%). Taxonomically, the focus is on the centipede orders Scolopendromorpha (56 valid species) and Geophilomorpha (28 valid species) with fewer types for the Lithobiomorpha (8 species). A total of 48 taxa (34% of type species) have been synonymized since they were originally described and the type material for 12 additional species at the ZMH is lost. We provide a brief historical overview of this collection from its origin at the Museum Godeffroy and the Johanneum in Hamburg, including the most relevant taxonomists and collectors, followed by an annotated taxonomic catalogue with details on all species that are or were represented by type material.