The Arthropod Fauna of Oak (Quercus spp., Fagaceae) Canopies in Norway

(1) We document the invertebrate fauna collected from 24 oak canopies in east and west Norway as a contribution to the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre’s ‘The Norwegian Taxonomy Initiative’. (2) A snap-shot inventory of the canopies was recorded by means of emitting a mist of natural pyrethrum into the canopies at night using a petrol-driven fogger and collecting the specimens in butterfly nets spread on the ground under the canopy. (3) Almost the entire catch of more than 6800 specimens was identified to 722 species. Out of 92 species new to the Norwegian fauna, 21 were new to science and, additionally, 15 were new to the Nordic fauna. Diptera alone constituted nearly half of the species represented, with 61 new records (18 new species). Additionally, 24 Hymenoptera (one new species), six oribatid mites (two new species) and one Thysanoptera were new to the Norwegian fauna. (4) Our study emphasizes the importance of the oak tree as a habitat both for a specific fauna and occasional visitors, and it demonstrates that the canopy fogging technique is an efficient way to find the ‘hidden fauna’ of Norwegian forests. The low number of red listed species found reflects how poor the Norwegian insect fauna is still studied. Moreover, the implication of the IUCN red list criteria for newly described or newly observed species is discussed.

Species-rich bark and ambrosia beetle fauna (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae) of the Ecuadorian Amazonian Forest Canopy

Canopy fogging was used to sample the diversity of bark and ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae) at two western Amazonian rainforest sites in Ecuador. Sampling was conducted by Dr Terry Erwin and assistants from 1994–2006 and yielded 1158 samples containing 2500 scolytine specimens representing more than 400 morphospecies. Here, we analyze a subset of these data representing two ecological groups: true bark beetles (52 morphospecies) and ambrosia beetles (69 morphospecies). A high percentage of these taxa occurred as singletons and doubletons and their species accumulation curves did not reach an asymptote. Diversity estimates placed the total scolytine species richness for this taxon subset present at the two sites between 260 and 323 species. The α-diversity was remarkably high at each site, while the apparently high β-diversity was an artifact of undersampling, as shown by a Monte Carlo resampling analysis. This study demonstrates the utility of canopy fogging for the discovery of new scolytine taxa and for approximate diversity assessment, but a substantially greater sampling effort would be needed for conclusive alpha as well as beta diversity estimates.

Two new Cotasteromimina from Borneo (Coleoptera, Curculionidae: Molytinae)

Based on material collected by canopy fogging in forests on Borneo, Obhylius arboricola gen. nov., sp. nov., and Seticotasteromimus brunomanseri sp. nov., the second species of this genus, are described. Further records of the type species of Seticotasteromimus Germann, 2013, S. jarawa Germann, 2013, are presented from Borneo, some 2700 km distant from the type locality on the Andaman Islands. Along with Seticotasteromimus, the new genus is best placed in the subtribe Cotasteromimina.

Integrative ecological and molecular analysis indicate high diversity and strict elevational separation of canopy beetles in tropical mountain forests

Tropical mountain forests contribute disproportionately to terrestrial biodiversity but little is known about insect diversity in the canopy and how it is distributed between tree species. We sampled tree-specific arthropod communities from 28 trees by canopy fogging and analysed beetle communities which were first morphotyped and then identified by their DNA barcodes. Our results show that communities from forests at 1100 and 1700 m a.s.l. are almost completely distinct. Diversity was much lower in the upper forest while community structure changed from many rare, less abundant species to communities with a pronounced dominance structure. We also found significantly higher beta-diversity between trees at the lower than higher elevation forest where community similarity was high. Comparisons on tree species found at both elevations reinforced these results. There was little species overlap between sites indicating limited elevational ranges. Furthermore, we exploited the advantage of DNA barcodes to patterns of haplotype diversity in some of the commoner species. Our results support the advantage of fogging and DNA barcodes for community studies and underline the need for comprehensive research aimed at the preservation of these last remaining pristine forests.

Scolytodes Ferrari (Coleoptera, Scolytinae) from Ecuador: 40 new species, and a molecular phylogenetic guide to infer species differences

The genus Scolytodes Ferrari is a highly diverse group of Neotropical bark beetles. Recent collecting by hand and canopy fogging in Ecuador produced many new records. Overlap in species composition between samples from the canopy and the ground was very low, and canopy fogging revealed the highest proportion of undescribed species. Altogether we report records for 55 species of Scolytodes from Ecuador, including 40 species new to science: Scolytodes pseudoatratus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes latipes Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes sloanae Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes samamae Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes otongae Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes chaplini Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes projectus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes lubricus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes inordinatus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes cancellatus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes jubatus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes abbreviatus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes stramineus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes teres Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes animus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes pseudoanimus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes bombycinus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes bisetosus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes horridus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes virgatus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes criniger Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes pseudocrassus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes semicrassus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes pseudolepidus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes semilepidus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes fortis Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes peniculus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes tristis Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes chrysifrons Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes amictus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes cnesinoides Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes maestus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes vietus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes echinus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes rufifrons Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes arcuatus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes validus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes sparsus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes lapillus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov., Scolytodes coronatus Jordal and Smith, sp. nov. We also provide the first description of the female and a new country record for Scolytodes grandis (Schedl, 1962) (=Scolytodes glaberrimus Wood, 1972 syn. nov.) and a redescription and new country record for Scolytodes pilifrons (Schedl, 1962). The total number of valid species is now 287. Additional new country records were established for Scolytodes acuminatus Wood, 1969, Scolytodes comosus Jordal and Kirkendall, 2019, Scolytodes costabilis Wood, 1974, Scolytodes glabrescens Wood, 1972, Scolytodes impressus Wood, 1969, Scolytodes nitidus (Eggers, 1928), Scolytodes striatus (Eggers, 1934), Scolytodes tucumani Wood, 2007, and from another Hexacolini genus, Pycnarthrum fulgidum Wood, 1977. The first molecular phylogeny for Scolytodes is provided and used primarily to guide the inference of species validity. Molecular data from COI, 28S and EF-1α revealed substantial genetic divergence between morphologically very similar but diagnosable species.

Keanekaragaman dan komposisi kumbang elaterid (Coleoptera: Elateridae) di kawasan hutan hujan tropis Taman Nasional Bukit Duabelas dan Hutan Harapan, Jambi

<p>Jambi province is one of the regions in Indonesia that has tropical rainforests with different landscape characteristics in each region. Tropical rainforests contain the highest biodiversity in the world and as a habitat for various types of flora and fauna, including elaterid beetles. Elaterid beetles have an important role as ecological bioindicators. The aim of this research was to study the diversity and species composition of elaterid beetle in two different landscape types. Insect sampling was carried out in Jambi Province on two tropical rainforest landscape, i.e. Bukit Duabelas National Park (TNBD) and Harapan Rainforest. Elaterid beetles were collected by canopy fogging method in the morning. Each landscape consists of four core plots and each core plot consist of three as subplot, total subplots observed in both landscape were 24 subplots. A total of 2069 individuals of elaterid beetles were collected, belonging to 6 subfamilies, 23 genera, and 59 morphospecies. The abundance of elaterid beetles was higher in Harapan Rainforest, while species richness was higher in TNBD landscape. Species dominant in two landscape consist to subfamily Agrypninae, belonging to genera <em>Adelocera </em>with morphospecies <em>Adelocera </em>sp.01. The result of this research showed that landscape differences influencing the composition and abundance of elaterid beetles, but it does not influence in species richness of elaterid beetles.</p>

Accelerating the knowledge of Peruvian Chalcididae (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) with integrative taxonomy

We present the first regional inventory of the fauna of Chalcididae in the Peruvian Amazon, with a nearly 6-fold increase in the number of species recorded for the country. A total of 418 specimens of Chalcididae were collected between 2000 and 2017 at the Panguana Reserve, Peruvian Amazon, 400 of which were obtained using Malaise traps and the remaining 18 specimens by canopy fogging. The morphological analyses indicated that these specimens represent 183 species of Chalcididae in 10 different genera, with 173 new to Peru and 134 potentially new species. We submitted 268 specimens, representing 167 species, to DNA barcoding. Of these, 141 specimens yielded sequences, 136 of them with a minimum of 300 bp. Sixty specimens were assigned a BIN by the Barcode of Life Database System (BOLD), resulting in 50 BINs. A cluster analysis of 138 individuals that yielded DNA sequences longer than 100 bp revealed 118 MOTUs (molecular operative taxonomic units), all of them highly congruent with the morphological data. Prior to the present study, 37 species in 9 genera of Chalcididae were known from Peru. With our results, this number was increased to 210 species in 13 genera. The present study is the result of a joint effort between the SNSB - Zoologische Staatssammlung München, Germany (ZSM) and the Insect Biodiversity Laboratory of the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória, Brazil (LaBI-UFES), intending to apply an accelerated taxonomic treatment of the Chalcididae of the Panguana reserve using traditional morphological approaches in combination with DNA barcoding. The complete molecular dataset and associated voucher information is publicly available through BOLD. The new species that were discovered as part of the study are being formally described elsewhere as part of taxonomic treatments of Neotropical and world generic revisions at LaBI-UFES.

Four new species of the sac spider genus Planochelas Lyle & Haddad, 2009 (Araneae, Trachelidae) from central and southern Africa

The genus Planochelas Lyle &amp; Haddad, 2009 is endemic to the Afrotropical region. Members of the genus are very small, arboreal sac spiders. They are mainly collected by canopy fogging in tropical forest and savanna. In this study, four new species of Planochelas are described: P.brevissp. nov., P.jocqueisp. nov. (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and P.haddadisp. nov., P.neethlingisp. nov. (South Africa). An updated key to the genus is provided, and the new species are illustrated by photographs and drawings. A distribution map for the genus is provided. This paper increases the number of species in the genus to seven.

DNA barcoding data release for Coleoptera from the Gunung Halimun canopy fogging workpackage of the Indonesian Biodiversity Information System (IndoBioSys) project

We present the results of a DNA barcoding pipeline that was established as part of the German-Indonesian IndobioSys project - Indonesian Biodiversity Information System. Our data release provides the first large-scale diversity assessment of Indonesian coleoptera obtained by canopy fogging. The project combined extensive fieldwork with databasing, DNA barcode based species delineation and the release of results in collaboration with Indonesian counterparts, aimed at supporting further analyses of the data. Canopy fogging on 28 trees was undertaken at two different sites, Cikaniki and Gunung Botol, in the south-eastern area of the Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park in West Java, Indonesia. In total, 7,447 specimens of Coleoptera were processed, of which 3,836 specimens produced DNA barcode sequences that were longer than 300 bp. A total of 3,750 specimens were assigned a Barcode Index Number (BIN), including 2,013 specimens from Cikaniki and 1,737 specimens from Gunung Botol. The 747 BINs, that were obtained, represented 39 families of Coleoptera. The distribution of specimens with BINs per tree was quite heterogeneous in both sites even in terms of the abundance of specimens or diversity of BINs. The specimen distribution per taxon was heterogeneous as well. Some 416 specimens could not be identified to family level, corresponding to 72 BINs that lack a family level identification. The data have shown a large heterogeneity in terms of abundance and distribution of BINs between sites, trees and families of Coleoptera. From the total of 747 BINs that were recovered, 421 (56%) are exclusive from a single tree. Although the two study sites were in close proximity and separated by a distance of only about five kilometres, the number of shared BINs between sites is low, with 81 of the 747 BINs. With this data release, we expect to shed some light on the largely hidden diversity in the canopy of tropical forests in Indonesia and elsewhere.

A new species of velvet mite from meridional South America of the genus Clavismaris (Acari, Erythraeoidea, Smarididae, Hirstiosomatinae)

ABSTRACT: A new species of Clavismaris Southcott, 1963 is described from the southern limit of distribution of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest at Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. The specimens were collected by pyrethroid tree canopy fogging in preserved mountain slopes forests areas around 120 m of altitude.