Global arthropod beta-diversity is spatially and temporally structured by latitude.

Global biodiversity gradients are generally expected to reflect greater species replacement closer to the equator. However, empirical validation of global biodiversity gradients largely relies on vertebrates, plants, and other less diverse taxa. Here we assess the temporal and spatial dynamics of global arthropod biodiversity dynamics using a beta-diversity framework.

Soundscapes and deep learning enable tracking biodiversity recovery in tropical forests.

Tropical forest recovery is fundamental to addressing the intertwined climate and biodiversity loss crises. While regenerating trees sequester carbon relatively quickly, the pace of biodiversity recovery remains contentious. Here, we use bioacoustics and metabarcoding to measure forest recovery post-agriculture in a global biodiversity hotspot in Ecuador.

Fluctuating insect diversity, abundance and biomass across agricultural landscapes.

Habitat destruction and deterioration of habitat quality caused a severe decline of biodiversity, such as insect diversity. In this study, we analyze insect diversity and biomass across agro-environments. We collected flying insects with 20 malaise traps across a landscape mosaic consisting of organic (eight traps) and conventional (four traps) farmland, as well as across agricultural land that has been recently converted from conventional to organic farming (eight traps).

A novel approach for reliable qualitative and quantitative prey spectra identification of carnivorous plants combining DNA metabarcoding and macro photography.

Prey spectra (the number and composition of captured arthropods) represent a crucial aspect of carnivorous plant ecology, yet remain poorly studied. Traditional morphology-based approaches for prey identification are time-intensive, require specialists with considerable knowledge of arthropod taxonomy, and are hampered by high numbers of unidentifiable (i.e.

Arthropod dark taxa provide new insights into diversity responses to bark beetle infestations.

Natural disturbances are increasing around the globe, also impacting protected areas. Although previous studies have indicated that natural disturbances result in mainly positive effects on biodiversity, these analyses mostly focused on a few well established taxonomic groups, and thus uncertainty remains regarding the comprehensive impact of natural disturbances on biodiversity. Using Malaise traps and meta-barcoding, we studied a broad range of arthropod taxa, including dark and cryptic taxa, along a gradient of bark beetle disturbance severities in five European national parks.

Relationship of insect biomass and richness with land use along a climate gradient.

Recently reported insect declines have raised both political and social concern. Although the declines have been attributed to land use and climate change, supporting evidence suffers from low taxonomic resolution, short time series, a focus on local scales, and the collinearity of the identified drivers. In this study, we conducted a systematic assessment of insect populations in southern Germany, which showed that differences in insect biomass and richness are highly context dependent.

Coverage and quality of DNA barcode references for Central and Northern European Odonata.

Background: Dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) are important components in biomonitoring due to their amphibiotic lifecycle and specific habitat requirements. They are charismatic and popular insects, but can be challenging to identify despite large size and often distinct coloration, especially the immature stages. DNA-based assessment tools rely on validated DNA barcode reference libraries evaluated in a supraregional context to minimize taxonomic incongruence and identification mismatches.

A DNA barcode library for ground beetles of Germany: the genus Bonelli, 1810 and allied taxa (Insecta, Coleoptera, Carabidae).

Species of the ground beetle genus Bonelli, 1810 are some of the most common carabids in Europe. This publication provides a first comprehensive DNA barcode library for this genus and allied taxa including Bonelli, 1810, Bonelli, 1810, Bonelli, 1810, and Clairville, 1806 for Germany and Central Europe in general. DNA barcodes were analyzed from 609 individuals that represent 51 species, including sequences from previous studies as well as more than 198 newly generated sequences.

DNA metabarcoding for biodiversity monitoring in a national park: Screening for invasive and pest species.

DNA metabarcoding was utilized for a large-scale, multiyear assessment of biodiversity in Malaise trap collections from the Bavarian Forest National Park (Germany, Bavaria). Principal component analysis of read count-based biodiversities revealed clustering in concordance with whether collection sites were located inside or outside of the National Park. Jaccard distance matrices of the presences of barcode index numbers (BINs) at collection sites in the two survey years (2016 and 2018) were significantly correlated.

Toward a standardized quantitative and qualitative insect monitoring scheme.

The number of insect species and insect abundances decreased severely during the past decades over major parts of Central Europe. Previous studies documented declines of species richness, abundances, shifts in species composition, and decreasing biomass of flying insects. In this study, we present a standardized approach to quantitatively and qualitatively assess insect diversity, biomass, and the abundance of taxa, in parallel.

DNA barcoding of fogged caterpillars in Peru: A novel approach for unveiling host-plant relationships of tropical moths (Insecta, Lepidoptera).

The present study aimed to perform molecular identification of lepidopteran larvae from canopy fogging including gut-content analyses. A total of 130 lepidopteran larvae were selected from 37 fogging samples at the Panguana station, district Yuyapichis, province Puerto Inca, department Huánuco, Peru. Target trees were pre-identified and subsequently submitted to molecular confirmation of identity with three markers (rbcL, psbA and trnL-F).

High genetic variation within mitochondrial CO1 in Middle European Thanasimus formicarius (Linné, 1758) (Coleoptera: Cleridae).

The aim of this study is to assess the species status of the Middle-European Thanasimus Latreille, 1806 species using mitochondrial CO1 sequence data. Molecular biological results clearly support the synonymy of T. pectoralis (Fuss, 1863) and T.

Flight over the Proto-Caribbean seaway: Phylogeny and macroevolution of Neotropical Anaeini leafwing butterflies.

Our understanding of the origin and evolution of the astonishing Neotropical biodiversity remains somewhat limited. In particular, decoupling the respective impacts of biotic and abiotic factors on the macroevolution of clades is paramount to understand biodiversity assemblage in this region. We present the first comprehensive molecular phylogeny for the Neotropical Anaeini leafwing butterflies (Nymphalidae, Charaxinae) and, applying likelihood-based methods, we test the impact of major abiotic (Andean orogeny, Central American highland orogeny, Proto-Caribbean seaway closure, Quaternary glaciations) and biotic (host plant association) factors on their macroevolution.

A DNA barcode library for 5,200 German flies and midges (Insecta: Diptera) and its implications for metabarcoding-based biomonitoring.

This study summarizes results of a DNA barcoding campaign on German Diptera, involving analysis of 45,040 specimens. The resultant DNA barcode library includes records for 2,453 named species comprising a total of 5,200 barcode index numbers (BINs), including 2,700 COI haplotype clusters without species-level assignment, so called "dark taxa." Overall, 88 out of 117 families (75%) recorded from Germany were covered, representing more than 50% of the 9,544 known species of German Diptera.

DNA barcodes identify 99 per cent of apoid wasp species (Hymenoptera: Ampulicidae, Crabronidae, Sphecidae) from the Western Palearctic.

The apoid wasps have traditionally been regarded as a paraphyletic assemblage of four families (Ampulicidae, Crabronidae, Heterogynaidae and Sphecidae) that are closely related to the bees (Anthophila). The present study covers the three families of apoid wasps known to occur in Europe, that is, the Ampulicidae, Crabronidae and Sphecidae. DNA barcode sequences of 3,695 specimens of apoid wasps were analysed for the present study, including 21 specimens of Ampulicidae, 3,398 Crabronidae and 276 Sphecidae.

The contribution of mitochondrial metagenomics to large-scale data mining and phylogenetic analysis of Coleoptera.

A phylogenetic tree at the species level is still far off for highly diverse insect orders, including the Coleoptera, but the taxonomic breadth of public sequence databases is growing. In addition, new types of data may contribute to increasing taxon coverage, such as metagenomic shotgun sequencing for assembly of mitogenomes from bulk specimen samples. The current study explores the application of these techniques for large-scale efforts to build the tree of Coleoptera.

DNA Barcoding in Forensic Entomology - Establishing a DNA Reference Library of Potentially Forensic Relevant Arthropod Species.

Throughout the years, DNA barcoding has gained in importance in forensic entomology as it leads to fast and reliable species determination. High-quality results, however, can only be achieved with a comprehensive DNA barcode reference database at hand. In collaboration with the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office, we have initiated at the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology the establishment of a reference library containing arthropods of potential forensic relevance to be used for DNA barcoding applications.

A DNA barcode library for ground beetles of Germany: the genus Bonelli, 1810 (Insecta, Coleoptera, Carabidae).

The genus Bonelli, 1810 is a very speciose and taxonomically difficult genus of the Carabidae. The identification of many of the species is accomplished with considerable difficulty, in particular for females and immature stages. In this study the effectiveness of DNA barcoding, the most popular method for molecular species identification, was examined to discriminate various species of this genus from Central Europe.

From water striders to water bugs: the molecular diversity of aquatic Heteroptera (Gerromorpha, Nepomorpha) of Germany based on DNA barcodes.

With about 5,000 species worldwide, the Heteroptera or true bugs are the most diverse taxon among the hemimetabolous insects in aquatic and semi-aquatic ecosystems. Species may be found in almost every freshwater environment and have very specific habitat requirements, making them excellent bioindicator organisms for water quality. However, a correct determination by morphology is challenging in many species groups due to high morphological variability and polymorphisms within, but low variability between species.

Revision of the West Palaearctic Latreille, with the descriptions of two species - an integrative approach using morphology and DNA barcodes (Hymenoptera, Vespidae).

The genus is revised for the West Palaearctic region based on morphology and DNA barcodes. The revision includes all known West Palaearctic species, raising the number of species in Europe to 14 and to 17 for the West Palaearctic realm. DNA barcodes were recovered from 15 species, 14 of which belong to the subgenus Polistes, and one, , to the subgenus Gyrostoma.

A DNA barcode library for Germany's mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera).

Mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera) are prominent representatives of aquatic macroinvertebrates, commonly used as indicator organisms for water quality and ecosystem assessments. However, unambiguous morphological identification of EPT species, especially their immature life stages, is a challenging, yet fundamental task. A comprehensive DNA barcode library based upon taxonomically well-curated specimens is needed to overcome the problematic identification.

sp. nov., a second species of the genus Eschscholtz, 1829 from Iran (Coleoptera: Elateridae) discovered by an integrative approach.

Synaptus filiformis Fabricius, 1781 has been recognized as a rather variable elaterid species. Based on morphological distinctness of 3 specimens (2 males, 1 female) from Mazandaran, Iran, a new species is here hypothesised. COI barcoding supports the new species as a new Barcode Index Number with a distance of mean 13.