Cryptic diversity of Leurus wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Metopiinae), parasitoids of caterpillars in Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

As a consequence of COI barcoding hundreds of reared specimens of what appeared to be Leurus caeruliventris, a parasitoid of leaf-rolling Crambidae (Lepidoptera) from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica, and matching them with their host caterpillars and morphological traits, we describe ten new sympatric species and redescribe L. caeruliventris. The new species, authored by Zuñiga & Valerio, are: Leurus billeberhardi, L.

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.

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.

Revision of Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera, Tachinidae) and 33 new species from Area de Conservación Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica with a key to known North and Mesoamerican species.

Background: This revision is part of a continuing series of taxonomic work aimed at the description of new taxa and the redescription of known taxa of the Tachinidae of Area de Conservación Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica. Here we describe 33 new species in the genus Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (Diptera: Tachinidae). All species described here were reared from this ongoing inventory of wild-caught caterpillars spanning a variety of families (Lepidoptera: Erebidae, Eupterotidae, Noctuidae, Notodontidae, Saturniidae, and Sphingidae).

Amphibian diversity across three adjacent ecosystems in Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

Amphibians are the most threatened species-rich vertebrate group, with species extinctions and population declines occurring globally, even in protected and seemingly pristine habitats. These 'enigmatic declines' are generated by climate change and infectious diseases. However, the consequences of these declines are undocumented as no baseline ecological data exists for most affected areas.

Yeasts from tropical forests: Biodiversity, ecological interactions, and as sources of bioinnovation.

Tropical rainforests and related biomes are found in Asia, Australia, Africa, Central and South America, Mexico, and many Pacific Islands. These biomes encompass less than 20% of Earth's terrestrial area, may contain about 50% of the planet's biodiversity, and are endangered regions vulnerable to deforestation. Tropical rainforests have a great diversity of substrates that can be colonized by yeasts.

A revision of the parasitoid wasp genus Mason with the description of 30 new species (Hymenoptera, Braconidae).

The parasitoid wasp genus Mason, 1981 is revised, based on a combination of basic morphology (dichotomous key and brief diagnostic descriptions), DNA barcoding, biology (host data and wasp cocoons), and distribution data. A total of 49 species is considered; the genus is almost entirely Neotropical (48 species recorded from that region), but three species reach the Nearctic, with one of them extending as far north as 45° N in Canada. parasitizes exclusively Hesperiinae caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae), mostly feeding on monocots in the families Arecaceae, Bromeliaceae, Cannaceae, Commelinaceae, Heliconiaceae, and Poaceae.

A global phylogeny of butterflies reveals their evolutionary history, ancestral hosts and biogeographic origins.

Butterflies are a diverse and charismatic insect group that are thought to have evolved with plants and dispersed throughout the world in response to key geological events. However, these hypotheses have not been extensively tested because a comprehensive phylogenetic framework and datasets for butterfly larval hosts and global distributions are lacking. We sequenced 391 genes from nearly 2,300 butterfly species, sampled from 90 countries and 28 specimen collections, to reconstruct a new phylogenomic tree of butterflies representing 92% of all genera.

New species in Rejectaria Guene (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Herminiinae) with a focus on the Cyclanthaceae-feeders.

Five species of Rejectaria Guene, including two newly described, were reared from Asplundia utilis (Oerst.) Harling, Asplundia microphylla (Oerst.) Harling, Carludovica costaricensis (Harling) L.

New distributional, biological and taxonomic information on the genus Eulophinusia Girault (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae).

The genus Eulophinusia Girault (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), previously known from Australia and India, is newly recorded from the Americas (Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic). The morphological diagnosis of the genus is enhanced through the discovery of an unnoticed and unique feature - an intricate jigsaw-like microsculptural pattern on the mesoscutellum. The new species described here, Eulophinusia andreamezae Hansson, is a hyperparasitoid.

Minimalist revision and description of 403 new species in 11 subfamilies of Costa Rican braconid parasitoid wasps, including host records for 219 species.

Three new genera are described: (Proteropinae), (Rogadinae), and (Rogadinae). Keys are given for the New World genera of the following braconid subfamilies: Agathidinae, Braconinae, Cheloninae, Homolobinae, Hormiinae, Ichneutinae, Macrocentrinae, Orgilinae, Proteropinae, Rhysipolinae, and Rogadinae. In these subfamilies 416 species are described or redescribed.

A switch to feeding on cycads generates parallel accelerated evolution of toxin tolerance in two clades of caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae).

We assembled a complete reference genome of , an aposematic cycad-eating hairstreak butterfly that suffered near extinction in the United States in the last century. Based on an analysis of genomic sequences of and 19 representative genera, the closest relatives of are and We report natural history information for , , and Using genomic sequences for each species of , , and (and three outgroups), we trace the evolution of cycad feeding, coloration, gregarious behavior, and other traits. The switch to feeding on cycads and to conspicuous coloration was accompanied by little genomic change.

A species-level taxonomic review and host associations of (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) with an emphasis on 136 new reared species from Costa Rica and Ecuador.

The descriptive taxonomic study reported here is focused on , a species-rich genus of hymenopteran parasitoid wasps. The species were found within the framework of two independent long-term Neotropical caterpillar rearing projects: northwestern Costa Rica (Área de Conservación Guanacaste, ACG) and eastern Andes, Ecuador (centered on Yanayacu Biological Station, YBS). One hundred thirty-six new species of Ashmead are described and all of them are authored by Arias-Penna.

: a new genus and life history for the pteridivore Druce, 1898 (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae).

Goldstein, is described to accommodate Druce, 1898. Recent discovery of its larva, which has been recorded eating foliage of species in six families of leptosporangiate ferns, suggest a possible subfamily assignment within the Eriopinae, but this cannot be substantiated based on adult morphology. This species has no obvious close relatives either among the core noctuid pteridivore genera currently recognized in the Eriopinae (e.

A new species of Reinhard (Diptera: Tachinidae) from Area de Conservación Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica.

Background: The New World genus Reinhard, 1967b (Diptera: Tachinidae) previously included only the type species (Reinhard, 1967a) from Arizona, U.S.A.

Genomes of skipper butterflies reveal extensive convergence of wing patterns.

For centuries, biologists have used phenotypes to infer evolution. For decades, a handful of gene markers have given us a glimpse of the genotype to combine with phenotypic traits. Today, we can sequence entire genomes from hundreds of species and gain yet closer scrutiny.

Gypsy moth genome provides insights into flight capability and virus-host interactions.

Since its accidental introduction to Massachusetts in the late 1800s, the European gypsy moth (EGM; ) has become a major defoliator in North American forests. However, in part because females are flightless, the spread of the EGM across the United States and Canada has been relatively slow over the past 150 years. In contrast, females of the Asian gypsy moth (AGM; ) subspecies have fully developed wings and can fly, thereby posing a serious economic threat if populations are established in North America.

Review of Schaus, 1911 (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae): a new combination and re-descriptions of species newly associated with ferns (Polypodiaceae).

Schaus, 1911 (Noctuidae) is the smaller of two noctuid genera originally described by Schaus that include species recently associated with ferns (Pteridophyta), in this case Polypodiaceae, as larval food plants. Following an examination of type material and reared specimens accompanied by DNA barcode data, is revised to include Schaus, 1911, (Jones, 1914), and (Schaus, 1914), , the last of which is transferred from Schaus, 1914 (= Druce, 1908). is characterized based on adult and larval morphology, especially that of the male genitalia.

A review of Druce, 1908: a newly discovered case of fern-feeding and descriptions of three new species (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae).

Schaus, 1914, is one of two noctuine genera originally described by Schaus that includes species recently found to feed on fern foliage (Pteridophyta) as larvae. By examining museum specimens, including type material and reared specimens accompanied by DNA barcode data, Schaus, 1914, is synonymized with Druce, 1908, all currently recognized species are re-described, including males of three species described from female holotypes, and three new species are described: Goldstein, , Goldstein, , and Goldstein, Images of adults and, where available, larvae as well as dissected genitalia are presented, with a key to adults.

Revision of the Mesoamerican species of Townsend (Diptera: Tachinidae) and description of twenty-three new species reared from caterpillars in Area de Conservación Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica.

Background: Twenty-three new species of the genus Townsend, 1927 (Diptera: Tachinidae) are described, all reared from multiple species of wild-caught caterpillars across a wide variety of families (Lepidoptera: Crambidae; Erebidae; Geometridae; Hesperiidae; Lycaenidae; Nymphalidae; Pieridae; Riodinidae; and Sphingidae). All caterpillars were collected within Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), in northwestern Costa Rica. This study provides a concise description of each new species using morphology, life history, molecular data, and photographic documentation.