A dataset for examining trends in publication of new Australian insects.

Australian Faunal Directory data were used to create a new, publicly available dataset, nai50, which lists 18318 species and subspecies names for Australian insects described in the period 1961-2010, together with associated publishing data. The number of taxonomic publications introducing the new names varied little around a long-term average of 70 per year, with ca 420 new names published per year during the 30-year period 1981-2010. Within this stable pattern there were steady increases in multi-authored and 'Smith in Jones and Smith' names, and a decline in publication of names in entomology journals and books. For taxonomic works published in Australia, a publications peak around 1990 reflected increases in museum, scientific society and government agency publishing, but a subsequent decline is largely explained by a steep drop in the number of papers on insect taxonomy published by Australia's national science agency, CSIRO.