The Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot: A Comprehensive Dataset for the Mira-Mataje Binational Basins.

We present a flora and fauna dataset for the Mira-Mataje binational basins. This is an area shared between southwestern Colombia and northwestern Ecuador, where both the Chocó and Tropical Andes biodiversity hotspots converge. We systematized data from 120 sources in the Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) standard and geospatial vector data format for geographic information systems (GIS) (shapefiles). Sources included natural history museums, published literature, and citizen science repositories across 13 countries. The resulting database has 33,460 records from 6,821 species, of which 540 have been recorded as endemic, and 612 as threatened. The diversity represented in the dataset is equivalent to 10% of the total plant species and 26% of the total terrestrial vertebrate species in both hotspots. The dataset can be used to estimate and compare biodiversity patterns with environmental parameters and provide value to ecosystems, ecoregions, and protected areas. The dataset is a baseline for future assessments of biodiversity in the face of environmental degradation, climate change, and accelerated extinction processes.

A new species and synonymy of the Neotropical Eucelatoria Townsend and redescription of Myiodoriops Townsend.

The New World tropics represents the most diverse region for tachinid parasitoids (Diptera: Tachinidae), but it also contains the most narrowly defined, and possibly the most confusing, tachinid genera of any biogeographic region. This over-splitting of genera and taxonomic confusion has limited progress toward our understanding the family in this region and much work is needed to revise, redefine, and make sense of the profusion of finely split taxa. In a recent analysis of the Neotropical genus Erythromelana Townsend, two species previously assigned to this genus, Euptilodegeeriaobumbrata (Wulp) and Myiodoriopsmarginalis Townsend were reinstated as monotypic genera. In the present study, we demonstrate that Euptilodegeeriaobumbrata (Wulp), previously assigned to three different genera, represents in fact a species of the large New World genus Eucelatoria Townsend, in which females possess a sharp piercer for oviposition. We also show that the species Eucelatoriacarinata (Townsend) belongs to the same species group as Eucelatoriaobumbrata, which we here define and characterize as the Eucelatoriaobumbrata species group. Additionally, we describe Eucelatoriaflava sp. n. as a new species within the Eucelatoriaobumbrata species group. Finally, we redescribe the genus Myiodoriops Townsend and the single species Myiodoriopsmarginalis Townsend.

Revision of the genus Erythromelana Townsend (Diptera: Tachinidae) and analysis of its phylogeny and diversification.

The Neotropics harbor an enormous diversity of tachinid flies (Diptera: Tachinidae), yet the fauna remains poorly understood. This is especially true of the tribe Blondeliini, which is particularly diverse in this region and in great need of taxonomic attention. Here, the Neotropical blondeliine genus Erythromelana Townsend is revised. This genus is widely distributed from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, with the Andes being a hotspot of diversity. Known hosts belong to the genus Eois Hübner (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). This revision includes the redescription of three previously described species and the description of 11 new species based on characteristics of adults and immatures. The new species are E. arciforceps sp. nov., E. catarina sp. nov., E. convexiforceps sp. nov., E. cryptica sp. nov., E. curvifrons sp. nov., E. distincta sp. nov., E. ecuadoriana sp. nov., E. eois sp. nov., E. leptoforceps sp. nov., E. napensis sp. nov., and E. woodi sp. nov. A morphological database of 62 characters was constructed to assess morphological variation within and among species and species groups using Principal Components Analysis. Means and medians for these morphological traits were calculated to infer phylogenetic relationships using parsimony. Additionally, a maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis was performed using COI mtDNA sequences for a subset of eight species. Nominal species E. obscurifrons (Wulp) is treated as a nomen dubium within Erythromelana. Two species previously assigned to Erythromelana appear to represent distinct genera with unclear relationships to this genus and are reinstated as monotypic genera: Myiodoriops marginalis Townsend and Euptilodegeeria obumbrata (Wulp), revived status. Biological and phylogenetic data are used to infer modes of diversification within Erythromelana.