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The Neotropical caddisfly (Trichoptera) fauna is cataloged from a review of over 1,000 literature citations through 2015 (partial 2016) to include 3,262 currently recognized, valid species-group names in 25 families and 155 extant genera. Fourteen subspecies are included in the total as well as 35 fossil species and 1 fossil genus. The region covered includes all of Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. Genus-group and species-group synonyms are listed. For each nominal species, information on the type locality, type depository, sex of type, distribution by country, and other pertinent taxonomic or biological information is included. Summary information on taxonomy, phylogeny, distribution, immature stages, and biology are provided for each family and genus where known. An extensive index to all nominal taxa is included to facilitate use of the catalog. The glossosomatid species Rueda Martín & Gibon, is transferred to .

Geometric morphometric statistics have been employed to reduce the subjectivity of visual evaluations in taxonomy. Taxonomy in most insect groups relies strongly on male genitalia morphology which is often the structure with most data available, which is also true to caddisfly taxonomy. Here we revise the caddisfly subgenus Xiphocentron (Sphagocentron) adding five new species after 40 years: X. dactylum sp. nov. , X. eurybrachium sp. nov. , X. tapanti sp. nov. , and X. tuxtla sp. nov. Additionally, we describe a new X. (Antillotrichia): X. drepanum sp. nov. from French Guiana and provide new species records of Xiphocentronidae from Bolivia, Costa Rica and Ecuador. We performed exploratory geometric morphometric analysis on the male genitalia’s preanal appendage to characterize the shape differences among the species, and to investigate its utility to classify species to subgenera. In order to infer species relationship and assess if shape congruences are due to phylogenetic signal or convergence data from 100 landmarks and semilandmarks, and 30 discrete characters were used to generate a phylogenetic hypothesis. The morphometry partially supports the subgenera delimitations, but the Antillotrichia subgenus greatly overlapped with other subgenera. The discriminant analysis overall classification correctness was 64%. Some suggested phenotypic groups were due to convergence. According to the preanal appendage morphometry, X. (Antillotrichia) fuscum is a Sphagocentron species. The phylogenetic analysis recovered Sphagocentron as monophyletic, but not Antillotrichia . Sphagocentron subgenus was placed within a clade of several Antillotrichia species, with X. (A.) fuscum as the sister of the other Sphagocentron species, although support values were low.

Caddisflies are a highly diverse group of aquatic insects, particularly in the Neotropical region where there is a high number of endemic taxa. Based on taxonomic contributions published until August 2019, a total of 796 caddisfly species have been recorded from Brazil. Taxonomic data about Brazilian caddisflies are currently open access at the “Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil” website (CTFB), an on-line database with taxonomic information on the animal species occurring in Brazil. The order Trichoptera at CTFB includes a catalog of species recorded for the country, with synonymic lists, distribution throughout six biomes, 12 hydrographic regions, and 27 political states (including Federal District) from Brazil. The database is constantly updated to include newly published data. In this study, we reviewed the taxonomic effort on Brazilian caddisflies based on data currently in CTFB database. The accumulation curve of species described or recorded from the country, by year, shows a strong upward trend in last 25 years, indicating that it is possible that there are many more species to be described. Based on presence/absence of caddisfly species at three geographic levels (biomes, hydrographic regions, and states), second order Jackknife estimated at least 1,586 species occurring in Brazil (with hydrographic regions as unities), indicating we currently know about 50% of the Brazilian caddisfly fauna. Species distribution by Brazilian biomes reveals that the Atlantic Forest is the most diverse, with 490 species (298 endemic), followed by the Amazon Forest, with 255 species (101 endemic). Even though these numbers may be biased because there has been more intense collecting in these two biomes, the percentage of endemic caddisfly species in the Atlantic Forest is remarkable. Considering the distribution throughout hydrographic regions, clustering analyses (UPGMA) based on incidence data reveals two groups: northwestern basins and southeastern. Although these groups have weak bootstrap support and low similarity in species composition, this division of Brazilian caddisfly fauna could be related to Amazon-Atlantic Forest disjunction, with the South American dry diagonal acting as a potential barrier throughout evolutionary time.

The relationship between detritivore diversity and decomposition can provide information on how biogeochemical cycles are affected by ongoing rates of extinction, but such evidence has come mostly from local studies and microcosm experiments. We conducted a globally distributed experiment (38 streams across 23 countries in 6 continents) using standardised methods to test the hypothesis that detritivore diversity enhances litter decomposition in streams, to establish the role of other characteristics of detritivore assemblages (abundance, biomass and body size), and to determine how patterns vary across realms, biomes and climates. We observed a positive relationship between diversity and decomposition, strongest in tropical areas, and a key role of abundance and biomass at higher latitudes. Our results suggest that litter decomposition might be altered by detritivore extinctions, particularly in tropical areas, where detritivore diversity is already relatively low and some environmental stressors particularly prevalent. It is unclear whether stream detritivore diversity enhances decomposition across climates. Here the authors manipulate litter diversity and examine detritivore assemblages in a globally distributed stream litterbag experiment, finding a positive diversity-decomposition relationship stronger in tropical streams, where detritivore diversity is lower.

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian megadiverse fauna is no exception, and the Catalogo Taxonomico da Fauna do Brasil (CTFB) (fauna.jbrj.gov.br/), made public in 2015, represents a database on biodiversity anchored on a list of valid and expertly recognized scientific names of animals in Brazil. The CTFB is updated in near real time by a team of more than 800 specialists. By January 1, 2024, the CTFB compiled 133,691 nominal species, with 125,138 that were considered valid. Most of the valid species were arthropods (82.3%, with more than 102,000 species) and chordates (7.69%, with over 11,000 species). These taxa were followed by a cluster composed of Mollusca (3,567 species), Platyhelminthes (2,292 species), Annelida (1,833 species), and Nematoda (1,447 species). All remaining groups had less than 1,000 species reported in Brazil, with Cnidaria (831 species), Porifera (628 species), Rotifera (606 species), and Bryozoa (520 species) representing those with more than 500 species. Analysis of the CTFB database can facilitate and direct efforts towards the discovery of new species in Brazil, but it is also fundamental in providing the best available list of valid nominal species to users, including those in science, health, conservation efforts, and any initiative involving animals. The importance of the CTFB is evidenced by the elevated number of citations in the scientific literature in diverse areas of biology, law, anthropology, education, forensic science, and veterinary science, among others.