Background The world’s fast disappearing mangrove forests have low plant diversity and are often assumed to also have a species-poor insect fauna. We here compare the tropical arthropod fauna across a freshwater swamp and six different forest types (rain-, swamp, dry-coastal, urban, freshwater swamp, mangroves) based on 140,000 barcoded specimens belonging to ca. 8500 species. Results We find that the globally imperiled habitat “mangroves” is an overlooked hotspot for insect diversity. Our study reveals a species-rich mangrove insect fauna (>3000 species in Singapore alone) that is distinct (>50% of species are mangrove-specific) and has high species turnover across Southeast and East Asia. For most habitats, plant diversity is a good predictor of insect diversity, but mangroves are an exception and compensate for a comparatively low number of phytophagous and fungivorous insect species by supporting an unusually rich community of predators whose larvae feed in the productive mudflats. For the remaining tropical habitats, the insect communities have diversity patterns that are largely congruent across guilds. Conclusions The discovery of such a sizeable and distinct insect fauna in a globally threatened habitat underlines how little is known about global insect biodiversity. We here show how such knowledge gaps can be closed quickly with new cost-effective NGS barcoding techniques.

We here compare the tropical arthropod fauna across a freshwater swamp and six different forest types (rain-, swamp, dry-coastal, urban, freshwater swamp, mangroves) based on 140,000 specimens belonging to ca. 8,500 species. Surprisingly, we find that mangroves, a globally imperiled habitat that had been expected to be species-poor for insects, are an overlooked hotspot for insect diversity despite having low plant diversity. Mangroves are very species-rich (>3,000 species) and distinct (>50% of species are mangrove-specific) with high species turnover across Southeast and East Asia. Overall, plant diversity is a good predictor for insect diversity for most habitats, but mangroves compensate for the low number of phytophagous and fungivorous species by supporting an unusually rich community of predators whose larvae feed in the productive mudflats. For the remaining habitats, the insect communities have diversity patterns that are largely congruent across guilds. The discovery of such a sizeable and distinct insect fauna in a globally threatened habitat underlines how little is known about global insect biodiversity.

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Abstract. Stenothermal habitat specialists such as monophagous insects may be threatened by climatechange induced range shifts, if resource requirements along migration routes or future habitats are not met. Little is known about altitudinal shifts of inconspicuous, less mobile species relative to latitudinal range shifts in prominent, mobile organisms such as butterflies. Here, we address three questions: What are the resource requirements-habitat area, quality and fragmentation-for two specialist herbivores? How do habitat characteristics change with altitude? Do species resource requirements suggest an increased vulnerability towards temporal or spatial bottlenecks under climate change?We mapped the spatial distribution of a riparian shrub, Veronica stricta (Plantaginaceae), at local (300 m elevational gradient, n ¼ 252 patches) and regional scales (600 m gradient; n ¼ 102) in the Tongariro National Park, New Zealand. Patch occupancy and patch-level population dynamics of Trioza obscura (Hemiptera: Triozidae) and an undescribed gall midge (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) were recorded in 2010 and 2011. Habitat suitability and population dynamics were predicted with generalized linear models, applying information theoretic model averaging.Habitat area had the largest positive influence on insect presence and survivorship, the latter benefitting from larger insect populations. Habitat quality showed a species-dependent effect on occurrence (T. obscura: negative effect of plant shade; cecidomyiid: positive effect of host inflorescences) and survival (T. obscura: positive response to leaf-nitrogen and host size; cecidomyiid: positive response to inflorescence abundance). Only cecidomyiid colonization had a weak negative response to habitat fragmentation. Altitude contributed positively to patch suitability and survivorship of the cecidomyiid, but decreased survivorship of T. obscura.Altitude-related changes in the landscape matrix, such as the transition from forested to subalpine vegetation, positively affected habitat area and fragmentation, which in turn offset a steady decrease in host plant size (i.e., patch quality). Our study revealed that habitat area, quality and fragmentation do not always follow simple linear trends along elevational gradients. We recommend that species distribution models should consider these complex patterns when predicting range shifts. We suggest that species vulnerability to climate change depends on whether resource requirements allow for upward migration and suitable habitats are available in future distribution ranges.

A new genus and species, Tatupa grafei Tyts, Namyatova & Konstantinov, gen. et sp. nov. (Heteroptera, Miridae, Cylapinae, Fulviini), is described from Brunei Darussalam. A diagnosis, photographs of the dorsal habitus, scanning micrographs of selected morphological structures, and illustrations of male and female genitalia are provided for this new species. Its taxonomic placement within the subfamily Cylapinae is briefly discussed. A comparison with the morphologically most similar genus, Proamblia Bergroth, 1910, is made, and scanning micrographs of Proamblia are also provided.