High species richness of tachinid parasitoids (Diptera: Calyptratae) sampled with a Malaise trap in Baihua Mountain Reserve, Beijing, China

Abstract

Tachinidae are one of the most speciose families of Diptera and the largest group of non-hymenopteran parasitoids. Little is known about their diversity, distribution patterns, and seasonal variation in most ecosystems. This study reports on tachinid flies collected by a Malaise trap over 73 weeks in Baihua Mountain Reserve, northern China, and investigates the patterns of local species richness and its temporal distribution. The most species-rich season was summer, but the majority of specimens were recovered in spring. A total of 755 tachinid specimens were collected, consisting of 144 species in 85 genera, comprising 26.5% of the species and 49.7% of the genera recorded from northern China. A total species richness of 243 was estimated, indicating that only a portion of the community of tachinid flies was collected at this location and suggesting that the diversity of tachinids might be underestimated across Beijing and northern China. This work is a first step in assessing patterns of tachinid diversity in China using quantitative sampling and establishes a baseline for comprehending the temporal and spatial diversity of these ecologically significant parasitoids.

Megabarcoding reveals a tale of two very different dark taxa along the same elevational gradient

“…We here study the spatio-temporal diversity of these two dark taxa along an elevational gradient in the Baihua Mountain Reserve, a temperate forest ecosystem in China renowned for its high biodiversity, environmental heterogeneity, and diverse climate (Zhang et al, 2013; Pei et al, 2021). China is not only a megadiverse country, but also one of the countries with the most threatened biodiversity (Wang et al, 2020).…”