Integrative Taxonomy to Reduce Linnean and Wallacean Shortfalls in Tropical Insect Biodiversity

Tropical regions concentrate most of the world’s insect diversity, yet they remain among the least comprehensively documented in taxonomic and biogeographic terms. Persistent knowledge gaps (known as Linnean and Wallacean shortfalls) limit our ability to estimate species richness, delimit species boundaries, and understand distributional patterns. These deficiencies constrain advances in ecology, conservation planning, and applied entomology. Although morphology-based taxonomy remains the foundation of species discovery and nomenclature, recent advances have expanded its analytical power. The integration of classical taxonomy with DNA barcoding, phylogenomics, and ecological and spatial data has transformed insect systematics. Integrative taxonomy thus offers a robust framework to resolve cryptic diversity, accelerate species discovery, and generate reliable baseline data in biodiversity-rich but underexplored tropical regions.This proposal is timely, as insect taxonomy in many focal regions remains poorly known. Beyond molecular and analytical tools, museum insect collections constitute essential yet sometimes underutilized resources. These collections preserve historical records of fauna and flora, supporting studies in ecology, evolution, and climate change, and provide indispensable reference material for identifying newly collected or unknown specimens. However, some regions may lack well-curated collections, highlighting the need to strengthen taxonomic infrastructure and collection-based research.Emerging approaches such as museomics enable genomic analyses of preserved specimens, facilitating comparisons between historical and newly collected material and revealing temporal changes in diversity and distribution. Collectomics further integrates collection data into assessments of environmental change, including documentation of species no longer recorded locally due to climate or habitat shifts. Therefore, incorporating preserved insect material from regional museums and scientific collections is crucial to the Research Topic “Integrative Taxonomy to Reduce Linnean and Wallacean Shortfalls in Tropical Insect Biodiversity,” ensuring historical depth and comparative rigor.This Research Topic seeks to address persistent taxonomic and biogeographic gaps that limit understanding of tropical insect diversity. Many lineages remain undescribed, poorly delimited, or insufficiently documented geographically, reducing the reliability of biodiversity assessments and conservation strategies.To confront these challenges, the Topic promotes integrative taxonomic frameworks combining morphology with molecular, ecological, spatial, and collection-based data. Contributions may include taxonomic revisions, species descriptions, development of molecular reference libraries, biodiversity inventories, biogeographic analyses, and studies leveraging historical collections. The goal is to accelerate species discovery, improve taxonomic resolution, and strengthen the scientific and applied relevance of insect taxonomy in tropical regions.Submissions are encouraged from Central and South America, China, Southeast Asia (including Singapore), and southern Africa. Relevant themes include species discovery and delimitation, taxonomic revisions, molecular reference libraries, integration of historical and contemporary collection data, biogeographic analyses, and taxonomy-informed assessments of conservation priorities and environmental change. The Research Topic welcomes Original Research articles, Taxonomic Monographs or Revisions, Brief Research Reports, Data Papers, and Reviews that provide conceptual, methodological, or regional syntheses on tropical insect biodiversity. Topic editors: Diego G. Pádua, Daniell Rodrigo Rodrigues Fernandes, Rodrigo Araujo Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77593/integrative-taxonomy-to-reduce-linnean-and-wallacean-shortfalls-in-tropical-insect-biodiversity