Scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) are small herbivorous insects found on all continents except Antarctica. They are extremely invasive, and many species are serious agricultural pests. They are also emerging models for studies of the evolution of genetic systems, endosymbiosis and plant-insect interactions. ScaleNet was launched in 1995 to provide insect identifiers, pest managers, insect systematists, evolutionary biologists and ecologists efficient access to information about scale insect biological diversity. It provides comprehensive information on scale insects taken directly from the primary literature. Currently, it draws from 23 477 articles and describes the systematics and biology of 8194 valid species. For 20 years, ScaleNet ran on the same software platform. That platform is no longer viable. Here, we present a new, open-source implementation of ScaleNet. We have normalized the data model, begun the process of correcting invalid data, upgraded the user interface, and added online administrative tools. These improvements make ScaleNet easier to use and maintain and make the ScaleNet data more accurate and extendable.Database URL: http://scalenet.info

Hemipteroid insects (Paraneoptera), with over 10% of all known insect diversity, are a major component of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Previous phylogenetic analyses have not consistently resolved the relationships among major hemipteroid lineages. We provide maximum likelihood-based phylogenomic analyses of a taxonomically comprehensive dataset comprising sequences of 2,395 single-copy, protein-coding genes for 193 samples of hemipteroid insects and outgroups. These analyses yield a well-supported phylogeny for hemipteroid insects. Monophyly of each of the three hemipteroid orders (Psocodea, Thysanoptera, and Hemiptera) is strongly supported, as are most relationships among suborders and families. Thysanoptera (thrips) is strongly supported as sister to Hemiptera. However, as in a recent large-scale analysis sampling all insect orders, trees from our data matrices support Psocodea (bark lice and parasitic lice) as the sister group to the holometabolous insects (those with complete metamorphosis). In contrast, four-cluster likelihood mapping of these data does not support this result. A molecular dating analysis using 23 fossil calibration points suggests hemipteroid insects began diversifying before the Carboniferous, over 365 million years ago. We also explore implications for understanding the timing of diversification, the evolution of morphological traits, and the evolution of mitochondrial genome organization. These results provide a phylogenetic framework for future studies of the group.

Neuropterida comprise the holometabolan orders Neuroptera (lacewings, antlions and relatives), Megaloptera (alderflies, dobsonflies) and Raphidioptera (snakeflies) as a monophyletic group sister to Coleoptera (beetles). The higher‐level phylogenetic relationships among these groups, as well as the family‐level hierarchy of Neuroptera, have to date proved difficult to reconstruct. We used morphological data and multi‐locus DNA sequence data to infer Neuropterida relationships. Nucleotide sequences were obtained for fragments of two nuclear genes (CAD, 18S rDNA) and two mitochondrial genes (COI, 16S rDNA) for 69 exemplars representing all recently recognized families of Neuropterida as well as outgroup exemplars from Coleoptera. The joint posterior probability of phylogeny and divergence times was estimated using a Bayesian relaxed‐clock inference method to establish a temporal sequence of cladogenesis for the group over geological time. Megaloptera were found to be paraphyletic with respect to the rest of Neuropterida, calling into question the validity of the ordinal status for Megaloptera as presently defined. Ordinal relationships were weakly supported, and monophyly of Megaloptera was not recovered in any total‐evidence analysis; Corydalidae were frequently recovered as sister to Raphidioptera. Only in relaxed‐clock inferences were Raphidioptera and a paraphyletic Megaloptera recovered with strong support as a monophyletic group sister to Neuroptera. A monophyletic Neuroptera diverged from a common Raphidioptera + ‘Megaloptera’ ancestor during the Late Carboniferous. Contrary to some previous hypotheses, Coniopterygidae, not Nevrorthidae, were recovered as sister to the rest of Neuroptera, with Nevrorthidae recovered with Osmylidae and Sisyridae. The monophyly of the universally recognized Myrmeleontiformia was confirmed, with an origin in the mid‐Triassic, but a monophyletic Hemerobiiformia was not recovered in any analysis. Dilaridae were not closely related to the clade comprising Mantispidae and Berothidae, and diverged earlier than proposed previously. The phylogenetic status and taxonomic composition of Polystoechotidae and Ithonidae are in need of re‐evaluation, as Oliarces Carpenter (presently Ithonidae) was placed well within the present circumscription of Polystoechotidae.

Evolutionary biologists have often assumed that ecological generalism comes at the expense of less intense exploitation of specific resources and that this trade-off will promote the evolution of ecologically specialized daughter species. Using a phylogenetic comparative approach with butterflies as a model system, we test hypotheses that incorporate changes in niche breadth and location into explanations of the taxonomic diversification of insect herbivores. Specifically, we compare the oscillation hypothesis, where speciation is driven by host-plant generalists giving rise to specialist daughter species, to the musical chairs hypothesis, where speciation is driven by host-plant switching, without changes in niche breadth. Contrary to the predictions of the oscillation hypothesis, we recover a negative relationship between host-plant breadth and diversification rate and find that changes in host breadth are seldom coupled to speciation events. By contrast, we present evidence for a positive relationship between rates of host switching and butterfly diversification, consonant with the musical chairs hypothesis. These results suggest that the costs of trophic generalism in plant-feeding insects may have been overvalued and that transitions from generalists to ecological specialists may not be an important driver of speciation in general.

We provide the first highly sampled phylogeny estimate for the dipteran family Chironomidae using molecular data from fragments of two ribosomal genes (18S and 28S), one nuclear protein‐coding gene (CAD), and one mitochondrial protein‐coding gene (COI), analysed using mixed‐model Bayesian and maximum likelihood inference methods. The most recently described subfamilies Chilenomyiinae and Usambaromyiinae proved elusive, and are unsampled. We confirm monophyly of all sampled subfamilies except Prodiamesinae, which contains Propsilocerus Kieffer, previously in Orthocladiinae. The semifamily Chironomoinae is confirmed only if Telmatogetoninae is included, which is closer to Brundin's original suggestion. Buchonomyiinae is excluded from Chironomoinae: it is a sister group to all remaining Chironomidae, conforming more to Murray and Ashe's argumentation. Semifamily Tanypodoinae is a grade and unsupported as monophyletic: the austral Aphroteniinae alone is sister to all Chironomidae (less Buchonomyiinae). Podonominae is weakly supported as the next sister group, in contrast to some estimates that place this subfamily as sister group to Tanypodinae alone. In Diamesinae, the southern African Harrisonini is confirmed as a member, but embedded within austral tribe Heptagiini, which is confirmed as sister to the undersampled Diamesini. Tribe Pentaneurini and ‘non‐Pentaneurini’ taxa are reciprocally monophyletic in Tanypodinae. Recent molecular findings concerning Podonominae are substantiated, with a monophyletic tribe Podonomini, Boreochlini forming a grade and Lasiodiamesa Kieffer placed as sister to all other Podonominae, but with uncertainty. In Orthocladiinae, a postulated two‐tribe system of Orthocladiini and Metriocnemini can be supported after exclusion of a Corynoneura group and a Brillia group, which is revealed as sister to Stictocladius Edwards. The marine Clunio Haliday and Thalassosmittia Strenzke & Remmert (given high rank in the past) are clearly embedded deep in Orthocladiinae. The finding of Shangomyia Sæther & Wang + Xyiaomyia Sæther & Wang as sister group to all other Chironominae justifies high rank, as their authors suggested. Pseudochironomini (untested by sampling shortfall) is sister to a monophyletic Tanytarsini (with a weakly supported inclusion of the enigmatic Nandeva Wiedenbrug, Reiss & Fittkau). The tribe Chironomini can be supported only by excluding Shangomyia + Xyiaomyia, and a postulated monophyletic clade comprising several taxa such as Microtendipes Kieffer, with six‐segmented larval antennae and alternate Lauterborn organs, that is sister group to Pseudochironomini + Tanytarsini. The tempo of diversification of the family, deduced by divergence time analysis (beast), shows Permian origination with subfamily stem‐group origination from the mid–late Triassic to the early Cretaceous. Crown‐group origination ranged from Podonominae on a short stem originating in the mid Jurassic to long‐stemmed Aphroteninae from the late Cretaceous. Node dates allow inference of some vicariance via Gondwanan...