Global homeostatic forces shape the composition of a hyperdiverse tropical insect fauna
Despite comprising the bulk of terrestrial biodiversity, we know surprisingly little about insect faunas, particularly in the tropics. Here, we characterize the insect fauna of Madagascar, a global biodiversity hotspot, based on extensive DNA metabarcoding of Malaise trap and leaf litter samples. We estimate that the fauna comprises at least 250,000 species, only 5% of which are currently recorded. The ecological and taxonomic composition is surprisingly similar to that of temperate forests. We show that this is likely caused by global homeostatic forces shaping net diversification rates after colonization of Madagascar rather than by the composition of colonizing lineages. Features differing from temperate forests include the dearth of parasitoids and richness of beetles. Understanding the forces shaping these patterns is key in sustainable management of tropical insect faunas.
Authors
- Johannes Bergsten (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6153-4431)
- Anders F. Andersson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3627-6899)
- Greg P. A. Lamarre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7645-985X)
- Claudia C. Weber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5910-8898)
- Ayco J. M. Tack (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3550-1070)
- Tomas V. Roslin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2957-4791)
- Brian Lee Fisher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4653-3270)
- Deirdre Kerdraon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8780-6044)
- Nerivânia Nunes Godeiro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1669-6124)
- Fredrik Ronquist (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3929-251X)
- Andreia Miraldo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6107-006X)
- Bruno Cavalcante Bellini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7881-9436)
- Emma Granqvist (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1513-1674)
- Seraina Klopfstein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4025-975X)
- Gavin R. Broad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7223-5333)
- John M. Heraty (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9246-5651)
- Laura J. A. van Dijk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1015-8496)
- Piotr Łukasik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4164-6487)
- John Sundh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3053-9392)
- Robert M. Goodsell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3349-1876)
- Ela Iwaszkiewicz-Eggebrecht (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1412-1711)
- Dimby Raharinjanahary (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2464-6298)
- Tilia Haeggstroem (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5206-879X)
- Fabian A Lundell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4242-6837)
Institutions
- University of California, Riverside (US)
- Jagiellonian University (PL)
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (PA)
- Natural History Museum (GB)
- Stockholm University (SE)
- Czech Academy of Sciences (CZ)
- Science for Life Laboratory (SE)
- Swedish Museum of Natural History (SE)
- California Academy of Sciences (US)
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE)
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (BR)
- Natural History Museum of Basel (CH)
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology (SE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Published
- 2026-11-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.11.04.764147
- Primary Topic
- Environmental DNA in Biodiversity Studies
- Type
- preprint
Funders
- Stiftelsen för Miljöstrategisk Forskning
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
- Vetenskapsrådet
- Science for Life Laboratory