Checklist of true flies (Diptera) from San Luis Obispo County, California, U.S.A.: an outcome of the Fly School II taxonomic workshop

Abstract

True flies (Diptera) are a hyper-diverse group of insects which are considerably under-studied compared to many other organisms. Here we report a list of taxa collected during the 2019 Fly School held in San Luis Obispo County, California, a region of the California Floristic Province biodiversity hotspot. From June 20th to July 6th, an international team of 35 entomologists collected and identified Diptera at 17 main sites across the county. The team identified a total of 68 families, 188 genera, and 133 species/species groups. Of these, we uncovered 21 potential new county records for California, expanding knowledge of geographic distributions for these taxa. We discuss the strengths and limitations of this list and suggest ideas for streamlining the publication of similar lists for other specialized taxonomic workshops.