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Mexican Insects in the Anthropocene

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Mexican Fauna in the Anthropocene

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Abstract

Many recent studies suggest that insect numbers and diversity are plummeting worldwide. There is limited evidence from Mexico but enough to suggest that Mexican insects are also in serious decline. In this chapter, we present three case studies that document distinct insect groups from the immediately recognized and intensely studied international species, the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus L.), the relatively well-studied group of Mexican dung beetles (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), to a mostly undescribed, highly diverse and poorly studied group of community of insects of montane forests. There is notable evidence of decline or threats to the populations of these three groups of organisms which is clearly delimited in annual population estimates for the monarch butterfly, with various studies confirming loss of diversity and abundance for dung beetles, and threats to leaf litter weevils predicted by climate change models. The specifics for these declines and proposed conservation measures for each group and for Mexican Insects in general are discussed.

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The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17277-9_3.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico

    Benigno Gómez Gómez

  2. Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, Mexico

    Ek del Val de Gortari

  3. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico

    Robert W. Jones

Authors
  1. Benigno Gómez Gómez
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  2. Ek del Val de Gortari
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  3. Robert W. Jones
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert W. Jones .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Querétaro, Juriquilla, Mexico

    Robert W. Jones

  2. Colección Nacional de Peces, Instituto de Biologia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad de México, Mexico

    C. Patricia Ornelas-García

  3. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Juriquilla, Querétaro, Mexico

    Rubén Pineda-López

  4. Colección Nacional de Peces, Instituto de Biologia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad de México, Mexico

    Fernando Álvarez

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Gómez, B.G., del Val de Gortari, E., Jones, R.W. (2023). Mexican Insects in the Anthropocene. In: Jones, R.W., Ornelas-García, C.P., Pineda-López, R., Álvarez, F. (eds) Mexican Fauna in the Anthropocene. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17277-9_3

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