Evaluating diversity: a baseline study comparing the diversity of the order Diptera in two distinct sites in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico

A baseline study of the insect order Diptera (flies) was conducted in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico (Latitude: 20.0 N Longitude: 90.0 W) in which diversity was compared between two distinct sites: (1) the land immediately surrounding a former sugar cane plantation associated with the Hacienda Tabi (maintained by Fundacion Cultural de Yucatan) and (2) the undisturbed dry tropical forest at the Helen Moyers Biological Reserve located at Kiuic (maintained by Millsaps College). It was hypothesized that a richer diversity would be present at the Kiuic site, which is relatively undisturbed, compared to the Tabi site. The following 17 Dipteran families were recorded for both sites: Tabanidae, Stratiomyidae, Asilidae, Culicidae, Mycetophilidae, Tachinidae, Muscidae, Tipulidae, Anthomyiidae, Bombyliidae, Tanypezidae, Syrphidae, Sciaridae, Pipunculidae, Chironomidae, Dolichopodidae, and Conopidae. The Kiuic site also reported 6 additional families: Phoridae, Heleomyzidae, Bibionidae, Scatopsidae, Scenopinidae, and Mydidae. The Tabi site, however, yielded eight additional families: Sarcophagidae, Ropalomeridae, Drosophilidae, Therevidae, Ceratopogonidae, Sciomyzidae, Calliphoridae, and Platystomatidae. Since many of the families individual to the Tabi site are common, these findings were interpreted not to indicate a significant difference in diversity between the two sites. For more conclusive data, more work must be done in the future, both in the identification of these insects to species, and in the studying of specific families.