Title: The pursuit of flies

Abstract: The order Diptera, with around 160,000 described species, contends with the Hymenoptera and the Coleoptera as the largest order of living things. Recent work suggests that the novelty rate (the proportion of undescribed species) in the Diptera is likely to be more than 75%. In this talk I will overview of some of the revisions and surveys of acalyptrate flies undertaken at University of Guelph to see how they reflect estimates of diversity generated by other means.  I’ll conclude with a few examples illustrating that the obvious corollary of a high taxonomic novelty rate is a wealth of natural history discoveries awaiting the informed eye.