Journal ArticleOvercoming life stage‐centric biases illuminates arthropod diversity, systematics and biologyCaterino, Michael S.; Recuero, Ernesto<title>Abstract</title> <p>Synthetic studies of arthropod systematics and biodiversity are hindered by overreliance on ‘preferred’ semaphoronts, those life stages (typically adult males) that provide the most taxonomically distinctive characters. However, modern sequence‐based methods for inventory have no such limitations and permit incorporation of any and all representatives of a species. Here, we briefly review the growth and potential of these approaches to faunistic and systematic studies and share results from our own recent work that illustrate the value that other morphs, immature stages and females added to these studies.</p>Royal Entomological Society2024-01-3110488912Systematic Entomology4930307-6970https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.126241916263arthropod biodiversitydimorphismlarvamegabarcodingsemaphorontNational Science Foundation