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Abstract Insects are declining in abundance and species richness, globally. This has broad implications for the ecology of our planet, many of which we are only beginning to understand. Comprehensive, large-scale efforts are urgently needed to quantify and mitigate insect biodiversity loss. Because there is broad interest in this topic from a range of scientists, policymakers, and the general public, we posit that such endeavors will be most effective with precise and standardized terms. The Entomological Society of America is the world’s largest association of professional entomologists and is ideally positioned to lead the way on this front. We provide here a glossary of definitions for biodiversity loss terminology. This can be used to enhance and clarify communication among entomologists and others with an interest in addressing the multiple overlapping research, policy, and outreach challenges surrounding this urgent issue. 

No abstract available. 

Abstract Biodiversity catalogs are an invaluable resource for biological research. Efforts to scientifically document biodiversity have not been evenly applied, either because of charisma or because of ease of study. Spiders are among the most precisely cataloged and diverse invertebrates, having surpassed 50,000 described species globally. The World Spider Catalog presents a unique opportunity to assess the disproportionate documentation of spider diversity. In the present article, we develop a taxonomic ratio relating new species descriptions to other taxonomic activity as a proxy for taxonomic effort, using spiders as a case study. We use this taxonomic effort metric to examine biases along multiple axes: phylogeny, zoogeography, and socioeconomics. We also use this metric to estimate the number of species that remain to be described. This work informs arachnologists in identifying high-priority taxa and regions for species discovery and highlights the benefits of maintaining open-access taxonomic databases—a necessary step in overcoming bias and documenting the world's biodiversity. 

No abstract available. 

No abstract available.