The Neotropical Region is one of the most diverse places in the world. In this region are found most of the lineages of bees that collect floral oils, a unique characteristic among insects. The genus Centris is an extensive group of this type of bees, which are distributed from the United States to Patagonia, in the extreme south of South America. The largest, most striking, colorful and beautiful species of the genus are found in the humid forests of South America, all of them forming part of the subgenus Centris (Melanocentris). This book brings a taxonomic review of all the species of this subgenus, including the description of numerous species hitherto unknown to science. Along with the description of these species, the new subgenus Centris (Odontoxys) is also described, which contains species that are distributed from Mexico to Argentina. The book also includes redescriptions and photographs of both sexes of all species, along with distribution maps, an identification key, and lists of material examined and of floral hosts.

This book contains the first described species of Centris, even before the description of the genus. Considering this fact, the entire layout and color palette draw inspiration from the books of naturalists of the XVIII and XIX centuries. For the creation of the cover, I used one of the beautiful designs made by the German naturalist and scientific illustrator Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717), one of the first women in history who dedicated herself to in situ observation of insects. The drawing corresponds to flowers of Iris latifolia (Mill.) Voss (Iridaceae), Delphinium sp. (Ranunculaceae), and Narcissus sp. (Amaryllidaceae) appearing in the third chapter of her work “Neues Blumenbuch: Florum Fasciculus Tertius: dritter Blumen-Theil”, published in 1680. Surrounding Maria’s flowers, were added digitized photos of some of the Centris species studied in the book using the photobashing, a technique that combines photographs with digital illustrations. The title of the book is made up of three paragraphs, indicating the topics that are discussed in it. The first is the main title, while the others complement the information in the first part, following the pattern used by ancient naturalists to name their works. Following this line, the text is written in Latin, the language in which science was disseminated at that time. Although the book is in English, there are some specific item titles that are also written in Latin. There were used the words “Territōrium” to refer to the distribution, “Materia typica” for type material, “Patria” for the type locality, “Commentārium” for comments, “Variātiō” for intraspecific variation, “Index flōrum” for floral records, and “Specimina examinata” to refer to the material examined. The organization of the figures in plates follows the pattern that I used in my previous books, except for those that show specimens in nature. In that case, images are organized according to the Fibonacci sequence –also called divine proportion– proposed by the Italian mathematician Leonardo de Pisa (1170–1240) and which has been associated since ancient times with ideas of harmony, beauty and perfection.

The published works are derived from the Zoological catalogue of Australia database. Taxa in the Australian fauna are divided among volumes to form sets of about 1800-2000 species available names, such that each volume comprises the whole or part of one or more major groups.

The present issue of ZooKeys comprises a series of papers honoring Prof. Kumar Krishna, the leading au-thority on the systematics and biology of termites (Isoptera). After becoming exposed to termite systematics under the tutelage of Mittan L. Roonwal in India, Kumar received his doctoral training from the legendary termite systematist and evolutionary biologist Alfred E. Emerson at the University of Chicago. Subsequently, Kumar moved to the City University of New York and the American Museum of Natural History from where, even today, he has produced some of the most important contributions to the study of termites, most notably his two-volume set, Biology of Termites (1969?1970, Academic Press), and the forthcoming monumental Treatise on the Isoptera of the World (AMNH). Herein colleagues and friends recognize his lifetime of accomplishments in biological systematics by presenting original papers on insect lineages as diverse as termites and grasshoppers, and flies and bees, among others. A brief biographical account and list of his publications to date are provided.

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"It is a masterpiece, an instant classic of entomology." -- Edward O. Wilson "This definitive reference by an acclaimed expert accounts for 1200 genera/subgenera and 16,000 species of bees in the world... Useful guide for entomologists, biologists, botanists, ecologists, and students." -- Southeastern Naturalist