Zootaxa 4122 (1): 008–014 ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) http://www.mapress.com/j/zt/ Preface ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2016 Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) http://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4122.1.3 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:EDA56EB2-BD51-4700-8077-4AF473EB4B29 Catalogue of Diptera of Colombia: an introduction MARTA WOLFF1, SILVIO S. NIHEI2 & CLAUDIO J. B. DE CARVALHO4 1Grupo de Entomologia, Instituto de Biología, Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia. E-mail:
[email protected] 2Department of Zoology, Institute of Biosciences, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, Travessa 14, n.101, CEP 05508-090, São Paulo, Brazil. E-mail:
[email protected] 4 Department of Zoology, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Postal box 19020, Curitiba, 81531–580, Brazil. E-mail:
[email protected] Colombia has an imposing natural wealth due to its topography has many unique characteristics as a consequence of having Caribbean and Pacific shores, as well as sharing part of the Amazon basin and northern Andes mountains. Thus, many natural and biological features are due to the convergence of three biogeographical regions: Pacific, Andes and Amazonia. The Andean uplift created a complex mosaic of mountains and isolated valleys, including eleven biogeographical provinces (Morrone 2006). The Andes dominate the Colombian topography and cross the country south to north. There are three mountain ranges (Western, Central, and Eastern) with a maximum elevation of 5,775 m, and an average elevation of 2,000 m. The Magdalena and Cauca River valleys separate these ranges, that along with the Putumayo and Caquetá Rivers, the Catatumbo watershed, the Darién, Pique Hill, the Orinoquia Region (with its savannas), the Amazon region (with tropical rainforests), and some lower mountain ranges (Macarena and Chiribiquete), have generated the conditions for very high levels of endemism.