Showing papers in "Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society in 2012"
TL;DR: The use of carpenter bee nests by giant resin bees does not only occur after carpenter bees have willingly vacated the nest, and if this commonly occurs, the giant resin bee may have the potential to negatively impact easternCarpenter bee populations.
Abstract: The giant resin bee, Megachile sculpturalis Smith, is native to eastern Asia and has been known to occupy vacated nests of the eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica (Linnaeus)) since its first report in North America (Mangum and Brooks, 1997). While its quick colonization of eastern North America, west to Kansas, has been well documented (Mangum and Sumner, 2003; Hinojosa-Diaz, 2008; Maier, 2009), its interactions with native bees have not yet been studied. We report here a dramatic eviction of carpenter bees from a nest by a single female giant resin bee. On 25 July 2012, at Blandy Experimental Farm (Boyce, Virginia, USA), a male carpenter bee was observed moving slowly on the ground, covered in a very sticky substance, directly below a nest that had been recently active with carpenter bees. A couple of minutes later, a female giant resin bee flew aggressively at the nest entrance, retreated, flew toward it from a different angle, retreated, and then flew at the nest a couple more times. A female carpenter bee that had apparently been guarding the nest entrance came out of the nest and was attacked immediately by the giant resin bee, which grabbed it with its legs, bit it near the head, and made repeated attempts to sting it. The two bees tumbled out of the nest, still clutching each other, and fell to the ground. The female carpenter bee remained on the ground moving slowly, covered in a very sticky substance (like the male carpenter bee), and the giant resin bee then returned to the carpenter bee nest, entered it, and remained inside past nightfall (an hour later). The carpenter bees wandered slowly on the ground and their eventual fate is unknown. We were unable to open up the nest because of its position in the framework of the building. From 1–2 August 2012 (a week after the incident), a video camera recorded activity at the nest during a total period of six daylight hours (scattered between 9:15 and 17:30). A total of 59 entrances and exits were recorded at the nest during that time, and the only species recorded was the giant resin bee. Most trips outside the nest were between one and six minutes long, and on five of the return trips a large amount of material, presumed to be plant resin, could be seen carried in the bee’s mandibles. No pollen loads were observed in the scopae. Following the video-recording, the giant resin bee was caught before entering the nest. Her mandibles held a large drop of viscous and sticky resin, which may have been the source of stickiness on the fallen carpenter bees. The giant resin bee appears to have successfully usurped this carpenter bee nest and begun preparations for its own nesting activity. While we do not know how commonly this occurs, it indicates that the use of carpenter bee nests by giant resin bees does not only occur after carpenter bees have willingly vacated the nest. If this commonly occurs, the giant resin bee may have the potential to negatively impact eastern carpenter bee populations.
39 citations
TL;DR: A usurpation and occupation of active X. virginica burrows by M. sculpturalis in upstate New York is reported, evicting the resident female.
Abstract: The Asian native Giant Resin Bee, Megachile sculpturalis Smith, was inadvertently introduced to the southeastern United States in the early 1990’s (Mangum and Brooks, 1997; Mangum and Sumner, 2003; Hinojosa-Diaz, 2008). Since its introduction, it has rapidly spread throughout much of the eastern US from its North Carolina center of introduction (Magnum and Brooks, 1997), reaching north as far as New York and southern Ontario by 2000 and 2002, respectively (Ascher, 2001; Paiero and Buck, 2003), and as far west as Michigan and eastern Kansas by 2008 (Hinojosa-Diaz, 2008; O’Brien and Craves, 2008). Despite the rapid spread, the ecological impact and affect on native bee fauna by M. sculpturalis has not been widely studied. It has been assumed that the invasion of the Giant Resin Bee is relatively benign except that it may preferentially pollinate plant species introduced to North America (Koelreuteria paniculata Laxm., Ligustrum lucidum Aiton, Pueraria lobata DC., Sophora japonica L.) from its native range. The presence of these plant species may have aided the establishment of M. sculpturalis in the U.S. (Mangum and Sumner, 2003). Possible negative effects of M. sculpturalis on native North American bees are unstudied (HinojosaDiaz, 2005). Megachile sculpturalis nests have been reported in empty tree cavities, crevices, downed logs, and other debris sometimes used by native bees, as well as vacant burrows of the Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica L.; Mangum and Brooks, 1997; Batra, 1998). It remains unknown, however, whether M. sculpturalis utilizes active X. virginica nests, evicting the resident female. Here we report a usurpation and occupation of active X. virginica burrows by M. sculpturalis in upstate New York.
39 citations
TL;DR: Most eastern North American bee species have persisted until recent times, with no evidence of widespread recent extinctions, and an absence of well-documented global extinctions of bee species does not warrant complacency regarding pollinator conservation.
Abstract: The status of wild bees, the major group of pollinators in most biomes, has gained recognition as an important ecological and economic issue. Insufficient baseline data and taxonomic expertise for this understudied group has hindered efforts to assess the conservation status of the majority of wild bee species. To more objectively address their current conservation status, we drew upon museum collections and the expertise of melittologists (biologists studying non-Apis bees) to compile a complete list of bee species for eastern North America, discriminating those which have and have not been detected during the past 20 years. The vast majority (95% of about 770 eastern North American bee species) have been found again, at least once since 1990. The remaining 37 species were rarely collected before 1990 as well. Some may truly be at risk (or lost). Others are undoubtedly data deficient due to inadequate knowledge of their biology or hosts, or the geographic regions and local habitats where they oc...
34 citations
TL;DR: The first discovery of a new species from the Middle Jurassic of China illustrates the antiquity of Glypholomatinae, and indicates that the Omaliine group of subfamilies had already originated by the Middleassic.
Abstract: A new fossil rove beetle, Juroglypholoma antiquum n. gen. n. sp., is described and figured based on a well-preserved specimen from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou biota (ca. 165 Ma), Inner Mongolia, northeastern China. It represents the first fossil belonging to one of the smallest and latest recognized staphylinid subfamilies, Glypholomatinae, which is now endemic to the Southern Hemisphere. The new genus is assigned to Glypholomatinae based on its body shape and size, clubbed antennae, relatively long elytra, abdominal intersegmental membranes with brick-wall-like pattern, metacoxae slightly excavate to receive the short metafemora, and paired curved ridges in the anterolateral margins of sternites IV–VI. It can be easily separated from the extant genera Glypholoma and Proglypholoma by a combination of shorter elytra with apical four abdominal segments exposed; and antennomeres 1 and 2 normal, not dilated, apical three antennomeres forming a slight club. The first discovery of a new species from t...
30 citations
TL;DR: Characteristics of ball diamonds associated with the presence of C. fumipennis are discussed, and the advantages and disadvantages of using ball diamonds in a biosurveillance program addressed.
Abstract: Surveys of baseball and softball diamonds for nests of the ground-nesting wasp Cerceris fumipennis were conducted between 2008 and 2011 in three states: Connecticut, Maine and North Carolina. A total of 1398 ball fields were surveyed, with roughly 22% of these positive for nests of the wasp. Nine percent of the fields had ≥15 nests and were therefore of practical use in a biosurveillance program for buprestid pests. Connecticut had the highest proportion of both positive fields and of fields useful for biosurveillance. Among fields with any number of nests, the two northern states had a significantly higher proportion with ≥15 nests. Characteristics of ball diamonds associated with the presence of C. fumipennis are discussed, and the advantages and disadvantages of using ball diamonds in a biosurveillance program addressed.
17 citations
TL;DR: The survey resulted in 51 new state records, increasing the total known species of bees in Mississippi to 177, and five species of Andrenidae have disjunct distributions from the Great Plains and western states.
Abstract: A survey of bees (Apoidea) in the Black Belt Prairie of northern Mississippi was conducted from 1991 to 2001. Collecting methods included netting specimens from floral hosts and use of malaise traps. The survey resulted in collection of 6138 specimens, of which 3627 were identified to 118 species. Of the 2511 unidentified specimens, the vast majority (2362) were specimens of Lasioglossum Curtis (Halictidae) in groups that are unrevised. The survey resulted in 51 new state records, increasing the total known species of bees in Mississippi to 177. Five species of Andrenidae have disjunct distributions from the Great Plains and western states. A list of the bee species in the Black Belt Prairie is provided with annotations on collection times, floral hosts, and collection methods.
16 citations
TL;DR: The low numbers of honey bees on certain plants suggest that native, non-managed bees of such genera as Bombus, Melissodes, Halictus, and Lasioglossum may be critical for plant species for which honey bees show relatively low preference.
Abstract: During a two-year survey on a wildflower seed farm in southcentral Montana, we collected ∼50 species of bees from 18 genera in sweep samples on cultivated wildflowers and weeds. The two cultivated plant species most intensively sampled attracted different assemblages of bee visitors. Slender white prairie clover (Dalea candida) attracted 27 species, 94% of visitors being Apis mellifera (73%), Lasioglossum spp., Colletes phaceliae, and Bombus spp. Prairie coneflower (Ratibida columnifera) attracted 20 species, the majority being Halictus rubicundus and three Melissodes species; only 3% of visitors to this plant were A. mellifera, despite the fact that the coneflower field was closer to an apiary than were the prairie clover fields. Other apparently non-random plant-bee associations included A. mellifera on Onobrychis viciaefolia, Bombus spp. on Astragalus cicer, and Halictus ligatus and a Melissodes sp. on Symphyotrichum chilensis. Analysis of pollen loads suggests high flower constancy for A. mel...
14 citations
TL;DR: General morphological differences among mature larvae of the following Trogoderma species are compared and summarized and general morphology of antenna, epipharynx, mandibula, maxilla, ligula with labial palpi, hastisetae, legs, terga and condition of antecostal suture are documented and discussed.
Abstract: A description of the last larval instar (based on the exuvium) of Trogoderma megatomoides Reitter, 1881 (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) is presented. New morphological characters of T. megatomoides larvae such as general morphology of antenna, epipharynx, mandibula, maxilla, ligula with labial palpi, hastisetae, legs, terga and condition of antecostal suture are documented and discussed. General morphological differences among mature larvae of the following Trogoderma species are compared and summarized: T. anthrenoides (Sharp, 1902), T. glabrum (Herbst, 1783), T. grassmani Beal, 1954, T. inclusum LeConte, 1854, T. ornatum (Say, 1825), T. simplex Jayne, 1882, T. sternale sternale Jayne, 1882, T. megatomoides Reitter, 1881, T. variabile Ballion, 1878.
14 citations
TL;DR: A new host-parasitoid relationship of C. diffinis with M. rufus, M. colon, I. clavicornis, G. areator, P. lymantriae and E. liparidis was determined as new records for Turkey and the hyperparasitism of B. secundaria on parasitoid Meteorus species of Cosmia diffinis is reported.
Abstract: The parasitoid complex of white-spotted pinion Cosmia diffinis (Linnaeus, 1767) larvae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) feeding on Ulmus minor in Edirne was studied during the two-year period of 2007–2008. The determined parasitoids were Meteorus colon (Haliday, 1835) and Meteorus rufus (DeGeer, 1778) from Braconidae; Gelis areator (Panzer, 1804), Itoplectis clavicornis (Thomson, 1889) and Phobocampe lymantriae Gupta, 1983 from Ichneumonidae; Brachymeria secundaria (Ruschka, 1922) from Chalcididae; Euplectrus liparidis Ferriere, 1941 from Eulophidae and members of Tachinidae. We report here a new host-parasitoid relationship of C. diffinis with M. colon, M. rufus, I. clavicornis, P. lymantriae, and E. liparidis. The hyperparasitism of G. areator and B. secundaria on parasitoid Meteorus species of Cosmia diffinis is also reported. In addition, M. colon, I. clavicornis, G. areator, P. lymantriae and E. liparidis were determined as new records for Turkey.
12 citations
TL;DR: The Braconidae fauna (Agathidinae and Doryctinae, excluding Heterospilus Haliday) of the Ria Lagartos Biosphere Reserve in Yucatan, Mexico are recorded and 62 species are new records for Mexico.
Abstract: The Braconidae fauna (Agathidinae and Doryctinae, excluding Heterospilus Haliday) of the Ria Lagartos Biosphere Reserve in Yucatan, Mexico are recorded. Eighty-three species and 29 genera were found; of these 62 species are new records for Mexico. The general distribution and flight period of the taxa collected are provided.
12 citations
TL;DR: The no-tillage farm seemed to favor some beneficial predators present in/on the soil (e.g., carabids and staphylinids), possibly because these insects exhibit a preference for more diverse habitats and because they are more sensitive to the type and timing of cultivation practices.
Abstract: Arthropod abundance was monitored in maize (Zea mays L.) crops on two farms located in western central Mexico during a single growing season. At the first farm (El Calvario, Michoacan), a no-tillage system was used in maize plots, while in the second farm (Singuio, Michoacan), a conventional tillage system was established. At these sites, sampling was conducted on nine occasions at seven day-intervals. Soil arthropods were captured using pitfall traps. At each sample point, maize plants were randomly selected and the number of arthropods observed on each plant was recorded. Poecilus mexicanus Chaudoir (Coleoptera: Carabidae) was the most abundant insect captured and comprised 75% (n = 2530) of the total capture of arthropods. Other carabid species together represented 18% of the total capture of arthropods at these sites and was significantly greater in the no-tillage farm compared to the conventional tillage farm. Staphylinids were the second most common group and were more abundant in the no-...
TL;DR: The new species differs from all other Tanaemyrmex species by 5 toothed mandibles, presence of short hairs on the eyes, transversally concave propodeal dorsum that disrupts the convex appearance of the alitrunk and presence of the metanotal groove.
Abstract: A putative parasitic species: Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) ruseni n. sp., of the genus Camponotus is described from Turkey. The new species differs from all other Tanaemyrmex species by 5 toothed mandibles, presence of short hairs on the eyes, transversally concave propodeal dorsum that disrupts the convex appearance of the alitrunk and presence of the metanotal groove.
TL;DR: This manuscript provides a reference point of when H. halys was first detected within the state of Kansas, along a major route for interstate commerce, and may also have resulted from phoresy associated with human activity.
Abstract: Halyomorpha halys (Stål) is a non-native, pentatomid pest in North America and is commonly known as the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (ESA, 2011), or BSMB. It was first documented in North America from Allentown, Pennsylvania during fall of 1996 (Hoebeke and Carter, 2003). Eaton (2011) lists detection of H. halys in 33 of the United States: all states east of the Mississippi River and also: Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington. Since 2005, H. halys has also been detected multiple times in California, but it is not known to be established (Daugherty, 2011). Halyomorpha halys was first discovered in Pennsylvania as a nuisance over-wintering in human homes (Hoebeke and Carter, 2003); it is also gaining notoriety because it has potential to be a serious agricultural pest (Nielsen and Hamilton, 2009). On 29 September 2011, at approximately 17:30, one adult individual of H. halys was found on a wall in the gas station, EZ GO #70, at mile marker 209 of the Kansas Turnpike in Douglas County, Kansas in the city of Lawrence by KVT and KF. The specimen was retained and resides in the collection of KVT. Further searching of the area and inquiring with employees did not yield additional specimens. The specimen was identified using characters in Hoebeke and Carter (2003). That this occurrence is the first record of H. halys for Kansas is supported by BM’s communications with the Kansas State University entomology faculty and search of the Kansas State University insect collection. Hoebeke and Carter (2003) postulate that shipping containers from China, Korea, or Japan may have introduced H. hayls into North America. It was first found in Nebraska in a shipping crate (Nebraska State Insect Records Database 2012) which is consistent with this postulate. Our Kansas record, along a major route for interstate commerce, may also have resulted from phoresy associated with human activity. This manuscript provides a reference point of when H. halys was first detected within the state of Kansas. Future searches will likely discover more individuals and possibly even established populations.
TL;DR: No recurrence of swarming or foraging activity has been observed for seven years following cessation of termite activity within bait stations after a persistent aerial termite colony active in a six-story, 100-unit apartment building.
Abstract: An experimental insect growth regulator (IGR) termite bait system was placed with the objective of eliminating a persistent aerial termite colony active in the top three floors of a six-story, 100-unit apartment building. Following delineation of their foraging territory, bait matrix containing the active ingredient lufenuron was placed in contact with actively foraging termites within five infested apartments. Termite feeding activity was evaluated monthly. The infestation emanated from one colony of Reticulitermes flavipes. Bait was replaced as needed until all foraging activity ceased and no subsequent swarming occurred. No recurrence of swarming or foraging activity has been observed for seven years following cessation of termite activity within bait stations.
TL;DR: The first formal record of Systropha for Saudi Arabia is provided, and the currently documented distribution of S. androsthenes from Oman and the United Arab Emirates is expanded further in the Arabian Peninsula.
Abstract: The rophitine bee genus Systropha Illiger (Rophitinae: Rophitini) is a distinctive element of the Old World halictid fauna. The genus comprises 28 species (Patiny and Michez, 2006, 2007; Eardley and Urban, 2006) distributed from Spain and Morocco in the west to westernmost China in the East (e.g., Niu et al., 2005), and from Germany in the north to South Africa in the south. Most floral records suggest that many species of Systropha are specialists on Convolvulaceae, particularly Convolvulus L. although some visit other genera in the family such as Merremia Dennst. ex Endl., Calystegia R. Br., and Ipomoea L., carrying abundant loads of pollen all over the body in addition to the metatibial scopa. The biology and immature stages of Systropha have been described by Malyshev (1925), Batra and Michener (1966), Grozdanić and Mučalica (1966), Grozdanić and Vasić (1968), Fraberger and Ayasse (2007), and Rozen and Özbek (2008). Herein we provide the first formal record of Systropha for Saudi Arabia, and expand the currently documented distribution of S. androsthenes from Oman and the United Arab Emirates (Baker, 1996; Patiny and Michez, 2006) further in the Arabian Peninsula. The species was captured at flowers of Convolvulus arvensis L., known locally as Ullaique.
TL;DR: The high grasslands in Santa Catarina State conform to an archipelago framework, that likely corresponds to an island biogeographical pattern in terms of apifauna composition and dynamics.
Abstract: The native bee community in a high grassland area in Santa Catarina State, Southern Brazil, was studied during 2001 and 2002, using entomological net sampling on flowering plants. The goals were to know the potential bee pollinators in this particular habitat, their abundance and diversity and to fill the gaps in their geographic distribution. Sixty-three bee species in 4 families were collected. Six bee species are new state records. Representatives of Colletidae were not sampled and Halictidae was strongly represented (65% of the species, mainly Dialictus and Augochloropsis). Megachilidae was sampled (5 species) as well as Andrenidae (3 species). The decreasing sequence of importance was almost the same for species and individuals, without the introduced species Apis mellifera L. Threatened (Bombus spp) and specific bee species of this environment were of particular interest. The total number of sampled taxa represent nearly thirteen percent of the bee species known to occur in Santa Catarina S...
TL;DR: First records for the invasive species, Polistes dominula (Christ), in Wyoming and western South Dakota, U.S.A. are reported and the early nesting success of this invasive species and the nest parameters in two native paper wasps are analyzed.
Abstract: In this paper I report first records for the invasive species, Polistes dominula (Christ), in Wyoming and western South Dakota, U.S.A. In addition, the early nesting success of this invasive species and the nest parameters in two native paper wasps, Polistes fuscatus (F.) and Mischocyttarus flavitarsis (de Saussure), are analyzed through a survey of nests, nesting locations, nest size and relative levels of parasitism in the northern Black Hills area and surrounding plains. Polistes dominula occurred predominantly in towns and at elevations below 4000 ft. Some collecting sites had high P. dominula population numbers, with heavy use of available nesting sites, water sources and other resources. This wasp attached its nests to horizontal, sloping and vertical surfaces and nested in unusual and exposed locations not observed in the native species. The distribution and successful nesting of M. flavitarsis was not impacted at this early stage of introduction, because it nests predominantly in forested...
TL;DR: Insect predation of small fish species could be substantial and because size selective pressures exist, population structure of fish populations may be affected by predator-prey relationships that involve aquatic insects.
Abstract: Investigation of predator-prey relationships that involve aquatic insects has received little attention, and aspects including feeding rates and prey selection of many predators are poorly understood. Adult giant water-bugs, Lethocerus americanus, and larval giant water scavenger beetles, Hydrophilis triangularis, are large predatory aquatic insects that typically inhabit pools or ponds with little to no flow. Both insect predators are known to prey on a variety of aquatic organisms including invertebrates and vertebrates. Laboratory trials were conducted to determine feeding rates and prey selection of fish by adult giant water-bugs and larval giant water scavenger beetles. Six western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, of two size classes, juvenile ( 20 mm), were placed in aquaria with a single predator. Once per 24 hour period, predator survival was recorded along with the quantity and size of fish consumed. Each of the insect predators consumed a significantly greater number o...
TL;DR: Leptothrips fasciculatus's anthophilous behavior contradicts the predation generalized for the genus.
Abstract: Leptothrips fasciculatus (Crawford) is a tubuliferan thrips that has primarily been collected as adults from Eriogonum fasciculatum Bentham, a shrub that produces compound inflorescences with flowers in clusters. I observed, collected, and photographed adults and immature stages of the thrips on inflorescences of Eriogonum fasciculatum polifolium (Bentham) Torrey & A. Gray in the Mojave Desert during spring 2011 and 2012. Adults moved intermittently around the outside of inflorescences. Eggs were located, and first- and second-instar larvae were abundant, inside flowers and within the involucres that surround flower clusters. Mature second-instars and non-feeding fourth- and fifth-instars inhabited leaf litter and soil beneath plants. Eggs were subcylindical, translucent, without reticulation, and knobbed on one end by an aeropyle. Second-instar larvae were red with a median, yellow band. Adults and larvae were observed feeding on pollen and other flower parts but not prey. Leptothrips fasciculat...
TL;DR: Control of P. solenopsis using imidacloprid was increased by nearly 35% by adding laundry detergent and this was most effective on the first instars, adding to the scientific understanding how to improve effectivity of measures for control of this insect pest.
Abstract: We studied the biological characteristics and chemical control of Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) on tomatoes under laboratory conditions within the temperature and relative humidity ranges of 25 ± 2°C and 70 ± 5% RH, respectively. Results show that the nymphal stage of males (16.3 ± 0.2 days) is longer that for females (15.4 ± 0.5 days) and the survival rate of second instars is lower (56.5%) than for first (80.5%) and third instars (68.1%). The average lifespan of males (1.8 ± 0.2 days) is significantly shorter than for females (42.6 ± 1.1 days), and the average fecundity per adult female is 134.6 ± 16.3 crawlers. Phenacoccus solenopsis grows rapidly in the end of the nymphal stage, and the size of adult females is nearly twice that of third instars. Control of P. solenopsis using imidacloprid was increased by nearly 35% by adding laundry detergent and this was most effective on the first instars. These results add to our scientific understanding how to improve effect...
TL;DR: The profiles suggest that dietary fatty acids are stored in naiad triglycerides, and once adult emergence occurs, the triglycerides appear to be retained in the females primarily for oocyte production; whereas they are quickly mobilized to supply energy for flight in the males.
Abstract: Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) in aquatic naiad stages are known to be filter feeders of detritus and algae, but are nonfeeding during their short adult life. Members of Hexagenia form U-shaped burrows in the silt of lake bottoms or streams where they remain for a year or more before emerging as subimagos to fly to the shore. For activities such as mating flights and oviposition, adults must rely on stored energy sources which are principally glycogen and lipids. This study focuses on the fatty acid composition of lipid stores in Hexagenia limbata (Serville) adults and late-instar naiads from a North Central Texas lake. Lipids from whole-body homogenates were extracted with organic solvents, and fatty acids were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Total lipid extracts, as well as neutral lipids (triglycerides and diglycerides) and polar lipids (phospholipids), were analyzed. Adult males exhibited the highest amount of lipid as a percentage of dry weight, followed by naiads and females. The most abundant fatty acids were 16∶0 > 18∶1 > 16∶1 in both naiads and males and 18∶1 > 16∶0 > 16∶1 in females. Phospholipids and triglycerides were the most prominent lipid classes in naiads while free fatty acids were abundant in males, which also showed a diglyceride fraction. Triglycerides were the main lipid fraction in females. The profiles suggest that dietary fatty acids are stored in naiad triglycerides, and once adult emergence occurs, the triglycerides appear to be retained in the females primarily for oocyte production; whereas they are quickly mobilized to supply energy for flight in the males.
TL;DR: The roach genus Archimesoblatta Vršanský (Mesoblattinidae), known from the Cretaceous of Asia but otherwise absent from Jurassic deposits, is recorded from the Middle Jurassic of India, where it is described and figured from a forewing tegmen preserved in the Kota Formation.
Abstract: The roach genus Archimesoblatta Vrsanský (Mesoblattinidae), known from the Cretaceous of Asia but otherwise absent from Jurassic deposits, is recorded from the Middle Jurassic of India. Archimesoblatta shiva, new species, is described and figured from a forewing tegmen preserved in the Middle Jurassic Kota Formation of the State of Andhra Pradesh, India. The species is distinguished from its congeners, including a key to the species of Archimesoblatta, and brief comments made on the Jurassic roach fauna.
TL;DR: Key initial data is provided that strongly suggests that chestnut plant volatiles can be successfully utilized as attractants in a semiochemical-based monitoring trap for C. sayi adults.
Abstract: The lesser chestnut weevil, Curculio sayi (Gyllenhal), is a key pest of chestnut in the eastern and central United States. Y-tube bioassays and electroantennogram (EAG) studies were conducted on adult C. sayi regarding their behavioral and EAG responses towards odors from different chestnut tissue types (leaf, catkin, bur and nut) to determine the possibility of using host-plant volatiles in monitoring this highly host-specific pest. In behavioral trials, spring emerging weevils (of both sexes) were significantly attracted to odors emanating from catkins (flowers) and burs, with males also attracted to the odors from the nut. In the late-summer, weevils (of both sexes) emerging or returning to chestnut trees were again significantly attracted to the odors from bur and catkin tissues, with females also being attracted nut tissue. Odors emanating from leaves were not attractive to either sex. The EAG trials revealed that weevil antennae responded significantly to odors from bur spikes and the inner...
TL;DR: A checklist of the Euglossini of Nicaragua is provided, expanding the previously documented 16 species to 32, doubling the known diversity of orchid bees in Nicaragua.
Abstract: A checklist of the Euglossini of Nicaragua is provided, expanding the previously documented 16 species to 32. New formal records are provided for the following 16 species, all in Euglossa Latreille: Euglossa (Euglossella) cyanura Cockerell, E. (Euglossa) championi Cheesman, E. (E.) cybelia Moure, E. (E.) despecta Moure, E. (E.) hansoni Moure, E. (E.) heterosticta Moure, E. (E.) igniventris Friese, E. (E.) mixta Friese, E. (E.) tridentata Moure, E. (E.) villosiventris Moure, E. (Glossura) allosticta Moure, E. (G.) asarophora Moure and Sakagami, E. (G.) ignita Smith, E. (G.) imperialis Cockerell, E. bursigera Moure, and E. sapphirina Moure, the last two left as subgenus incertae sedis. This summary doubles the known diversity of orchid bees in Nicaragua.
TL;DR: Chemical analysis of the fecal case and host plant found little overlap in chemicals, suggesting that the beetles are manufacturing their own chemicals.
Abstract: Neochlamisus gibbosus (Fabricius) is a common leaf beetle in eastern and central North America (Karren, 1972). We provide detailed illustrated descriptions of each life stage based on field studies of a population on its host plant, Rubus laudatus Berger (Rosaceae), in Kansas, U.S.A. We found some previous diagnostic characters and some new ones can diagnose the species. We report two hymenopteran parasitoids, Conura sp. (Chalcididae) and Testrastichus sp. (Eulophidae), and one unidentified mite species on the juvenile defensive fecal case. Chemical analysis of the fecal case and host plant found little overlap in chemicals, suggesting that the beetles are manufacturing their own chemicals.
TL;DR: Dung nesting by bees is mentioned briefly in Michener (2007): ‘‘[Lithurgini] nests are burrows excavated in dead, dry often rotten wood or even in dry cow manure’’, although no more details are provided.
Abstract: Most solitary (non-social) species of bees in North America nest underground (Cane and Neff, 2011), although many other species nest in old beetle burrows in deadwood, or excavate pithy stems or sound wood, or in fewer cases, make free-standing nests against hard substrates such as stones (Cane, 2008). Bees of the Megachilidae best represent the diversity of nesting substrates used by bees (Michener, 2007), none more so than the several hundred species of holarctic Osmia (Cane et al., 2007). Here I report a novel nesting substrate for bees, dried cattle dung. Two females of the ground-nesting bee Osmia (Acanthosmioides) integra Cresson were found entering different holes in a dry weathered pat of cow dung on 10 May 2012 in a large open sage-steppe pasture 9 km southwest of Lander, Fremont County, Wyoming USA (42.78uN, -108.81uW, 1900 m elev). The pasture was annually grazed in summer by cattle. The site’s shallow soil was a rocky clay loam overlying weathering bedrock. The particular dung pat was unremarkable, being circular (22 cm diam), 8 cm tall, weighing K kg with residual moisture of only 7%. By its weathered appearance, it was more than a year old. The two female O. integra were first noticed near the cow dung pat as they performed the characteristic zigzag orientation approach flight commonly seen for female solitary bees returning to their nests. Both females landed and disappeared into different holes made 8 cm apart in the dung pat (Fig. 1). They were caught as they reemerged, readily identified, and are deposited as vouchers in the collections of the USDAARS Pollinating Insect Research Unit. Several dozen more O. integra females were seen over a three day period across a 40 ha portion of the rangeland pasture. Each was coursing back and forth close to the ground surface, but none was seen to enter a nest. Dung nesting by bees is mentioned briefly in Michener (2007): ‘‘[Lithurgini] nests are burrows excavated in dead, dry often rotten wood or even in dry cow manure’’, although no more details or specific references are provided. Females of a ground-nesting bee, Melissodes agilis, are reported to sometimes start their nest entrances at the edge of a dung pat when vegetation is not available (page 74 in Stephen et al., 1969). No other reference to dung as a nesting substrate has been found or is familiar to several bee specialists queried in Europe or in North and South America. One nest with two complete nest cells was carefully traced into the dung pat. Beneath its entrance were scattered excavated crumbs of dry dung. The short burrow extended into the dung pat about 45u from vertical for 3 cm, turned 90 degrees, and continued horizontally another 3 cm to terminate in one sealed nest cell preceded by an open chamber partly lined with leaf pulp (Fig. 2). A second capped cell was placed laterally at right angles to the one under construction; it faced into the same main tunnel. The cells were entirely coated and capped with a 0.5 mm layer of green masticated leap pulp that firmly adhered to the cavity walls. An incomplete nest cell was found that was still being lined with leaf pulp. Internally, it was 9.2 mm across where the leaf pulp was in place. One of the completed nest cells was carefully carved free of the substrate. It was 11.5 mm in diameter and 17.3 mm long. Its cap and tunnel diameters were 7.5 mm. External shape of the completed cell was barrel-like, proportioned like a shelled peanut. Within the cavity was a moist pollen provision mass the consistency of a sweet pudding. It filled the back 1/2–2/3 of the cell cavity. These nest attributes and dimensions correspond closely to reported values for many more nests of O. integra found in northern California in drifted beach sand (Gordon, 2003). In that substrate, females dug tunnels that also descended obliquely (40u) to a depth of ,5 cm. Tunnels averaged 8 cm in length, terminating in 1–5 nest cells in line. Cells walls and caps also were composed of masticated leaf pulp. The
TL;DR: By simply observing the spatial patterning of cells in mixed-species nests, one cannot determine if two species are in direct competition or whether one occupied a nest only after it was abandoned by the other, recent evidence suggests a more direct effect of one species on the other.
Abstract: The alfalfa leafcutting bee Megachile rotundata (F.) is managed in western North America as a pollinator in seed alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) fields, where it is provided with large, high density arrays (i.e., nest boards) of artificial nest tunnels made of wood or polystyrene. Each nest of this solitary bee consists of a linear series of leaf-lined brood cells provisioned with pollen and nectar, and finally capped with other leaf pieces after an egg is laid (Pitts-Singer and Cane, 2011). Other species of cavity-nesting Hymenoptera sometimes occupy the same nest boards, often using the same tunnels as M. rotundata (O’Neill and O’Neill, 2003; O’Neill et al., 2010). One co-inhabitant of M. rotundata nests is the solitary wasp Isodontia mexicana (Saussure), which uses dried pieces of grass as nesting materials (Krombein, 1967; O’Neill and O’Neill, 2003, 2009). O’Neill and O’Neill (2003) reported 16 nests that contained cells of both M. rotundata and I. mexicana. In 14 nests, the wasp’s cells were constructed after the nest tunnels had been first occupied by M. rotundata females that had completed up to three cells of their own. In two other cases, M. rotundata superseded I. mexicana in partially-completed nests, but no evidence was found in any nest that either species destroyed cells of the other. In addition, by simply observing the spatial patterning of cells in mixed-species nests, one cannot determine if two species are in direct competition or whether one occupied a nest only after it was abandoned by the other. Recently, however, we found evidence that suggests a more direct effect of one species on the other. While studying M. rotundata in alfalfa fields near Laurel, Montana in July–August 2010 and 2011, we opened 20 sets of polystyrene-laminate nest boards (Beaver Plastics, Ltd., Acheson, Alberta, Canada) to extract bee cells from the 6 and 7 mm diameter tunnels; each set of nest boards contained 750 tunnels (total 5 15,000 tunnels). We observed I. mexicana nests that had not only been superseded by M. rotundata, but in which the bees had apparently damaged and even occupied the wasps’ cocoons. Isodontia mexicana cocoons are ellipsoidal in shape and, in this study, measured 16.5–24.5 mm in length and, at their midpoints, 5.8–7.0 mm wide (N 5 170). Each cocoon contained two layers constructed by the larva prior to entering its prepupal phase: an outer, light-gray layer of silk and an inner, smooth, brown, paper-thin pupal case of unknown composition. Examining the contents of nest boards, we found 38 cocoons of I. mexicana that had been damaged, out of a total of 208 collected; 28.1% of the cocoons were damaged in 2010 (N 5 121), but only 4.6% in 2011 (N 5 87), when overall nest density on the boards was considerably lower due to early season bee mortality after a heavy hail storm. In nests with more than one I. mexicana cell, only the outermost cocoon was affected. In each of 31 nests, a M. rotundata female had apparently penetrated the wasp’s cell partition, and perhaps the final nest plug, and removed a portion of the outer silk covering of the wasp’s cocoon, exposing but not breaking into the inner brown pupal case (Fig. 1A, B); frequently, the bee then placed one or more of her own cells outside of the damaged wasp cocoon. Most wasp cocoons lost about onequarter of the silk layer, but the amount removed was variable. Sometimes a small amount of silk was missing at the tip of the cocoon, but in one case half of the outer silk layer was stripped off. Removal of more than half of the silk would have been difficult for the bees because the ellipsoidal I. mexicana cocoons fit tightly into the tunnels, so a bee could not reach beyond its midpoint. In the other seven nests, damage to the Isodontia cocoons was much more extensive. In these, not only was part of the silk covering removed, but the inner brown pupal case was penetrated. In six nests, an adult female M. rotundata had then constructed one or more of its own leaf-lined brood cells within the pupal
TL;DR: A memoriam for JKES is appropriate given its long tradition in melittological systematics, and the time Padre Moure spent in Kansas, working on bees alongside Prof. Charles D. Michener in the mid1950’s.
Abstract: On 10 July 2010 the melittological community lost one of its great pioneers in the passing of Padre Dr. Jesus Santiago Moure, aged 97. Several obituaries or tributes have been published (e.g., Melo and Alves dos Santos, 2003; Melo and Urban, 2010; Urban and Melo, 2010; Ribeiro-Costa and Marinoni, 2011; Michener, 2011), but we believe a memoriam for JKES is appropriate given its long tradition in melittological systematics. Moreover, JKES readers may be unfamiliar with the time Padre Moure spent in Kansas, working on bees alongside Prof. Charles D. Michener in the mid1950’s. There has been a close tie between the Society and Padre Moure for more than one-half century. Appended at the end of this note, we also provide an update to the catalog of the bee species described by Padre Moure (Urban, 2003), expanding it to include his weevil taxa, as well as a listing of his 266 scientific publications (Appendix 2). Padre Moure was born in the early morning of 2 November 1912 in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil, only two months after his parents, Miguel Moure Santiago and Maria Santiago Souto, had left from Galiza, Spain. Miguel had been summoned to the war in Morocco and, fearing to leave his pregnant wife alone, he swam the Minho River to escape conscription. He immediately accepted an invitation to move to Brazil and work in the construction of the Mogyana railway stations, settling his family in Ribeirao Preto. Later the family moved to Batatais and Caierias, and then to Santos in 1917. It was there, in Santos, that Moure began primary school before his family returned to Ribeirao Preto in 1920, and he finished his elementary schooling in 1923. In 1925, at the age of 12, Moure began studying at the Seminario Maior Claretiano in Cutiriba, where he learned to play the piano and organ. In 1929 Moure entered into higher education at the Seminario Maior Claretiano in Rio Claro, earning in 1932 a degree in Philosophy (which at the time also included Natural History, Physics, and Mathematics). It was here and during this period that his passion for the natural sciences, particularly botany, was enlivened. He produced for the seminary a monograph of the flora of their grounds entitled, ‘‘Pugillus Rioclarensium Plantarum’’. It was also during this time that, in the
TL;DR: The Genus Carapona new status with nine valid species, and the genus Spinanella new status as a subgenus of Gyponana, are revised.
Abstract: The Genus Carapona new status with nine valid species, and the genus Spinanella new status with one species, are revised. Both were previously subgenera, Carapona as a subgenus of Hecalapona, and Spinanella as a subgenus of Gyponana. Four new species are added to the genus Carapona: C. deserta and C. dicrota from Brazil, and C. colombiana and C. longula from Colombia. The characters which place species into these two genera are given, as well as characters to separate them from the closest genus Hecalapona. A key to the thirteen species of Carapona is also included.