Education Commons^™

Sola Scarab Workers Symposium 2005, Andrew Smith

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting
Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Sunday, 6 November 2005
Speakers: Andrew Smith, Canadian Museum of Nature; Maxi Polihronakis, University of Connecticut; Matt Paulsen, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Ainsley Seago, University of California, Berkeley; Sasha Spector, American Museum of Natural History; Dana Price, Rutgers University; Kevina Vulinec, Delaware State University; David Hawks, University of California - Riverside; Frank Hovore, California State University, Northridge

Sola Scarab Workers Symposium 2004, Andrew Smith

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting Salt Lake City, Utah. Sunday, 14 November 2004

Papers: Mapping patterns of beta-diversity for beetles across the western Amazon Basin: the Ceratocanthidae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea). Terry Erwin, Department of Entomology, Smithsonian Institution
Fine leg morphology: could it be one step toward a more natural classification of Scarabaeinae? François Génier, Canadian Museum of Nature
Revision of the southern South American Glaphyridae. Shauna Hawkins, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Allidiostomatinae and Aclopinae: tales of mystery and imagination from the Southern Hemisphere. Federico Ocampo, Mary Liz Jameson, University of Nebraska- Lincoln and David Hawks, University of California-Riverside
New World Aphodiinae: …

Sola Scarab Workers Symposium 2003, Andrew Smith

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting Cincinnati, Ohio. Sunday, 26 October 2003

PAPERS: Introduction. Andrew Smith, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Scarabaeoid higher phylogeny inferred from ribosomal DNA sequence data: Strong evidence for some interesting patterns, and many more questions to pursue. Dave Hawks and John Heraty, University of California - Riverside
Molecular phylogenetics research on phytophagous scarabs: tales of paraphyletic tribes and unanticipated lineages. Andrew Smith, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Pest scarabs of North and Central America. Ron Cave, University of Florida
Lucanid classification: history, problems, and prospects. Matt Paulsen, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Oak barrens, pocket gophers, and the scarabaeoids who love …

Sola Scarab Workers Symposium 2002, Andrew Smith

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Sunday, 17 November 2002

SPEAKERS:
Introduction. Andrew Smith, University of Nebraska- Lincoln
Megadiversity upon megadiversity: mites and the Scarabaeoidea. Barry OConnor, University of Michigan
Revision, phylogeny, and biogeography of the dung beetle tribe Eucraniini, and evolution of its food relocation behavior: a total evidence analysis. Federico Ocampo, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Launching the Scarabaeinae Research Network. Sacha Spector, American Museum of Natural History
Rockin' and rolling: evolutionary patterns in the sacred scarab and its kin. Keith Philips, Western Kentucky University
The New World Gymnetini (Cetoniinae): an overview of classification and biology. Brett …

Safari Through An African Slide Journal, Laura Andersen

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

Luella Buros first set foot on the African continent in 1956 when she arrived on the shores of Mombasa, Kenya. From Mombasa, she and her husband Oscar, who had won a senior Fulbright award, trekked across southern Kenya via Land Rover to Kampala, Uganda. They resided here for the year while Oscar taught statistics at Makerere University College. When Oscar was not working, they traveled extensively around Eastern Africa. However, Buros was no ordinary traveler. She was a meticulous record-keeper and logged her trips in a journal. Buros' talents also included photography, and throughout her trips to Africa and at …

Nebraska's Endangered Species Part 1: Introduction And The Insects, Brett C. Ratcliffe, Steve Spomer

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

There is now an ongoing, unprecedented loss of species diversity throughout the world as well as a decline in the absolute numbers of organisms from the smallest microorganism to the largest mammal. The current loss of biota has several causes. One is the destruction, conversion, or degradation of entire ecosystems with the consequent loss of entire assemblages of species. Another is the accelerating loss of individual species within communities or ecosystems as a result of habitat disturbance, pollution, and exploitation. Third, and more subtle, is the loss of genetic variability. Selective pressures such as habitat alteration, the presence of chemical …

Jewel Scarabs, David C. Hawks

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

Jewel Scarabs are a group of about 100 species of some of the most spectacular insects that you'll ever see! Most are various shades of iridescent green, but others are spectacular, metallic "jewels" of silver, gold, red, pink, purple, or blue. They are beetles of the family Scarabaeidae, in the subfamily Rutelinae. This subfamily is known by the common name "Shining Leaf Chafers" because many are shiny, colorful beetles that feed on leaves as adults. As a specialist in Jewel Scarabs of the genus Chrysina, I naturally consider these to be among the finest and most fascinating of insects, …

Sola Scarab Workers Symposium 2001, Andrew Smith

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting
San Diego, California
Sunday, 9 December 2001

SPEAKERS:
Unusual scarab biology and biologists I have known. Henry Howden Scarabaeidae et al. in Honduras. Ronald D. Cave
The pleocomid rain beetles of western North America: tales of an enigmatic scarab group. Andrew Smith
The continuing scarabaeoid higher phylogeny debate: recent evidence from ribosomal DNA. David C. Hawks and John M. Heraty
Dascillidae and Scarabaeoidea: are they closely related? Vasily V. Grebennikov and Clarke H. Scholtz
Review of Central American Astaena (Sericini). Paul Lago
The Internet guide to New World scarabs: progress and prospects. Mary Liz …

Aquatic Plants Of Nebraska, Michael P. Gutzmer, Robert B. Kaul

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

More than 100 species of aquatic plants grow in Nebraska. Some are entirely submersed for their whole lives, others produce floating leaves and flowers, and still others stand upright, with only their lower stems in water. Examples of these are shown here in this publication.

Vigorous and diverse colonies of aquatic plants are usually a sign of healthy and stable aquatic environments. In fact, the plants themselves stabilize the shorelines, underwater soils, and water chemistry. Waters rich with aquatic plants are rich with aquatic animals and waterfowl, which find cover, breeding habitat, and abundant food. Non-alkaline waters have more aquatic …

Something To Sneeze At: Nebraska's Airborne Pollen, Margaret R. Bolick

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

For those of us whose noses know (and don't like) pollen, late October is a time for celebration in Nebraska because it is the end of the hay fever season. When one's nose is a sensitive bio-detector of the presence of pollen, one's brain usually appreciates putting a name to whatever is causing the itchy eyes and runny nose. The job of putting names on the types of pollen in the air has been done by a dedicated team of pollen counters in the Division of Botany, University of Nebraska State Museum. This group, led by Curator Peg Bolick, has …

The Abominable Mystery Of The First Flowers: Clues From Nebraska And Kansas, M. R. Bolick, R. K. Pabian

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

The plant fossils found in shales and sandstones of the late Cretaceous age Dakota Group in Nebraska and Kansas figure prominently in the "drama tis plantae" of the long-running and still unsolved mystery of the origin of flowering plants (angiosperms). This mystery has many fans because almost all of the plants that humans depend on for food and shelter are angiosperms; half of the calories in the world's diet come from the grass family alone. The Dakota fossils were discovered by western science more than one hundred years ago during the early stages of geological exploration of the western territories. …

Preserving Vertebrate Fossils: Notes From The Laboratory, Gregory Brown, Pauline Denham

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

The word "paleontology" is derived from the Greek words meaning "the science or study of ancient life". Usually, paleontology does not concern itself with human remains, artifacts or cultures; these are the realms of archeology and anthropology. Paleontologists excavate and study fossils, the remains of once-living plants and animals. By convention, such remains must be at least 10,000 years old to be considered fossils. In North America, there is very little overlap between the sites and materials that are studied by paleontologists and by archeologists because humans are relative newcomers to the continent. A site which produces …

Prehistoric Chipped Stone Tools Of Nebraska, Thomas P. Myers

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

Prehistoric Nebraskans used stone, bone, or even wooden tools for most tasks of everyday life that ranged from cutting a tree to making weapons to preparing foods . Bone and wooden tools are seldom found, but debris from the manufacture and maintenance of chipped stone tools is the most cornman evidence of human activity at prehistoric villages and camp sites. Some kinds of stone tools, such as end scrapers and bifacial knives, were perfected more than 10,000 years ago. Others, notably projectile points, were subject to continual refinements as revealed by changes in shape and size.

To understand the evidence …

The Hognose Snake: A Prairie Survivor For Ten Million Years, M. R. Voorhies, R. G. Corner, Harvey L. Gunderson

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

Because they hiss and strike violently when aroused, the harmless little hognose snakes are often considered to be poisonous by people who encounter them. They are not venomous but are truly remarkable animals with specialized behavior and anatomy unusually well suited for life in the grasslands of central North America.

The University of Nebraska State Museum has recently acquired fossil evidence regarding the evolutionary history of these common Great Plains reptiles. We can now trace the record of the hognose snakes back to a time long before the arrival of man, the bison, or even the mammoth on the North …

Some Important Projectile Point Types From Nebraska, Thomas P. Myers, Harvey L. Gunderson

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

Archaeologists apply the term "projectile point" to a wide range of tools. Although they used to think projectile points were used only for spears, they now realize hat the heavier, ill-shaped points were used as knives. Ahler 1971).

Projectile points can be made from just about anything that can be sharpened, including stone, glass, wood, bone, and metal. Flaked stone points are most common in Nebraska, although metal points and occasionally bone points have been found.

Our Museum- An Artist's View, Nathan Mohler, Harvey Gunderson

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

Museums seem to be all things to all people. Some visitors come to the museum in search of information on specific questions. For others, a visit to the museum with friends is more of a social occasion which makes the acquisition of knowledge become not only a learning experience, but one of entertainment as well. For still others, the museum represents an amalgam of zoo, circus, and perhaps a bit of the carnival sideshow. Certainly the heroic proportions of the restorations of extinct animals, the somewhat macabre mummies, along with the "world's largest elephant," suggest to some the excitement and …

A Dinosaur Revival, Harvey L. Gunderson

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

Just about everyone loves dinosaurs! Just ask any museum guard, 4th grader, or grandparent looking for souvenirs at a museum's gift shop. The only natural history exhibits that persistently challenge their popularity, in a child's mind, are the fabled mummies of ancient Egypt. Why does just the mention of the name "dinosaur" activate the imagination of most people? Naturally their size and dominating appearance are significant; however, we would hope people are also ---I intrigued by the very fact that these majestic beasts really existed at all, and for some ill-explained reason ----I seemed to disappear at the height of …

Ralph Mueller Planetarium Presents Ufo Program, Jack A. Dunn, Harvey L. Gunderson

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

In 1974 the Ralph Mueller planetarium presented a program on the subject of UFOs. This program was difficult to produce because of the extremely subjective nature of the topic. It would have been easy to slant such a program in one of two ways. The program might label all persons seeing UFOs as "wild-eyed kooks"; or it could swing to the other extreme, where all testimony and "evidence" are accepted without attempting to subject it to scientific scrutiny. This information, then, is presented in the hope that the reader will realize that the subject can and is being studied in …

Robert Fletcher Gilder: Archeologist For The Museum, Martha Haack, Arthur H. Wolf, Harvey L. Gunderson

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

With the 1974 donation by Omaha's Joslyn Art Museum of a large collection of artifacts to the University of Nebraska State Museum, a chapter in the history of early archeological work in Nebraska was made complete. The artifacts were collected by Robert F. Gilder in the course of his archeological explorations of 1907-1912. Considering Gilder's long association with the Museum and the fact that much of the pioneering work in Nebraska archeology is unknown to most Nebraskans, a brief discussion of Gilder's life and works is offered.