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A New Tachinid Genus And Species Record For North America: Iceliopsis Borgmeieri Guimarães, John O. Stireman Iii, Jane E. Dell Jan 2017

A New Tachinid Genus And Species Record For North America: Iceliopsis Borgmeieri Guimarães, John O. Stireman Iii, Jane E. Dell

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The Iceliini are a small, enigmatic New World tribe of Tachininae consisting of three genera, Icelia RobineauDesvoidy, Iceliopsis Guimarães, and Erviopsis Townsend, and five recognized species (Guimarães 1976). All known species are exclusively Neotropical in distribution with the exception of Icelia triquetra (Olivier), which ranges from Brazil, through Central America, and as far north as New York state (O’Hara & Wood 2004). Members of the tribe are generally medium-sized (ca. 7–12 mm), elongate, yellowish or grayish in color, and resemble Dexiini or Leskiini in general appearance. Species of Iceliini are relatively rarely collected and there is but a single host …


Evidence For Use Of Alliaria Petiolata In North America By The European Cabbage White Butterfly, Pieris Rapae, Sam L. Davis, Don Cipollini Jan 2016

Evidence For Use Of Alliaria Petiolata In North America By The European Cabbage White Butterfly, Pieris Rapae, Sam L. Davis, Don Cipollini

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Pieris rapae L., an invasive crop pest, may have recently begun using Alliaria petiolata Bieb. (Cavara & Grande), a European invasive biennial. We investigated how P. rapae uses forest habitats for nectar and oviposition and examined larval performance on A. petiolata in the field and laboratory. Being known primarily to occupy open habitats, we found that P. rapae regularly uses forest edge habitats, most surveyed A. petiolata plants had P. rapae damage, and P. rapae successfully used both stages of A. petiolata for larval development.


Tachinid Collecting In Temperate South America. Expeditions Of The Phylogeny Of World Tachinide Project. Part Iii. Chile, John O. Stireman Iii, James E. O'Hara, Pierfilippo Cerretti, Diego J. Inclán Jan 2016

Tachinid Collecting In Temperate South America. Expeditions Of The Phylogeny Of World Tachinide Project. Part Iii. Chile, John O. Stireman Iii, James E. O'Hara, Pierfilippo Cerretti, Diego J. Inclán

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

As readers of this newsletter are likely familiar, we and our collaborators have been working for the past several years on a family-wide phylogeny of the Tachinidae of the world (see Stireman et al. 2013, Winkler et al. 2014). We have already published a morphological analysis of tachinid phylogenetics (Cerretti et al. 2014), as well as an initial molecular phylogenetic framework for the family (Winkler et al. 2015). An in-depth molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Phasiinae led by Jeremy Blaschke (originally at University of Tennessee and now at Union University, TN) and Kevin Moulton (U. of Tenn.) is currently being …


Habitat Eradication And Cropland Intensification May Reduce Parasitoid Diversity And Natural Pest Control Services In Annual Crop Fields, D. K. Letourneau, Sara G. Bothwell Allen, Robert R. Kula, Michael J. Sharkey, John O. Stireman Iii Jan 2015

Habitat Eradication And Cropland Intensification May Reduce Parasitoid Diversity And Natural Pest Control Services In Annual Crop Fields, D. K. Letourneau, Sara G. Bothwell Allen, Robert R. Kula, Michael J. Sharkey, John O. Stireman Iii

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

California’s central coast differs from many agricultural areas in the U.S., which feature large tracts of monoculture production fields and relatively simple landscapes. Known as the nation’s salad bowl, and producing up to 90% of U.S. production of lettuces, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, this region is a mosaic of fresh vegetable fields, coastal meadow, chaparral shrubs, riparian and woodland habitat. We tested for relationships between the percent cover of crops, riparian and other natural landscape vegetation and the species richness of parasitic wasps and flies foraging in crops, such as broccoli, kale and cauliflower, and interpreted our results with respect …


Continuing Progress Towards A Phylogeny Of Tachinidae, John O. Stireman Iii, James E. O'Hara, John K. Moulton, Pierfilippo Cerretti, Isaac S. Winkler, Jeremy D. Blaschke, Z. L. Burington Jan 2015

Continuing Progress Towards A Phylogeny Of Tachinidae, John O. Stireman Iii, James E. O'Hara, John K. Moulton, Pierfilippo Cerretti, Isaac S. Winkler, Jeremy D. Blaschke, Z. L. Burington

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Readers of this newsletter are likely familiar with our ongoing project to establish a framework phylogeny of world Tachinidae (see articles in The Tachinid Times 26 and 27). This collaborative project, involving myself, Jim O’Hara, Kevin Moulton, Pierfilippo Cerretti, Isaac Winkler and a long list of collaborating tachinidophiles was initiated in 2012 with funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation. Our goal is to produce a robust phylogenetic framework of Tachinidae that can be used to inform tachinid taxonomy, systematics research, and the patterns of tachinid evolution. In previous issues of The Tachinid Times we summarized our progress to date …


Chasing Tachinids ‘Down Under’: Expeditions Of The Phylogeny Of World Tachinidae Project, Part Ii Eastern Australia, James E. O'Hara, Pierfilippo Cerretti, John O. Stireman Iii, Isaac S. Winkler Jan 2014

Chasing Tachinids ‘Down Under’: Expeditions Of The Phylogeny Of World Tachinidae Project, Part Ii Eastern Australia, James E. O'Hara, Pierfilippo Cerretti, John O. Stireman Iii, Isaac S. Winkler

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Last year we documented in the pages of this newsletter an expedition to the Western Cape of South Africa in search of tachinids for the “Phylogeny of World Tachinidae” project (Cerretti et al. 2013). The project itself was discussed in a separate article (Stireman et al. 2013). In this issue of The Tachinid Times we discuss our expedition to eastern Australia in late 2013. This trip took place so recently that we have yet to fully identify our material and as a result cannot record here all of the taxa we collected. Instead, we will add the taxa to a …


Progress Towards A Molecular Phylogeny Of Tachinidae, Year Two, Isaac S. Winkler, John O. Stireman Iii, John K. Moulton, Pierfilippo Cerretti, Jeremy D. Blaschke Jan 2014

Progress Towards A Molecular Phylogeny Of Tachinidae, Year Two, Isaac S. Winkler, John O. Stireman Iii, John K. Moulton, Pierfilippo Cerretti, Jeremy D. Blaschke

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

We reported last year (Stireman et al. 2013) in The Tachinid Times on our collaborative project, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, to study the phylogeny of Tachinidae on a worldwide scale. Since that report, we have made some significant progress towards our goal of assembling a robust phylogenetic tree for Tachinidae. Notably, Cerretti et al. (in press) completed a phylogenetic study using 135 morphological characters from 180 tachinid genera. Results from this study largely reflect, with some interesting exceptions, what we are finding from preliminary analyses of our molecular data. Although sampling of taxa and genes for the …


Reproductive Isolation In The Elegans-Group Of Caenorhabditis, Scott Everet Baird, Sara Rose Seibert Mar 2013

Reproductive Isolation In The Elegans-Group Of Caenorhabditis, Scott Everet Baird, Sara Rose Seibert

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Reproductive isolation is the basis of the Biological Species Definition and can be a driving force of speciation. Theoretical studies have provided models of how reproductive isolation can arise within individual species. Genetic tests of these models are limited to populations in which reproductive isolation is present but not complete. Here, reproductive isolation in the Elgans-Group of the nematode genus Caenorhabditis is reviewed. Pre-mating barriers, assortative fertilization and post-zygotic barriers all have been observed in this clade. In some combinations of species, fertile F1 hybrids can be obtained. Therefore, the Elegans-Group of Caenorhabditis is poised to become an important experimental …


To 'Die Hel' And Back. Expeditions Of The Phylogeny Of World Tachinidae Project. Part I: Western Cape, South Africa, Pierfilippo Cerretti, James E. O'Hara, John O. Stireman Iii, Isaac S. Winkler, Ashley H. Kirk-Spriggs Jan 2013

To 'Die Hel' And Back. Expeditions Of The Phylogeny Of World Tachinidae Project. Part I: Western Cape, South Africa, Pierfilippo Cerretti, James E. O'Hara, John O. Stireman Iii, Isaac S. Winkler, Ashley H. Kirk-Spriggs

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The “Phylogeny of World Tachinidae” project kicked off with an operational meeting in June 2012 at the Canadian National Collection of Insects (CNC) in Ottawa. Goals were discussed, work plans prepared, and of course the destinations and timing of major field expeditions were debated. During our three years of National Science Foundation funding we hope to gather fresh material for molecular analysis from all biogeographic regions of the world.


Progress Towards A Phylogeny Of World Tachinidae. Year 1, John O. Stireman Iii, James E. O'Hara, Michael C. Moulton, Pierfilippo Cerretti, Isaac S. Winkler Jan 2013

Progress Towards A Phylogeny Of World Tachinidae. Year 1, John O. Stireman Iii, James E. O'Hara, Michael C. Moulton, Pierfilippo Cerretti, Isaac S. Winkler

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

D eveloping a structural phylogenetic framework for the family Tachinidae has been an interest of mine since I first started working on tachinids as a graduate student. It was then that I developed a new phylogenetic perspective with which to view the world, and many of the questions I wanted to ask of tachinids depended on some level of phylogenetic knowledge of them. I was surprised at the time that no one had attempted a broad quantitative phylogenetic analysis of the family, and a publication from my thesis work on the Exoristinae (Stireman 2002) became the first such study that …


The Sign And Strength Of Plant-Soil Feedback For The Invasive Shrub, Lonicera Maackii, Varies In Different Soils, Kelly Schradin, Don Cipollini Jan 2012

The Sign And Strength Of Plant-Soil Feedback For The Invasive Shrub, Lonicera Maackii, Varies In Different Soils, Kelly Schradin, Don Cipollini

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Plants alter soil characteristics causing changes in their subsequent growth resulting in positive or negative feedback on both their own fitness and that of other plants. In a greenhouse study, we investigated whether the sign and strength of feedback changed across two distinct soil types, and whether effects were due to shifts in biotic or abiotic soil traits. Using soils from two different locations, we examined growth of the exotic invasive shrub, Lonicera maackii and the related native shrub, Diervilla lonicera, in unconditioned soils and in soils conditioned by previous growth of L. maackii, D. lonicera, and …


The Effects Of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (Am) Fungal And Garlic Mustard Introductions On Native Am Fungal Diversity, Alexander M. Koch, Pedro M. Antunes, Kathryn Barto, Don Cipollini, Daniel L. Mummey, John N. Klironomos Jul 2011

The Effects Of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (Am) Fungal And Garlic Mustard Introductions On Native Am Fungal Diversity, Alexander M. Koch, Pedro M. Antunes, Kathryn Barto, Don Cipollini, Daniel L. Mummey, John N. Klironomos

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Introduced, non-native organisms are of global concern, because biological invasions can negatively affect local communities. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal communities have not been well studied in this context. AM fungi are abundant in most soils, forming symbiotic root-associations with many plant species. Commercial AM fungal inocula are increasingly spread worldwide, because of potentially beneficial effects on plant growth. In contrast, some invasive plant species, such as the non-mycorrhizal Alliaria petiolata, can negatively influence AM fungi. In a greenhouse study we examined changes in the structure of a local Canadian AM fungal community in response to inoculation by foreign AM fungi …


Performance And Reproduction Of An Exotic Invader Across Temperate Forest Gradients, Robert J. Warren Ii, Volker Bahn, Timothy D. Kramer, Yaya Tang, Mark A. Bradford Feb 2011

Performance And Reproduction Of An Exotic Invader Across Temperate Forest Gradients, Robert J. Warren Ii, Volker Bahn, Timothy D. Kramer, Yaya Tang, Mark A. Bradford

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Widespread colonization by invasive species often obscures their underlying niche requirements. A robust inference into habitat requirements demands direct measures of invasive species performance linked with associated environmental conditions. In the context of general ecological theory, we investigated the niche requirements of Microstegium vimineum, an invasive grass in the U.S. that overruns native vegetation in forest understories. We examined M. vimineum’s performance and reproduction as a function of environmental drivers across forested and unforested habitats along a 100-km regional and climatic gradient in the southeastern U.S. from the southern Appalachian Mountains to the Georgia piedmont. We then measured M. vimineum …


Diversity Of Interactions: A Metric For Studies Of Biodiversity, Lee A. Dyer, Thomas R. Walla, Harold F. Greeney, John O. Stireman Iii, Rebecca F. Hazen Jan 2010

Diversity Of Interactions: A Metric For Studies Of Biodiversity, Lee A. Dyer, Thomas R. Walla, Harold F. Greeney, John O. Stireman Iii, Rebecca F. Hazen

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Multitrophic interactions play key roles in the origin and maintenance of species diversity, and the study of these interactions has contributed to important theoretical advances in ecology and evolutionary biology. Nevertheless, most biodiversity inventories focus on static species lists, and prominent theories of diversity still ignore trophic interactions. The lack of a simple interaction metric that is analogous to species richness is one reason why diversity of interactions is not examined as a response or predictor variable in diversity studies. Using plant-herbivore-enemy trophic chains as an example, we develop a simple metric of diversity in which richness, diversity indices (e.g., …


A Preliminary Study Of The Diversity And Temporal Patterns Of Abundance Of Tachinidae In Southwestern Ohio, Diego J. Inclán, John O. Stireman Iii Feb 2009

A Preliminary Study Of The Diversity And Temporal Patterns Of Abundance Of Tachinidae In Southwestern Ohio, Diego J. Inclán, John O. Stireman Iii

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Although tachinids are one of the most diverse families of Diptera (Irwin et al. 2003) and represent the largest group of non-hymenopteran parasitoids (Belshaw 1994), the ecology of most species in the family is poorly known. Most of the studies that have focused on tachinids are related to taxonomic descriptions. Currently, our knowledge is very limited in terms of the diversity and distribution of populations across time and space, especially in the Nearctic and Neotropical Regions (Stireman 2008). There have been a number of recent studies focused on diversity and temporal distributions of tachinids in the Palaearctic Region such as …


Tachinid Collecting In Southwest New Mexico And Arizona During The 2007 Nads Field Meeting, John O. Stireman Iii Feb 2008

Tachinid Collecting In Southwest New Mexico And Arizona During The 2007 Nads Field Meeting, John O. Stireman Iii

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The 2007 field meeting of the North American Dipterists Society (NADS) was held August 13–16 in southwestern New Mexico, centered in Silver City (at Western New Mexico University), and the surrounding Gila National Forest. This was the first NADS meeting that I have been able to attend, and I think I can speak for all in saying it was enjoyable, productive, and interesting; an overall success. A more detailed account and evaluation of this meeting is available in the 2007 Fly Times article (O’Hara 2007).


Preliminary Notes On Tachinidae Reared From Lepidoptera In The Ecuadorian Andes, John O. Stireman Iii Feb 2007

Preliminary Notes On Tachinidae Reared From Lepidoptera In The Ecuadorian Andes, John O. Stireman Iii

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Current estimates of the species richness of Tachinidae among geographical provinces suggest that the Neotropical Region harbors the largest number of species and represents a geographic epicenter of tachinid diversification (O’Hara 2006). The Neotropics boasts an impressive fauna consisting of 2864 described species belonging to 822 genera at the time of the Neotropical catalog (Guimarães 1971), making it almost twice as species rich as any other geographic realm (O’Hara 2006; Stireman et al. 2006). This diversity is most apparent at middle elevations (1000– 2000m) along the mountain chains of tropical Central and South America, where tachinids are an abundant and …


Phylogenetic Reconstruction Of Exoristinae Using Molecular Data: A Bayesian Re-Analysis, John O. Stireman Iii Feb 2005

Phylogenetic Reconstruction Of Exoristinae Using Molecular Data: A Bayesian Re-Analysis, John O. Stireman Iii

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

A few years ago I published the results of a phylogenetic analysis of New World Exoristinae based on molecular data from two genes, 28S rDNA and Elongation Factor 1-alpha (Stireman 2002). In that study I employed parsimony, neighbor joining, and maximum likelihood inference methods to generate phylogenetic reconstructions, and explored a variety of weighting schemes and combinations of the sequence data (i.e. each gene separately and both together). The results of these analyses generally supported recent taxonomic hypotheses (e.g., Herting 1984; Wood 1987; O’Hara and Wood 2004). For example, Tachinidae and Exoristinae were reconstructed as monophyletic in most analyses, as …


Comparison Of Coastal Fringe And Interior Forests As Reserves For Marbled Murrelets On Vancouver Island, Alan E. Burger, Volker Bahn, Angeline R.M. Tillmanns Nov 2000

Comparison Of Coastal Fringe And Interior Forests As Reserves For Marbled Murrelets On Vancouver Island, Alan E. Burger, Volker Bahn, Angeline R.M. Tillmanns

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Much of the protected habitat available to the threatened Marbled Murrelet Brachyramphus marmoratus and other old-growth associated species in the Pacific Northwest is in narrow strips along the coast (e.g., parks and scenic fringes). Using data over two years from three watersheds on southwest Vancouver Island, we show that such shoreline strip forests represent suboptimal habitat for murrelets. Murrelet detections, including circling and subcanopy behaviors, were significantly lower at 30 coastal stations (20–250 m from the shoreline edge) than at 30 interior stations (1.5–21.0 km inland). Densities of predators were significantly higher at the coastal stations. The coastal trees were …


Habitat Requirements And Habitat Suitability Index For The Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus Marmoratus) As A Management Target Species In The Ursus Valley, British Columbia., Volker Bahn Apr 1998

Habitat Requirements And Habitat Suitability Index For The Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus Marmoratus) As A Management Target Species In The Ursus Valley, British Columbia., Volker Bahn

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.