Digital Commons Network^™

A New Species Of Allomallodon Santos-Silva And Galileo, 2010 From Bolivia (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Prioninae: Macrotomini), James E. Wappes, Antonio Santos-Silva

Insecta Mundi

A new species of Allomallodon Santos-Silva and Galileo, 2010, A. bolivianus Wappes and Santos-Silva (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Prioninae: Macrotomini), is described from Bolivia and a key is provided to separate the three species now assigned to the genus.

Thopeutica Petertaylori, A New Tiger Beetle Species (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) From Mindanao, Philippines, Milton Norman D. Medina, Analyn A. Cabras, Jürgen Wiesner

Insecta Mundi

Thopeutica (Thopeutica) petertaylori Medina, Cabras and Wiesner (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae), new species, is described from the Cagan river, New Bataan, Mindanao. It is characterized by the metallic ground colour of the elytra, prominent middle tooth in the labrum, and bottle-shaped aedeagus with apical hook.

Ephemeroptera (Insecta) In Cuba, Carlos Naranjo L., Janice G. Peters, Pedro López Del Castillo

Insecta Mundi

Systematic, faunistic and ecological aspects of the six families and 34 species and subspecies in the order Ephemeroptera currently recorded from Cuba are reviewed based primarily on a reference collection located at the Universidad de Oriente (Santiago de Cuba), collections at the Institute of Ecology and Systematics (Havana) and historic literature. A key to nymphs is included with photographs of significant features of many species. An annotated list of species is presented with comments on type localities, species ecology and distribution. The morpho- ecological types of the nymphs are updated according to current taxonomic changes, and indicator species of organic …

Notes On The Natural History Of Plesioclytus Morrisi Wappes And Skelley, 2015 And Plesioclytus Relictus Giesbert, 1993 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), Kyle E. Schnepp

Insecta Mundi

The host plant and life history observations of Plesioclytus morrisi Wappes and Skelley and Plesioclytus relictus Giesbert (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Plesioclytini) are described for the first time. The host for both species is shown to be Polygonum polygamum Vent. (Polygonaceae). Observations also indicate that plants chosen for oviposition occur in open sand areas of scrub habitat.

Lepidoptera Pests Of Sapodilla (Manilkara Zapota (L.) Van Royen) In South Florida, With Some Comments On Life History And Natural Control, Jose I. Martinez, Jonathan H. Crane, Jeff Wasielewski, Jacqueline Y. Miller, Daniel Carrillo

Insecta Mundi

Sapodilla (Manilkara zapota (L.) van Royen) is originally from the Neotropics, and has become one of the most important tropical crops in the last few decades. The major producers include India, Mexico, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Venezuela and Guatemala. It is also a minor crop in the United States, specifically South Florida. In 2015, it was reported that Florida growers suffered a loss of up to 80% of their production due to lepidopteran pests. We surveyed two sapodilla orchards weekly in South Florida for about six months. We collected 1,070 lepidopteran individuals (i.e., larvae, pupae and adults) belonging to seven …

Genus Olivensa Lane, 1965 In French Guiana, And Description Of A New Species (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae), Pierre-Henri Dalens, Frédéric Robin

Insecta Mundi

Olivensa sonzognii Dalens and Robin, sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae) is described from French Guiana and compared to other local species. A new key for the genus Olivensa Lane, 1965 is proposed.

The C-Fern (Ceratopteris Richardii) Genome: Insights Into Plant Genome Evolution With The First Partial Homosporous Fern Genome Assembly, D. Blaine Marchant, Emily B. Sessa, Paul G. Wolf, Kweon Heo, W. Brad Barbazuk, Pamela S. Soltis, Douglas E. Soltis

Ecology Center Publications

Ferns are notorious for possessing large genomes and numerous chromosomes. Despite decades of speculation, the processes underlying the expansive genomes of ferns are unclear, largely due to the absence of a sequenced homosporous fern genome. The lack of this crucial resource has not only hindered investigations of evolutionary processes responsible for the unusual genome characteristics of homosporous ferns, but also impeded synthesis of genome evolution across land plants. Here, we used the model fern species Ceratopteris richardii to address the processes (e.g., polyploidy, spread of repeat elements) by which the large genomes and high chromosome numbers typical of homosporous ferns …

The Effects Of Urbanization On Bee Communities Depends On Floral Resource Availability And Bee Functional Traits., Caleb J Wilson, Mary A Jamieson

Entomology Faculty Publications

Wild bees are important pollinators in many ecosystems threatened by anthropogenic disturbance. Urban development can reduce and degrade natural habitat for bees and other pollinators. However, some researchers suggest that cities could also provide refuge for bees, given that agricultural intensification may pose a greater risk. In this study, we surveyed bee communities at 15 farms and gardens across an urban-rural gradient in southeastern Michigan, USA to evaluate the effect of urbanization on bees. We examined how floral resources, bee functional traits, temperature, farm size, and the spatial scale of analysis influence bee response to urbanization. We found that urbanization …

Components Of The Ribosome Biogenesis Pathway Underlie Establishment Of Telomere Length Set Point In Arabidopsis, Liliia R. Abdulkina, Callie Kobayashi, John T. Lovell, Inna B. Chastukkhina, Behailu B. Aklilu, Inna A, Agabekian, Ana V. Suescún, Lia R. Valeeva, Chuluuntsetseg Nyamsuren, Galina V. Aglyamova, Margarita R. Sharipova, Dorothy E. Shippen, Thomas E. Juenger, Eugene V. Shakirov

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Telomeres cap the physical ends of eukaryotic chromosomes to ensure complete DNA replication and genome stability. Heritable natural variation in telomere length exists in yeast, mice, plants and humans at birth; however, major effect loci underlying such polymorphism remain elusive. Here, we employ quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping and transgenic manipulations to identify genes controlling telomere length set point in a multi-parent Arabidopsis thaliana mapping population. We detect several QTL explaining 63.7% of the total telomere length variation in the Arabidopsis MAGIC population. Loss-of-function mutants of the NOP2A candidate gene located inside the largest effect QTL and of two other …

Evolution - #0: Advanced Biological Systems, Jessica Amacher, Sowmya Anjur, Donald Dosch, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll, Crystal Randall

Unit 1: Evolution

The first unit of Advanced Biological Systems is focused on the theory of evolution, the mechanisms of evolutionary change, and discussions of the biological species concept. We discuss briefly how biodiversity stabilizes ecosystems. A study of biological evolution is placed first in the sequence of our curriculum to establish a foundation that explains the diversity of organisms, as well as biochemical processes, and the ongoing change process we witness today. These concepts will later be utilized in our curriculum to highlight cellular and metabolic diversity, the development of cancers, the interactions of bacteria with the ecosystem of the human host, …

Evolution - #8: Ecosystem Disrupted, Jessica Amacher, Sowmya Anjur, Donald Dosch, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll, Crystal Randall

Unit 1: Evolution

This is the culminating activity for the evolution unit. For this assignment, students must research into the impact human industry has on a small part of our world. Students have had a brief introduction to the history of the planet and the role that carbon dioxide concentration play in climate change. The role of climate and weather patterns is important in a discussion of a chosen place on the planet. Students have spent a large amount of effort in understanding evolutionary theory and mechanisms and seen it in practice as they read about speciation. With this assignment, students can synthesize …

Evolution - #3: Evolution On The Web, Jessica Amacher, Sowmya Anjur, Donald Dosch, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll, Crystal Randall

Unit 1: Evolution

This lesson is a companion piece the previous one: Evolutionary Evidences and Inferences. It is completed supported by readings at an online site hosted by The University of California at Berkeley. The site is linked here:

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/evo_14

Evolution - #2: Evolutionary Evidence And Inferences, Jessica Amacher, Sowmya Anjur, Donald Dosch, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll, Crystal Randall

Unit 1: Evolution

The theory of evolution articulates elegantly a series of inferences from a vast collection of observations and evidence. We present some of those evidences here to stimulate in our students the sorts of scientific reasoning necessary to understand the presence and origin of diversity of life on the planet.

Evolution - #1: History Of Life, Jessica Amacher, Sowmya Anjur, Donald Dosch, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll, Crystal Randall

Unit 1: Evolution

From the perspective of a biologist, the history of life on the Earth is a recurring story. Although details may be different, what happens today has precedence in the occurrences of the past. Two underlying ideas are vital for students to understand a modern conception of the theory of evolution. First, over long periods of time, and due to natural events, the environment of the Earth has changed, sometimes dramatically. Second, each environmental change has created more favorable conditions for some species to live and reproduce, while producing less favorable conditions for others. This first lesson in our unit on …

Evolution - #4: Genetic Drift And Founder Effect, Jessica Amacher, Sowmya Anjur, Donald Dosch, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll, Crystal Randall

Unit 1: Evolution

Genetic drift is a term used to describe chance fluctuations in the allelic frequencies in a population over time. The effects of genetic drift tend to be very minor in large populations, but they can be quite significant in small populations. Alleles are different functional forms in which a gene might exist. Humans have two alleles, sometimes the same but sometimes different, of most of their genes. In any population, it is possible to determine the frequency of all alleles. If these alleles get passed on to the next generation at random, then we should expect to see approximately the …

Evolution - #6: Selection Simulation, Jessica Amacher, Sowmya Anjur, Donald Dosch, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll, Crystal Randall

Unit 1: Evolution

A modern understanding of the theory of evolution revolves around the selection of certain types within a population that over long time periods eventually leads to change of the species. This descent with modification is modeled with this activity, and leads to a subsequent lesson that has students reading about research into examples of speciation.

Evolution - #5: Globin Gene Evolution, Jessica Amacher, Sowmya Anjur, Donald Dosch, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll, Crystal Randall

Unit 1: Evolution

For this lesson, students are guided through the steps necessary to compare nucleotide and amino acid sequences available at the National Center for Biotechnology Information that is maintained by the National Institutes of Health. The lesson starts with an examination of the alpha-globin gene. Alpha-globin is one of the proteins that constitutes hemoglobin. Student look at the various sequences of this gene that have been deposited at NCBI with a goal of determining alternative forms of the gene. The lesson then broadens the scope of comparison to include members of the globin protein family. Students create a phylogenetic tree that …

Evolution - #7: Speciation Jigsaw, Jessica Amacher, Sowmya Anjur, Donald Dosch, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll, Crystal Randall

Unit 1: Evolution

This is a lesson intended to be complementary to the selection simulation. Whereas the simulation was used to develop a conceptual understanding of selection, the readings done here are used to allow students to see the application of their conceptualized understanding to researched examples of selection and speciation.

Index To Volume 87

Nebraska Bird Review

14 pages: Akers, Danny 108 to Zeglen, Nancy 45

2019 Hitchcock Raptor Banding Project In Perspective, Jerry Toll

Nebraska Bird Review

Hitchcock Nature Center in Pottawattamie County, north of Crescent, Iowa, is home to the Hitchcock HawkWatch and Raptor Banding Project. The Nature Center is in the heart of the Loess Hills which, together with the flat expanse of the Missouri River Valley to the west, provides the perfect conditions for creating the updraft that aids migrating birds. The Hawkwatch began in 1992, and every fall from September through December, birds-of-prey enthusiasts gather on the 45-foot observation tower to watch and count thousands of eagles, hawks, and other raptors as they migrate south. Every year since 2007, Sandy Reinken and I …

The Nebraska Bird Review, Volume 87 December 2019 Number 4

Nebraska Bird Review

Fall Field Report, August - November 2019, by W. Ross Silcock …118-138

2019 Hitchcock Raptor Banding Project in Perspective, by Jerry Toll …138-147

Imperial Fall Field Days, Sept 13-15, 2019 …148-152

Index to Volume 87 …153-166

Subscription and Organization Information …167

Review Of Sky Dance Of The Woodcock: The Habits And Habitats Of A Strange Little Bird, By Greg Hoch, David E. Andersen

The Prairie Naturalist

American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) have enthralled conservationists (including Aldo Leopold), bird watchers, wildlife enthusiasts, hunters, and others interested in the natural world for centuries. No doubt, woodcock also have enthralled humans in North America for millennia prior to written descriptions of the woodcock’s courtship displays, habitat preferences, and curious behavior and anatomy. As perhaps the most extensively studied species of shorebird in the world, there is a rich and extensive literature, both scientific and popular, focused on woodcock ecology, behavior, and hunting. To that extensive body of literature, Sky Dance of the Woodcock provides an updated summary of …

Serological Survey And Pathogen Exposure Of Adult Female White-Tailed Deer In The Western Dakotas, Katherine L. Moratz, Bailey S. Gullikson, Eric S. Michel, Daniel M. Grove, Jonathan A. Jenks, William Jensen

The Prairie Naturalist

Establishing baseline values for pathogen exposure and nutritional indices is necessary to monitor population health. However, little is known about white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) pathogen exposure and nutritional condition in the Northern Great Plains. Our objective was to assess pathogen exposure and establish nutritional indices for female white-tailed deer in Dunn and Grant counties, North Dakota and Perkins County, South Dakota. During 2014, we collected blood serum from 150 adult female white-tailed deer. Pathogens with the highest antibody prevalence included West Nile Virus (WNV; 85%), epizootic hemorrhagic disease (48%), and malignant catarrhal fever (32%). Serum values for creatine …

Imperial Fall Field Days, Janis Paseka

Nebraska Bird Review

The 2019 NOU Fall Field Days were held in Imperial, Chase County, on September 13 - 15, with 59 registered. Field trips were led by Mark Brogie, Bill Flack, and T. J. Walker to the Wauneta cemetery, Frenchman WMA, Hayes Center WMA, Enders Reservoir WMA and SRA, Champion Mill Lake, Swinging Bridge Arboretum, Church Grove Recreation Area, Rock Creek Lake SRA and Fish Hatchery, and Swanson Reservoir SRA and WMA. Among the highlights were Osprey, which were seen at several locations, Sabine’s Gull, Ferruginous Hawk, Burrowing Owl, Red-naped Sapsucker, Merlin, and Prairie Falcon. Anita Breckbill, Doctor of Musical Arts, head …

Recent Observations Of Water Shrews In Northeastern South Dakota, Dennis Skadsen, Robert M. Timm

The Prairie Naturalist

North American water shrews in the genus Sorex are a complex of at least five species, three of which were recognized historically, Sorex alasksans, S. bendirii, and S. palustris (Hall 1981). Within what was previously considered the single, widespread northern species, S. palustris, two additional species are now recognized, S. albibarbis in the eastern US and Canada and S. navigator in the western United States and Canada (Hope et al. 2014; Nagorsen et al. 2017; Woodman 2018). The American water shrew (Sorex palustris) originally was documented in South Dakota by three females, two were collected 1876 and …

Final Thoughts As Editor-In-Chief, Christopher N. Jacques

The Prairie Naturalist

Greetings GPNSS members! I write this editorial during a time of reflection as Editor-in-Chief of The Prairie Naturalist (TPN), and during unprecedented times as the global COVID-19 pandemic continues. In full disclosure, I do not have a particular topic for this editorial, other than to offer a few final thoughts as my time serving the Great Plains Natural Science Society and TPN.

Bats Of The Loess Hills Ecoregion Of Southeast Nebraska, Virgil Brack Jr, Dale W. Sparks, Darwin C. Brack

The Prairie Naturalist

We surveyed bats at 49 sites in the Loess Hills Ecoregion of southeastern Nebraska, along the western edge of the eastern forest biome in eastern Richardson, Nemaha, and Otoe counties. We completed this study shortly before the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) was listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act. The expectation of listing, along with potential presence of the endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), motivated the study. We captured 183 bats of five species: eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) (n = 103; 56 %), big brown …

A Survey Of Earthworm Communities Across Areas Of Varying Land Management In Northwest Arkansas, Alyssa M. Ferri

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Earthworms are an integral component of the soil ecosystem, impacting factors including soil formation, maintenance of soil structure, and nutrient recycling. Earthworm abundances and distributions are related to abiotic soil properties and can influence the community structure. The goal of this study was to survey earthworm populations across areas of different land management histories and soil characteristics to determine if a relationship between earthworm density and land management characteristics was present. Earthworm and soil samples were collected at irregular temporal intervals from September 2017 to March 2018. In total, five sites were sampled, three at the Botanical Garden of the …

Release Of Captive-Raised Eastern Hellbenders (Cryptobranchus Alleganiensis) To Test The Success Of A Chytrid Vaccine And New Cage Design, Megan C. Kocher

Biology Theses

Researchers and managers commonly apply captive-raising and reintroductions of animals to offset losses due to worldwide amphibian declines. Recent declines in the Eastern hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) have resulted in several reintroductions that have had little success. There is evidence that chytridiomycosis (chytrid), a disease caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), may negatively affect hellbenders post-release. Further, excessive post-release movement may result in movement away from suitable habitat and increased risk of predation which can have negative effects on the survival of released hellbenders. Caging captive-raised animals can be effective for limiting excessive post-release movement. …

Movements And Behaviors Of Resident And Translocated Northern Map Turtles (Graptemys Geographica) In The Upper Niagara River With Artificial Basking/Nesting Platforms As A Management Strategy, Chelsea L. Moore

Biology Theses

Urbanization and degradation of riparian zones has contributed to the decline of fish and wildlife populations throughout the world. Northern Map Turtles (Graptemys geographica) in the upper Niagara River face similar declines due to shoreline development and the concurrent loss of backwater habitats and terrestrial nesting sites. A project was initiated in which basking/nesting platforms were created, and Northern Map Turtles from a Lake Erie population were translocated into the river. Resident and translocated turtles were tracked using biotelemetry and their habitat use, behaviors, and swimming paths were compared. Translocated turtles exhibited homing behavior and had longer home …