Entomology Commons^™

Odonata Collected With A Mist Net In Baraga County, Michigan, Including A New Record For The Upper Peninsula, Norman F. Sloan

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: In the summer of 1966, a study of the interrelation of birds and forest insects was initiated at Michigan Technological University. Japanese mist nets were used, among other methods, to make population estimates of birds. When checking the nets for trapped birds , Odonata were often found in the pockets, We were thus able to compile a list of Odonata frequenting the shores of Little Lake, Baraga County, Michigan. The "lake," actually a small stagnant basin of water not exceeding a foot in depth in dry years, is located on the Baraga Plains, approximately five miles west of Michigan …

The Hymenopterous Parasites Agathis Pumila (Braconidae) And Epilampsis Laricinellae (Eulophidae) On The Larch Casebearer (Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae) In The Northern Lake States, Jack B. Cody, Fred B. Knight, Samuel A. Graham

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: The larch casebearer Coleophora laricella (Hübner) is a defoliator of larch (Larix spp.). The insect was introduced into North America from Europe at some time prior to 1886, and since has spread steadily westward. It was causing heavy defoliation by the early 1920's near Ann Arbor in southern Michigan and was recorded in northeast Wisconsin in 1939, at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario in 1942, and Port Arthur, Ontario in 1947.

Many native parasites attack the case bearer but seem to effect little control. Parasites were imported from Europe beginning in 1928, but the first attempts to establish them …

New Distribution Records Of Michigan Mosquitoes, 1948-1963, Carl B. Obrecht

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: The following records result from data accumulated from the years 1948-63. A total of more than 175 field samples, usually from different locations, have been taken from 27 counties in the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. The total of 2,199 specimens includes 241 larvae, 452 adult males, and 1506 adult females.

The Northern Widow Spider, Latrodectus Variolus (Araneae: Theridiiae), In Michigan, Louis F. Wilson

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Until recently the species of widow spider occurring in Michigan was considered a variant of the black widow, Latrodectus mactans (Fabricius). Levi (1959) summarized and revised the worldwide genus Latrodectus, placing the southern areas of Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa as the northern limit of mactans on the North American continent. Widow spiders located north of this became part of the widespread curacaviensis group. After further information was available, McCrone and Levi (1964) revised the curacaviensis group, establishing the species that extended north of mactans as the northern widow, L. variolus, originally described by Walckenaer (183v).

L. variolus is the most …

Cross-Resistance And Synergism Bioassays Suggest Multiple Mechanisms Of Pyrethroid Resistance In Western Corn Rootworm Populations, Adriano E. Pereira, Dariane Souza, Sarah N. Zukoff, Lance J. Meinke, Blair D. Siegfried

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Recently, resistance to the pyrethroid bifenthrin was detected and confirmed in field populations of western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte from southwestern areas of Nebraska and Kansas. As a first step to understand potential mechanisms of resistance, the objectives of this study were i) to assess adult mortality at diagnostic concentration- LC99 to the pyrethroids bifenthrin and tefluthrin as well as DDT, ii) estimate adult and larval susceptibility to the same compounds as well as the organophosphate methyl-parathion, and iii) perform synergism experiments with piperonyl butoxide (PBO) (P450 inhibitor) and S,S,S-tributyl-phosphorotrithioate (DEF) (esterase inhibitor) in field populations. Most of …

Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited. Vladimir Nabokov. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1966. 316 Pp. $6.75., Ronald S. Wilkinson

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: Presumably, many of Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov's readers do not know that he is a distinguished entomologist; one can search through the majority of his numerous novels, short stories, translations and critical works without discovering the fact. On the other hand, there may be an entomologist somewhere who does not know that Nabokov of the Lycaenidae is also the author of Lolita, Pnin, and Nabokov's Dozen. To those in both categories, and to those who already know how successfully Nabokov has bridged the Two Cultures, we recommend Speak, Memory.

This enlarged and revised version of Nabokov's autobiography …

A Method Of Collecting Catocala Minuta (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) And Related Species, Joseph Muller

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: During the last twelve years I have 'sugared' extensively in areas where large honey locusts (Gleditsia triacanthos L.) are abundant. Although the various forms of Catocala innubens Guenee and Stvenoloma lunilinea (Grote) have appeared in my bait traps, Catocah rninuta Edwards has been absent. [C. minuta is taken on Gleditsia in southern Michigan by using a mixture of molasses, brown sugar, beer and,rum-- Ed.] There is, however, amethodof collecting the pupae of C. minuta that I have employed with excellent results.

Réaumur's Insect Collecting Net Of 1736, Ronald S. Wilkinson

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: In several recent papers (Wilkinson, 1966a, 1966b, 1966c, 1967), I have discussed the interesting origins of modern collecting nets. Actual illustrations of nets are very rarely found in entomological literature before the 1750s, and we are extremely lucky to have in Réaumur's classic Mémoires pour servir á l'histoire des insectes (Paris, 1734-42), a very early depiction of one of the ancestors of our present bag-net, with an explanation of its construction.

René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur (1683-1757) is probably best known for his thermometer, still used in some countries. A prominent member of the Académie des Sciences, …

January Collecting In Central Michigan, Ronald S. Wilkinson

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: To the uninitiated reader, searching for adult insects in mid-winter might seem a fruitless task at best. Yet as the List of Michigan Insects and Related Arthropods takes shape, L'off-season" collecting records are urgently needed by the compilers. Many species of insects thrive when we might wish to stay indoors; the Collembola are good examples, as are the species of Chionea (Diptera: Tipulidae), a genus of wingless crane-flies. We should like to know much more about the distribution of many hardy winter insects, and only increased collecting will enable this.

Notes On The Ecology Of Xyloryctes Jamaicensis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) In Southern Ontario, Karl Stephan

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: The comprehensive survey of literature on the biology of the Scarabaeidae by Ritcher (1958) indicates that the ecology of many large groups is known from a study of very few species. Such is the case with the rhinoceros beetles in the subfamily Dynastinae. From 1960 to 1965 I had many opportunities to observe the rhinoceros beetle Xyloryctes jamaicensis (Drury) in a woodlot near Wheatley, Ontario, on the north shore of Lake Erie. My notes, although fragmentary, suggest areas of further research.

Arthur J. Yates (1882-1961) And His Collection Of Lepidoptera, Roland L. Fischer

The Great Lakes Entomologist

The fine collection of Michigan Lepidoptera assembled by the late Arthur J. Yates has recently been donated by his wife, Mrs. Ethel K. Yates, to the Entomology Museum of Michigan State University.

New Records Of Acrolophidae (Lepidoptera) From Kentucky, Julian P. Donahue

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: A recent collection of Kentucky moths submitted for identification contained 28 specimens of Acrolophs, or burrowing webworms. Rudolph A. Scheibner collected the moths in 1966 in Lexington, Fayette Co., and Paintsville, Johnson Co., Kentucky. The specimens are deposited in the insect collections of the University of Kentucky and Michigan State University. The five females in the series, all from Lexington (three collected on 19 June and two collected on 5 July), were not identified. The 23 males, identified according to Hasbrouck (1964), represent four species. Only one of them, A. popeanellus, has previously been recorded from Kentucky.

Aniulus Paludicolens, N. Sp. (Julida: Paraiulidae), A Bog-Dwelling Milliped, Neil B. Causey

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Almost without exception, millipeds require a continuously moist substratum, yet they do not tolerate flooding. Other ecological factors that limit their distribution are subtle and difficult to recognize. Aniulus paludicolens, n. sp., is unique in that all collections are from Sphagnum bogs in the vicinity of the Great Lakes. It is best known from Byron Bog, in southern Ontario. This bog has the following vegetation zones: a, a central bog based on a mat of Sphagnum moss and covered almost entirely by leatherleaf; b, a low wooded region, damp or flooded, with hardwood trees and shrubs at its outer limits …

A New Family Of Cavernicolous Millipedes With The Description Of A New Genus And Species From Idaho (Diplopoda: Chordeumida: Chordeumidea), John S. Buckett, Michael R. Gardner

The Great Lakes Entomologist

The Chordeumidea is accumulating species names faster than any other group of North American Diplopoda. About one-half its species, 47, have been described since 1950. This recent growth has occurred because the small size, localized populations, and, frequently, cave habitus of these millipeds have obstructed thorough collection in the past. These factors have only recently been overcome by comprehensive collecting. As a result of this rapidgrowth and the many artificial groupings which result from it, much organization of the higher classification remains to be done. Hoffman (1961) emphasizes that co- operation between workers, more thorough descriptions, more accurate illustrations, and …

A Melanic Pieris Rapae From Michigan (Lepidoptera: Pierdae), Julian P. Donahue, M. C. Nielsen

The Great Lakes Entomologist

The Arthur J. Yates collection of Michigan Lepidoptera, recently donated to Michigan State University (see Fischer, 1967), contained a striking melanic male cabbage butterfly [Pieris rapae (Linnaeus)] (Figs. 1, 2) now incorporated into the MSU series. Yates collected the specimen on 29 May 1934 in Roseville, Macomb County, near the western shore of Lake St. Clair in southeastern Michigan. An examination of the androconia and genitalia, using the characters described by Chang (1963), assured proper identification of the specimen. Although we have found no record of a similar rapae taken in North America, there are some named European forms of …

Botanical Latin: History, Grammar, Syntax, Terminology And Vocabulary. William T. Stearn. London And Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson And Sons, Ltd., 1966. Xiv, 566pp.($14.75), R S. Wilkinson

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: As W. T. Stearn reminds us in the preface to this attractive and welcome work, "the realm of literature which a knowledge of botanical Latin opens to botanists is a strange barbarous place for classicists; invited into it as an interpreter, a good classical scholar may well feel like Alice meeting Humpty Dumpty through the looking-glass." The same perplexity is experienced by the entomologist; those of us educated in the Latin of Cicero and Pliny are ill equipped to name new species or even to translate Latin descriptions, as biological Latin developed long ago into a stylized form not …

Insect Behaviour. Symposium No. 3 Of The Royal Entomological Society Of London. Ed. P. T. Haskell. London: The Royal Entomological Society, 1966. Viii, 113 Pp. $6.35. .., Anthony Eve

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: The science of zoology is expanding at such a rate that it is difficult for even the relatively narrow specialist to keep up with the ever- increasing literature on his subject, and almost impossible to assimilate recent findings in the entire field of zoological research. The international congresses of zoology and entomology have helped, considerably by facilitating personal contact between workers of different nationalities. On a more modest scale, the symposia of the Royal Entomological Society of London have provided a useful means of bringing together entomologists in an atmosphere conducive to the free exchange of ideas and information.

Laminating Lepidoptera For Educational Use, Darryl Quidort

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: A convenient method of teaching farmers, 4-H members and students to recognize various species of Lepidoptera is now being used in Michigan with wide success. In the process, insect wings are mounted on cardboard and sealed between layers of clear plastic. The resulting "laminations" have several advantages over pin-mounted Lepidoptera, and are admirably suited for any use that requires constant handling. The finished mounts are impervious to museum pests, are dust-proof, may be cleaned with ease, and are easily stored in a loose-leaf binder. The plastic is flexible, thus danger of damage from bending is slight.

The Behavior Of Atlanticus Testaceus (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) On The E.S. George Reserve, Michigan, S. K. Gangwere

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Several reports deal in part with the systematics, distribution, or habits of one or another of the shield-backed katydids of the orthopteran genus Atlanticus. Included are Blatchley (1920), Cantrall (1943), Caudell (1907), Davis (1893), Hebard (1934), McNeill (1891), Rehn and Hebard (1916), and Scudder (1894). One species of the genus, A. testaceus (Scudder), is found commonly throughout Michigan and has interesting habits. As the species' feeding behavior was poorly understood, the author undertook an investigation dealing with that subject. The results are in press. During the course of that study much information was obtained on certain non-feeding aspects of the …

A New Species Of Thraulodes From New Mexico (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae), Richard W. Koss

The Great Lakes Entomologist

While working on the Ephemeroptera collection in the Entomology Museum at Michigan State University, the author came upon a single specimen of Thraulodes which appeared to be a new species. Although it is only in fair condition (the preserving fluid having dissipated under field conditions), the colors are well preserved and very distinctive. The specimen was sent to Dr. Jay R. Traver, University of Massachusetts, who confirmed suspicions that the specimen was new. I have been informed by Dr. Traver that she and Dr. George F. Edmunds Jr. are presently engaged in a revisionary study of the genus for North …

Another Record Of Williamsonia Fletcheri In Michigan (Odonata: Corduliidae), David F. Foley

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: Williamsonia fletcheri Williamson was first taken in the United States in the upper peninsula of Michigan near Manistique, Schoolcraft County (Gloyd, 1932). On June 4, 1966, I collected two males of this rare species at Island Lake, a small lake heavily overgrown with jack pine and poplar in southeastern Grand Traverse County. The specimens were identified by Mrs. Leonora Gloyd of the University of Michigan. This is the first report of this species from the lower peninsula of Michigan, and the second for the United States.

Some Notes On Heteropteran Trichobothria, Carl W. Schaefer

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: There has been much recent interest in the comparative morphology of the Heteroptera. This work has emphasized the land bugs, or Geocorisae, and has been concerned with working out the relationships and taxonomic placement of the higher categories (categories above the genus), and with the phylogenetic lines and sequences of these higher categories. The geocorisine groups with which I have been most concerned are in the closely related superfamilies Lygaeoidea, Pyrrho- coroidea, and Coreoidea (see Schaefer, 1964, for a discussion of the relationships among these groups). Another superfamily, the Pentatomoidea, is less closely related. All four of these superfamilies …

A Review Of The North American Species Of The Genus Otites Latreille, With Descriptions Of Two New Species (Diptera: Otitidae), George C. Steyskal

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: In 1961 (Steyskal, 1961), I placed the genus Otites in a key to the North American genera of Otitidae and indicated the synonymy of the genus Ortalimyia. Bibliography and synonymy of the hitherto known species of our area will be found in the Catalog of the Diptera of America North of Mexico (Stone et al., 1965). The only previously published key to our species was by Hendel (1911, as Ortalis), wherein were included Cevoxys latiusculus (Loew) and the four species now known as Otites bimaculahs (Hendel), 0. evythvocephala (Hendel), 0. pyvvhocephala (Loew), and O. stigma (Hendel). The present treat- …

The Genus Phragmatobia In North America, With The Description Of A New Species (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae), Julian P. Donahue, John H. Newman

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: This paper, based on the examination of 1,879 specimens, serves to resolve the taxonomic problems involving the three North American species of Phragmatobia. The genus Phragmatobia, the ruby tiger moths, has had a checkered history since it was described by Stephens in 1829 (type, by monotypy, Noctua j'uliginosa Linnaeus, 1758). Although many species have been described in or transferred to this genus, in both the Old and New Worlds, most of them have been removed to other genera. By 1902 Dyar recognized only two North American species, a status since then unchanged (McDunnough, 1938; Forbes, 1960). Despite the recent …

A Window Of Opportunity: Subdominant Predators Can Use Suboptimal Prey, Kelly A. Jackson, Joshua S. Mccord, Jennifer A. White

Entomology Faculty Publications

Introduced species have been linked to declines of native species through mechanisms including intraguild predation and exploitative competition. However, coexistence among species may be promoted by niche partitioning if native species can use resources that the invasive species cannot. Previous research has shown that some strains of the aphid Aphis craccivora are toxic to a competitively dominant invasive lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis. Our objective was to investigate whether these aphids might be an exploitable resource for other, subdominant, lady beetle species. We compared larval development rate, survival, and adult weight of five lady beetle species in no-choice experiments with …

The Longhorned Beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Of Tennessee: Distribution Of Species, Seasonal Adult Activity, And New State Records, William E. Klingeman, Nadeer N. Youssef, Jason B. Oliver, Joshua P. Basham

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Efforts to document species of longhorned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) occurring in Tennessee have not been updated since 1973. To address this knowledge gap, institutional, research, and private collections in Tennessee were reviewed to provide faunal distribution assessments and seasonal activity data for the cerambycid beetle species active in Tennessee. Examinations of 9,918 specimens and records yielded a list of 230 cerambycid beetle species within 5 subfamilies. Twenty-seven species are reported as new state records from Tennessee. Adult seasonal activity data that were recorded on specimen labels are presented. Where available, notes on collection method, adult resources, and larval host plants …

Descriptions, Notes And Reassignments In Neoibidionini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae) With A New Genus, Three New Species And Keys To Species Of Brechmoidion Martins, 1969, Compsibidion Thomson, 1864 And Rhysium Pascoe, 1866, Antonio Santos-Silva, Maria Helena M. Galileo, James E. Wappes

Insecta Mundi

Chiquitano gen. nov. Chiquitano volcanesensis sp. nov., Compsibidion achiraensis sp. nov. and Compsibidion amboroensis sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae: Neoibidionini) are described from Bolivia. Notes on Rhysium Pascoe, 1866 and Rhysium bimaculatum Pascoe, 1866 are provided, and Brechmoidion separatum Martins and Galileo, 2007 is transferred to Rhysium. Keys to species of Compsibidion Thomson, 1864, Brechmoidion Martins, 1969 and Rhysium Pascoe, 1866 are also provided.

Swainsonine Biosynthesis Genes In Diverse Symbiotic And Pathogenic Fungi, Daniel Cook, Bruno G. G. Donzelli, Rebecca Creamer, Deana L. Baucom, Dale R. Gardner, Juan Pan, Neil Moore, Stuart B. Krasnoff, Jerzy W. Jaromczyk, Christopher L. Schardl

Plant Pathology Faculty Publications

Swainsonine—a cytotoxic fungal alkaloid and a potential cancer therapy drug—is produced by the insect pathogen and plant symbiont Metarhizium robertsii, the clover pathogen Slafractonia leguminicola, locoweed symbionts belonging to Alternaria sect. Undifilum, and a recently discovered morning glory symbiont belonging to order Chaetothyriales. Genome sequence analyses revealed that these fungi share orthologous gene clusters, designated “SWN,” which included a multifunctional swnKgene comprising predicted adenylylation and acyltransferase domains with their associated thiolation domains, a β-ketoacyl synthase domain, and two reductase domains. The role of swnK was demonstrated by inactivating it in M. robertsii through homologous …

Variation In Dna Methylation Is Not Consistently Reflected By Sociality In Hymenoptera, Karl M. Glastad, Samuel V. Arsenault, Kim L. Vertacnik, Scott M. Geib, Sasha Kay, Bryan N. Danforth, Sandra M. Rehan, Catherine R. Linnen, Sarah D. Kocher, Brendan G. Hunt

Biology Faculty Publications

Changes in gene regulation that underlie phenotypic evolution can be encoded directly in the DNA sequence or mediated by chromatin modifications such as DNA methylation. It has been hypothesized that the evolution of eusocial division of labor is associated with enhanced gene regulatory potential, which may include expansions in DNA methylation in the genomes of Hymenoptera (bees, ants, wasps, and sawflies). Recently, this hypothesis garnered support from analyses of a commonly used metric to estimate DNA methylation in silico, CpG content. Here, we test this hypothesis using direct, nucleotide-level measures of DNA methylation across nine species of Hymenoptera. In doing …

Nebline, June 2017

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: What's Biting You?

Food & Health

Farm & Acreage

Pests & Wildlife

Horticulture

Early Childhood

4-H & Youth

and other extension news and events