Distribution and Biology of the Sphecine Wasps of Michigan (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae: Sphecinae)

Biological information and distribution maps are provided for the 26 species of thread-waisted wasps that occur in Michigan. Podium luctuosum is a new state record. Sixty percent of the eastern North America sphecine fauna is represented in Michigan

Flowers Associations and Mating Behavior or its Absence at Blossoms by \u3ci\u3eSpilomyia\u3c/i\u3e Spp. (Diptera, Syrphidae)

(excerpt) Syrphid flies of many species visit blossoms to obtain nectar and pollen (see Waldbauer 1983 for referencesl. Many of these syrphids, in common with other insects (Parker 1978), also find mates at the blossoms. Males of these syrphid species make aerial patrols of inflorescences frequented by females, alternating these patrols with sitting on foliage. l11ey pounce on or chase insects of various species and swiftly initiate copulation with can specific females (Collet and Land 1975; Maier 1978; Maier and Waldbauer 1 979a,b)

An annotated checklist of the Tephritidae (Diptera) of Florida

A total of 73 species of tephritid flies has been recorded from Florida since the early 1800s. Of these, 7 species are considered to represent occasional waifs or accidental introductions from surrounding regions that are not known to have established populations in Florida; 6 are exotic pests which failed to colonize or were extirpated; and 7 species are represented only by early literature records and are considered dubious for the state. Thus, the tephritid fauna of Florida currently comprises a total of 53 species of which 1 species is precinctive to the state and considered to be endangered

Late Summer-Fall Solitary Wasp Fauna of Central New York (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae, Pompilidae, Sphecidae)

Eighty-one species of primarily ground-nesting solitary wasps belonging to the families Tiphiidae, Pompilidae and Sphecidae were observed, collected and identified from six sandy and gravelly study areas in Cayuga and Onondaga Counties, New York. The observations and collections were made 1 September-3 November 1966,1 September-l November 1967 and 13 September-29 October 1984, with some species (Ammophila urnaria, Diodontus franclemonti) nesting through the entire months of September and October. An attempt to associate extended flight season with overnight resting site, geographic distribution, taxonomic affinity and prey type is made, but only the association with prey type appears to have any validity

Differential influence of four invasive plant species on soil physicochemical properties in a pot experiment

Purpose This study compared the effects of four invasive plants, namely Impatiens glandulifera, Reynoutria japonica, Rudbeckia laciniata, and Solidago gigantea, as well as two native species-Artemisia vulgaris, Phalaris arundinacea, and their mixture on soil physicochemical properties in a pot experiment. Materials and methods Plants were planted in pots in two loamy sand soils. The soils were collected from fallows located outside (fallow soil) and within river valley (valley soil) under native plant communities. Aboveground plant biomass, cover, and soil physicochemical properties such as nutrient concentrations, pH, and water holding capacity (WHC) were measured after two growing seasons. Discriminant analysis (DA) was used to identify soil variables responsible for the discrimination between plant treatments. Identified variables were further compared between treatments using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s HSD test. Results and discussion Plant biomass, cover, and soil parameters depended on species and soil type. DA effectively separated soils under different plant species. DA on fallow soil data separated R. laciniata from all other treatments, especially I. glandulifera, native species and bare soil, along axis 1 (related mainly to exchangeable K, N-NH_{4}, total P, N-NO_{3}, and WHC). Large differences were found between R. laciniata and S. gigantea as indicated by axis 2 (S-SO_{4}, exchangeable Mg, total P, exchangeable Ca, and total Mg). DA on valley soil data separated R. japonica from all other treatments, particularly S. gigantea, R. laciniata, and native mixture, along axis 1 (N-NO_{3}, total N, S-SO_{4}, total P, pH). Along axis 2 (N-NO_{3}, N-NH_{4}, Olsen P, exchangeable K, WHC), large differences were observed between I. glandulifera and all other invaders. Conclusions Plant influence on soil differed both among invasive species and between invasive and native species. Impatiens glandulifera had a relatively weak effect and its soil was similar to both native and bare soils. Multidirectional effects of different invaders resulted in a considerable divergence in soil characteristics. Invasion-driven changes in the soil environment may trigger feedbacks that stabilize or accelerate invasion and hinder re-colonization by native vegetation, which has implications for the restoration of invaded habitats

Ecological Notes on Species of Cleridae (Insecta: Coleoptera) Associated With the Prairie Flora of Central North America

The association of eighteen species of Cleridae (Coleoptera) with tallgrass and shortgrass prairie ecosystems in central North America is reported for the first time. New flower visitation, habitat association, distribution, and/or rearing records are reported for Enoclerus analis (LeConte), E. coccineus coccineus (Schenkling), E. cordifer (LeConte), E. rosmarus (Say), E. zonatus (Klug), Placopterus thoracicus pallipes (Wolcott), Trichodes bibalteatus LeConte, T. bicinctus Green, T. nutalli (Kirby), Phyllobaenus dubius (Wolcott), P. knausii (Wickham), P. pubescens (LeConte), P. subfasciatus (LeConte), Isohydnocera albocincta (Horn), I. brunnea (Horn), I. curtipennis (Newman), I. tricondylae (LeConte) and Wolcottia pedalis (LeConte). Diagnostic characters are presented to separate adults of P. dubius, a species endemic to the northern shortgrass prairie region, from the common and widespread P. pubescens

Establishment, Impacts, and Current Range of Spotted Knapweed (\u3ci\u3eCentaurea Stoebe\u3c/i\u3e Ssp. \u3ci\u3eMicranthos\u3c/i\u3e) Biological Control Insects in Michigan

Centaurea stoebe L. ssp. micranthos (Gugler) Hayek (spotted knapweed) is an invasive plant that has been the target of classical biological control in North America for more than four decades. Work in the western U.S. and Canada has shown the seedhead-feeding weevils Larinus minutus Gyllenhal and Larinus obtusus Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and the root-boring weevil Cyphocleonus achates (Fahraeus) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to be the most effective C. stoebe control agents. These three weevils have recently been introduced into the eastern U.S., including sites in Michigan in 2007 and 2009. In 2010, we made additional releases at six sites in Michigan, monitoring them for three years 2011-13. Here we report on the establishment, impact, and cur- rent range of L. minutus, L. obtusus, and C. achates in Michigan. We also report on the initial results of native plant overseeding treatments that were applied to biological control release sites with the aim of supplementing the nectar source C. stoebe provides. We found that L. minutus has established at all of its Michigan release sites and is widespread in the southwestern part of the state, while L. obtusus has established at the single site where it was released in 2007 and is spreading to adjoining counties. We also found C. achates to be present at four sites and established at one additional site in Michigan, but in all cases abundances are low and dispersal has been minimal (\u3c 10 m). In the three years following the 2010 releases, we found no measurable impacts of these biological control agents on C. stoebe growth, demographics, or plant community metrics. We also found little evidence of native flowering plant establishment at seeded sites. These baseline data will be useful in monitoring the spread and potential impacts of biological control agents on C. stoebe in Michigan

The diversity and floral hosts of bees at the Archbold Biological Station, Florida (Hymenoptera: Apoidea)

A list is provided of 113 species of bees and their 157 known floral hosts at the Archbold Biological Station(ABS), a 2105 ha site on the Lake Wales Ridge in Highlands County in south-central Florida. This is more species than might be expected at a single site so far south in Florida, based on previous studies in the Miami area and Everglades National Park, but fewer species than would be expected in an upland area of similar size with open habitats in north Florida, the mid-Atlantic states, or the upper Midwest. The small size of the fauna might be correlated with the absence of species that require a cold period in their life cycle, those that require clay or other heavy soils, those that require mesic woodlands and those that require abundant host plants in certain groups that are poorly represented on the ABS, such as Rosaceae. The natural history of southeastern bees is not known in enough detail to ascribe these causes to the individual species that are missing from the ABS fauna. In terms of bee taxa, the relatively small diversity at this site can be mainly attributed to a very poor representation of the genus Andrena (3 species), a poor representation of the genus Lasioglossum (13 species), and a poor representation of the entire family Apidae (22 species). The bee fauna of the ABS is mostly composed of species that occur (or may be expected to occur) through much of the southeastern Coastal Plain, combined with species that are widely distributed in eastern North America. In addition to these elements, there appear to be at least a few species or populations that may be relics of the dry savannahs that stretched across southern North America in parts of the Pleistocene or in the late Pliocene. There is only one species that appears to have come up from tropical Florida or the West Indies. There is no evidence that there are plants that are dependent on single bee species at the ABS, but certain buzz-pollinated plants may rely on only a few species of Bombus. A few species of bees appear to be oligolectic; their host plants, however, are visited by a wide variety of bees and other insects. Bees at the ABS belong to four conspicuous mimetic complexes: metallic green; black with a red abdomen; black with red bands and spots; black with yellow bands and spots. Most ABS bees do not have any warning coloration that is conspicuous to human eyes. There is only one exotic bee on the site, the European honey bee. This lack of a large exotic component in the fauna contrasts with the situation in the ants, of which about one fourth are introduced. Honey bees are often extremely abundant, and possibly dominate nectar and pollen resources in ways that are disruptive to native bees. Although it is easy to observe individual honey bees displacing individual native bees on flowers, there are no data on the ecological effects of honey bees on native pollinators at the ABS. About one quarter ofthe bee species (26) are parasitic species that depend on other species to gather nectar and pollen. This proportion of parasitic species is similar to some other well-studied sites in temperate North America, and is higher than the proportion found in tropical areas

The Native Plants of Ohio

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Host Plants and Habitats of the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly, \u3ci\u3eEuphydryas Phaeton\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), in the Great Lakes Region

The habitats and host plants of Euphydryas phaeton in the Great Lakes region are examined using data from several different populations spread over much of the region. The range of habitats and host plants used by this species is wider than commonly believed. While many populations are found in seasonal or permanent wetlands, others are located in dry, old fields or woodland areas. The host plants used vary with habitat, but they include all major primary hosts and many secondary hosts previously reported plus several new records. The biology of E. phaeton is shown to be similar to western Euphydryas butterflies in which variation in habitat and host plant use is well documented