Author Archives: Matt Bowser

First Records, New Species, and a Key of the Charipinae (Hymenoptera: Cynipoidea: Figitidae) From the Nearctic Region

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Published in the January 2014 issue of Annals of the Entomological Society of America, this article includes descriptions of two new species of wasps from Alaska.  In addition, there are multiple new Alaska records of species previously known only from the Palearctic.

Citation:
Ferrer-Suay, M., J. Selfa, J. Pujade-Villar. 2014. First Records, New Species, and a Key of the Charipinae (Hymenoptera: Cynipoidea: Figitidae) From the Nearctic Region. Ann. Ent. Soc. Am. 107: 50-73. doi:10.1603/AN13077.

2014 annual meeting details

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The seventh annual meeting of the Alaska Entomological Society will be held in Anchorage at the ARLIS (Alaska Resources Library and Information Services) conference room on Saturday, January 25.  There will also be an evening get-together on January 24 at a member’s house.  Contact Jim Kruse or Matt Bowser for details.

Expect a call for presentations soon and an agenda later.

ARLIS’ address:

ARLIS
Library Building, Suite 111
3211 Providence Dr
Anchorage, AK 99508
http://www.arlis.org/

Map:


View Alaska Resources Library & Information Services (ARLIS) in a larger map.

Entomology presentations from the 2013 Alaska Invasive Species Conference

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Two entomology talks were given at this year’s Alaska Invasive Species Conference in Fairbanks, Alaska on November 5-7.  I learned from reading through both of the presentations, which are now available via the links below.

Alaskan Arthropods: Documenting a Growing Fauna
Derek Sikes, University of Alaska Museum and Matt Bowser, US Fish & Wildlife Service

The Green Alder Sawfly
Elizabeth Graham, USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Protection

Refuge Notebook: Black widows take terminal trips to Alaska

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The article, as part of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge‘s weekly Refuge Notebook series, appeared in the Peninsula Clarion and the Refuge’s website.

Peninsula Clarion version
http://peninsulaclarion.com/outdoors/2013-10-24/refuge-notebook-black-widows-take-terminal-trips-to-alaska

Kenai National Wildlife Refuge version
http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Kenai/community/2013_article/10252013.html

DSCN3534_KNWR-Ento-8993

Black widow (Latrodectus sp.) specimen KNWR:Ento:8993 in the collection of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

It appears that black widows travel to Alaska quite frequently.

In addition to the Alaska black widow records mentioned in the article, Joey Slowik wrote me that several people brought him black widows obtained from the Fairbanks area while he lived there, which I think would have been in the 2000s.

Today, Bruce King, retired fisheries biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, wrote to me that he has an adult black widow specimen found in grapes from the Soldotna Fred Meyer last November.

Related media reports
Juneau Empire, August 12, 2002: Black widow spider hitches a ride to Juneau
Peninsula Clarion, May 3, 2005: Lawn chair spins scary tale
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, April 19, 2013: Alaska girl finds wandering spider in banana bunch

Specimen records
Anchorage, November 16, 2008 (UAM:Ento:94908)
Kenai, September 27, 2013 (KNWR:Ento:8993)

Northernmost occurrence of bark beetles and their hosts in the Nearctic

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The article appeared in the fall 2013 issue of the American Entomologist.  The Entomological Society of America graciously granted us permission to post a copy of the article on our website, available at the URI below.

http://akentsoc.org/doc/Furniss_MM_2013.pdf

Citation:
Furniss, M. M. 2013. Northernmost occurrence of bark beetles and their hosts in the Nearctic. Am. Entomol. 59: 144–149.