We have set up a cafe press shop for selling clothing featuring the Alaska Entomological Society logo (URI below), with 20% of the price of items going to AKES.
Category Archives: News
New Publication: Factors influencing northern spruce engraver colonization of white spruce slash in interior Alaska
In this article, which appeared in the February 2013 issue of Forest Ecology and Management, the authors studied the effects of several slash treatments on colonization rates and reproductive success of the northern spruce engraver (Ips perturbatus) on white spruce (Picea glauca). The full article should be available at one of the URI’s below. A second URI has been provided because dx.doi.org appeared to be unavailable at the time of this posting.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2012.09.040
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112712005919
Quick review of the sixth annual meeting
We met in the DNR building amid Fairbanksian winter weather (-30’s °F). Students, professionals, and a guest speaker gave talks on a wide variety of entomological topics. The Student Presentation Award goes to UAF student Casey Bickford for her presentation, “Systematics of Alaskan Aegialites Beetles: Extremely Endemic or Oversplit?”
At the business meeting, we committed to judging and awarding prizes for entomological projects at three regional science fairs (Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Juneau) to encourage students’ entomological pursuits. Liz Graham (US Forest Service, Juneau) was elected as our new vice president.
Appearing soon will be more products of the meeting: a more complete review in the upcoming Newsletter, presentations posted on this website, and minutes from the business meeting.
Thanks to Derek Sikes and Jim Kruse for opening up their homes for get-togethers on Friday and Saturday.
New Publication: New aquatic insect (Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera, and Plecoptera) records for Alaska, U.S.A.: range extensions and a comment on under-sampled habitats
In this article, which appeared in October 2012 issue of The Pan-Pacific Entomologist, the authors reported on eight aquatic insect species new to Alaska, each representing a North American range extension. The full article is available at the URI below.
Working agenda for the annual meeting
A printable, pdf version of the agenda below is also available.
Alaska Entomological Society Sixth Meeting, 25-26 Jan 2013
Alaska Department of Natural Resources large conference room, 3700 Airport Way, Fairbanks (DNR Building; Actually on Sportsman’s Way across from Fred Meyer West gas station. Enter via employee’s entrance – door next to loading dock. Large conference room is straight in, jog right, then jog left)
Agenda
Friday, 25 January
Time
1900-2100 Optional social, Derek Sikes residence
Saturday, 26 January, Location: DNR Large Conference Room
Time
0900-0920 Welcome, introductions, general announcements
0920-0945 Round robin of entomological activities in Alaska (Bioblitz, new projects, classes, opportunities, other – bring your idea or announce your project!)
0945-1005 The University of Alaska Museum Insect Collection’s switch to using Arctos: A review of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Derek Sikes, UAF, UAM.
1005-1020 A first look at defoliation events on the Kenai Peninsula from 2000-2012 using MODIS data. Matt Bowser, USFWS.
1020-1035 Break
1035-1055 Developing an improved trapping tool to survey cerambycid beetles: evaluation of trap type, height, habitat, and lure composition. Liz Graham, USDA Forest Service.
1055-1120 White Sweetclover, Pollination and Berry Production: What’s the Buzz? Christa Mulder, Katie Villano, and Laura Schneller, UAF.
Student Talks
1120-1135 Systematics of Alaskan Aegialites Beetles: Extremely Endemic or Oversplit?. Casey Bickford, UAF, UAM.
1135-1155 Denali Bug Camp 2012. Sayde Ridling, UAF, UAM.
1155-1300 Lunch
1300-1315 The 2012 Red Admiral invasion of Alaska, and other lepidopteran oddities. Ken Philip, Alaska Lepidoptera Survey, UAF, UAM.
1315-1330 Forest insect conditions in Alaska. James Kruse, USDA Forest Service.
1330-1333 An origami unit tray in three minutes flat. Matt Bowser, USFWS.
1333-1400 Break
1400-1600 Society business meeting
1600-1630 Bin items, farewell
2013 Annual Meeting
The sixth annual meeting of the Alaska Entomological Society will be in Fairbanks on January 25-26, 2013, probably at the DNR building like a couple years ago. Details and an agenda will follow soon.
Entomology presentations from the 2012 Alaska Invasive Species Conference
Proceedings from the 13th annual Alaska Invasive Species Conference (October 30 – November 3, 2012) are now available at the proceedings’ web page. Five presentations (links provided below) cover entomological topics.
Band of shrub defoliation above treeline from Michael Rasy’s 2012 CNIPM conference presentation. Photo by John Lundquist (USFS) a the Peter’s Creek exit on the Glenn Highway, 2012.
Katie Spellman (UAF, Fairbanks) presented her investigation of how exotic white sweet clover affects pollination and fruit production of native berry-producing shrubs. Michael Rasy (UAF Cooperative Extension Service, Anchorage) and Nathan Lojewski (Chugachmiut) focused on recent severe defoliation of deciduous shrubs in southcentral Alaska, mostly by Geometrid moths. Elizabeth Graham (USFS, Juneau) covered a range of forest health topics, including aerial detection surveys and exotic insect forest pests. Mia Kirk provided an update on the 2011-2012 Alaska Firewood Survey.
White Sweetclover, Pollination and Berry Production: What’s the Buzz??
Katie Villano Spellman, Univeristy of Alaska Fairbanks, Department of Biology and Wildlife, Laura Schneller, University of Alaska Anchorage, Department of Biological Sciences
Geometrid Moth Impact to Berry Production and Subsistence Crops
Nathan Lojewski, Chugachmiut
Geometrid Moth Activity in Southcentral Alaska
Michael Rasy, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Cooperative Extension Service
US Forest Service Forest Health Protection: Insects, Diseases, and Aerial Detection
Lori Winton, Tom Heutte, and Elizabeth Graham US Forest Service, Forest Health Protection
Alaska Firewood Survey
Mia Kirk, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Agriculture
New Publication: A Checklist of the Moths of Alaska
The on-line version appeared yesterday in the journal, Zootaxa. The authors list 710 species of moths from Alaska, including three new records for North America. The full article is available at the URI below.
Insects to be surveyed on all Alaska Refuges starting in 2013
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Alaska Region Inventory & Monitoring team released an update on its planned biotic inventories to begin in 2013. Over the next four years, the team plans to document the biodiversity of terrestrial plant and invertebrate communities on all 16 Alaska National Wildlife Refuges.
Details of the sampling design are to be resolved over the winter of 2012-2013, but the group has selected the relevé method for vegetation sampling, with invertebrate sampling to complement this work.
The Inventory & Monitoring program has begun a collaborative effort with Dr. Derek Sikes at the University of Alaska Museum to develop a DNA barcode library from UAM terrestrial arthropod specimens. This work will set the stage for future inventory and monitoring efforts in Alaska using environmental DNA barcoding methods (a.k.a next-generation DNA barcoding).
New AKES web site
Welcome to the new web site of the Alaska Entomological Society, powered by WordPress. This will improve our ability to provide up-to-date news and information on Alaskan Entomology.
With the exception of the home page, all of the old content is still available at the previous URL’s. These will forward to new URL’s as content is moved over to the new site.