Climate oscillations, glacial refugia, and dispersal ability: factors influencing the genetic structure of the least salmonfly, Pteronarcella badia (Plecoptera), in Western North America

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The article appeared in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology. See the URI below.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12862-015-0553-4

Sproul et al. 2015, Fig. 3. Fig. 3 A map showing the distribution of sample localities for P. badia across portions western North America. Clade membership (as identified in Fig. 4) for all specimens at a given locality is represented by color. Clade names are abbreviated as follows. Widespread (WS), Northern Rockies (NR), Western Great Basin (WGB), Pacific Northwest (PNW), Old Rio Grande (ORG), and Old Colorado Plateau (OCP)

Repeated Reticulate Evolution in North American Papilio machaon Group Swallowtail Butterflies

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Generalized range map of current distributions of the Papilio machaon species complex in North America.

Generalized range map of current distributions of the Papilio machaon species complex in North America.

The article appeared in the journal PLOS ONE on October 30.

URI:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0141882

Citation:
Dupuis JR, Sperling FAH (2015) Repeated Reticulate Evolution in North American Papilio machaon Group Swallowtail Butterflies. PLoS ONE 10(10): e0141882. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0141882

Alaska freshwater crustacean news: crayfish reproducing in Alaska and a new obscure, interstitial, subterranean arthropod from Alaska

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Signal crayfish breeding in the Buskin River drainage, Kodiak Island

It appears that the signal crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus, is now established in Alaska.  See the articles below.

Invasive Species Breeding in Buskin River
http://www.kmxt.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6769&Itemid=2

Another Crawdaddy Found in Buskin
http://www.kmxt.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6580&Itemid=2

A new species of bathynellid from Alaska

Camacho, A.I., R.L. Newell, Z. Crete, B.A. Dorda, A.Casado., and I. Rey. 2015. Northernmost discovery of Bathynellacea (Syncarida: Bathynellidae) with description of a new species of Pacificabathynella from Alaska (USA). Journal of Natural History. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2015.1083621

From the abstract:

A new species of the genus Pacificabathynella Schminke and Noodt, 1988 is described from groundwaters of Alaska (USA). This is the first record of Bathynellacea Chappuis, 1915 from the far north of America.

These were from the Kwethluk River (60.34520N, 161.089146W) on the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge.

 

A few short videos of a native horntail Urocerus flavicornis (Hymenoptera: Siricidae)

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Bill Davidson, a U. S. Forest Service Student Trainee for Forest Health Protection this summer managed to capture a few great videos of one of our native horntails. While in Cooper Landing this summer Bill found Urocerus flavicornis in action on spruce logs that were cut as part of a fire wise program. Also known as a wood wasp, U. flavicornis is a wood borer that can typically be found on stressed, dying and dead spruce trees in Alaska. It is also commonly found in association with cut wood and saw logs. Although this insect looks menacing, it is completely harmless to humans.

Emergence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=078tCtrfQiU

Oviposition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYfjFOAQcyo

 

More information on Urocerus flavicornis and other wood wasps and horn tails can be found in these places:

http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5315942.pdf

http://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/technology/pdfs/GuideSiricidWoodwasps.pdf