The article at the URI below appeared in Juneau’s Capital City Weekly on October 30, 2013.
http://www.capitalcityweekly.com/stories/103013/out_1180105729.shtml
Refuge Notebook: Black widows take terminal trips to Alaska
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
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
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.
Alaska Public Media: Scientists Find Unexpected Response To Climate Change In Northern Moths
UAF CES: Leaf roller defoliation of alder and other tree species on the Kenai Peninsula and South Central Alaska
This Leaf Roller Pest Note, available via the link below, was posted on the IPM-L list on August 20.
Forest Service, Alaska Region: High acreages of forest defoliating insects found in Alaska during the summer of 2013
Last week, the U.S. Forest Service, Alaska Region posted a news release on this season’s defoliation events (URI below).
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r10/news-events/?cid=STELPRDB5433150
Rediscovered at last: a new enigmatic genus of Axymyiidae (Diptera) from western North America
Published June 26 in the journal Zootaxa, an unusual and undescribed genus and species of Axymyiidae known from a single specimen collected more than 50 years ago in Alaska is rediscovered in Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington.
Redoubt Reporter: Red alert, seeing yellow — Summer abuzz with stinging bugs
ADN: Invasive sawfly moves into Southeast Alaska
The article focuses on the green alder sawfly (Monsoma pulveratum) in southeast Alaska.
http://www.adn.com/2013/08/12/3020348/invasive-sawfly-identified-in.html
Big year for yellow jackets on the Kenai Peninsula
Anecdotal information points to an especially large population of yellow jackets on the western Kenai Peninsula this summer. I have been receiving calls and reports about yellow jackets, workers and nests seem to be everywhere, children are being stung on the nature trails around the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge visitor center, and Soldotna Trustworthy Hardware is out of wasp spray.
Kasilof resident Matt Bowser removing a nest of Vespula alascensis using a shop vac and shovel, 6.August.2013.