Insects

Biological effects of climate change are expected to vary geographically, with a strong signature of latitude. For ectothermic animals, there is systematic latitudinal variation in the relationship between climate and thermal performance curves, which describe the relationship between temperature and an organism’s fitness. Here, we ask whether these documented latitudinal patterns can be generalized to predict arthropod responses to warming across mid- and high temperate latitudes, for taxa whose thermal physiology has not been measured.

Moths, butterflies, and grasshoppers were surveyed within four longleaf pine preserves owned by the North Carolina Nature Conservancy during the growing season of 1991 and 1992. Over 7,000 specimens (either collected or seen in the field) were identified, representing 512 different species and 28 families. Forty-one of these we consider to be distinctive of the two fire-maintained communities principally under investigation, the longleaf pine savannas and flatwoods.

We present novel rearing records of Agromyzidae (Diptera) from three years of collecting in North Carolina, USA. These include the first reported host for Calycomyza novascotiensis Spencer (new to the USA) and new host records for Ophiomyia beckeri (Hendel) (new to North America), Liriomyza helianthi Spencer, L. schmidti (Aldrich), and Phytomyza plantaginis Robineau-Desvoidy, all of which are reported from North Carolina for the first time. We review host and distribution data for each of these species and describe their leaf mines.

We discuss seven species of tortricid moths that are leafminers at least in early instars. These include Grapholita thermopsidis Eiseman & Austin, new species, which feeds on Thermopsis rhombifolia (Pursh) Richardson (Fabaceae), along with two others for which larval hosts were previously unknown: Catastega triangulana Brown (Ericaceae: Arctostaphylos pungens Kunth) and Sparganothis xanthoides (Walker) (Polemoniaceae: Phlox divaricata L.). Parasitoids of G.

We present novel rearing records of Agromyzidae (Diptera) from throughout the United States. We describe leaf mines or other larval habits for 27 species, plus five others whose identification is tentative, and another five that are identified only to genus due to the absence of male specimens. We review host and distribution data for the known species, reporting 26 new host species records (including the first rearing records for Phytomyza flexuosa Spencer, P.

Due to the increasing popularity of websites specializing in nature documentation, there has been a surge in the number of people enthusiastic about observing and documenting nature over the past 2 decades. These citizen scientists are recording biodiversity on unprecedented temporal and spatial scales, rendering data of tremendous value to the scientific community.