SIALIS VAGANS (ROSS) (MEGALOPTERA : SIALIDAE) AND AMPHINEMURA NIGRITTA (PROVANCHER) (PLECOPTERA : NEMOURIDAE) TRAPPED BY MOUNTAIN LAUREL (KALMIA LATIF OLIA L.) (ERICACEAE) FLOWERS

2 Pages·1999·1.1 MB·

by  K D Stewart

VOLUME 101, NUMBER 2 459
TX, on unknown flowers. The slide label Sueo Nakahara, Systematic Entomology
for a specimen from Hidalgo, Mexico, lists Laboratory, PSI, Agricultural Research
Bidens, Eupatoriutn, and Salvia. A speci- Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
MD
men from Michoacan, Mexico was inter- 10300 Baltimore Avenue. Beltsville,
cepted on grass at agricultural quarantine, 20705-2350, U.S.A. (e-mail: snakahar@sel.
San Ysidro, CA, in 1965. barc.usda.gov)
PROC. ENTOMOL. SOC. WASH.
101(2), 1999, pp. 459-460
Note
Sialis vagans (Ross) (Megaloptera: Sialidae) and Amphinemura nigritta (Provancher)
(Plecoptera: Nemouridae) Trapped by Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia L.)
(Ericaceae) Flowers
While sampling a small impoundment in flies (Plecoptera) from the floral clusters.
the Frederick City Municipal Forest along Dr. Oliver S. Flint, Jr. (Department of En-
Little Fishing Creek (Frederick Co., Mary- tomology, Smithsonian Institution, Wash-
land) on May 24, 1998, we observed moun- ington, D.C.) identified the alderflies as
tain laurel (Kalmia latifolia L.) in full Sialis vagans (Ross) (Megaloptera: Siali-
bloom around the pond. Closerexamination dae). Ross (Ross. 1937. Bulletin of the Il-
ofthe floral clusters revealed large numbers linois National History Survey 21(3): 57-
of adult alderflies (Megaloptera: Sialidae). 78) first described this species from speci-
Some alderflies appeared to be stuck to the mens collected from lakes and rivers. Dr.
stems of the flowers by their tarsi; others Charles Nelson (Department of Biological
were stuck to the corolla of the flowers by and Environmental Sciences, University of
their wings. Although some of the speci- Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga,
mens were dead, many were alive. As we TN) determined the stoneflies to be Amphi-
removed several alderflies, we noted that nemura nigritta (Provancher) (Plecoptera:
the stalk, calyx, and corolla of the flowers Nemouridae).
were sticky to the touch. Mountain laurel is a common shrub dis-
We determined the number of floral clus- tributed from Maine to Mississippi and Al-
ters on two bushes (approximately 1.3 m in abama. The inflorescence consists of ter-
height) within 1—2 meters of the pond mar- minal convex flower clusters. Richard A.
gin, and on a third bush along Little Fishing Jaynes (Jaynes, 1997. Kalmia: Mountain
Creek exiting the pond. The two bushes Laurel and Related Species, Timber Press)
along the margin of the pond had 25 and indicates that the stalk, calyx, and corolla
97 floral clusters; the one along the stream of K. latifolia flowers are covered with
had 18. We also counted the adult alderflies glandular, sticky hairs. This sticky secretion
on each bush. Those along the pond margin is believed to prevent access of crawling
contained 22 and 27 adult alderflies. Simi- insects to pollen and nectar.
lar numbers ofalderflies were found on oth- The poisonous properties of mountain
er bushes along the pond margin. The bush laurel sap are well documented (Jaynes,
along the stream had not trapped any al- 1988. Kalmia: The Laurel Book II, Timber
derflies; however, we did recover 10 stone- Press). The sap contains a group of related
460 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
grayanotoxins (Mancini and Edwards. become stuck to the flowers as they
1979. Journal of Natural Products 42(5): climbed.
483-488), which occur in a number of spe- This novel observation may prove useful
cies of Kalmia and other genera in the Er- to collectors, as more taxa may be collected
icaceae. Nonetheless, it is not clear whether from mountain laurel flowers.
the alderflies and stoneflies stuck to the Kevin Stewart is a recipient of an under-
flowers actually died of poisoning or des- graduate fellowship from the Environmen-
tal Protection Agency (U-915452-01-0).
iccation.
How both insect species moved to the Some ofthe optical equipment used for this
study was purchased with funds provided
mountain laurel flowers is not known. Sialis
by the Fund for Academic Excellence
vogans and A. nightta in flight may have
Grants Program, Howard University.
selected the mountain laurel bushes along
the pond and stream margins to rest or K. D. Stewart and R. M. Duffield, De-
mate. They may also have emerged at or partment of Biology, Howard University,
near the pond and stream margins, crawled Washington, DC 20059, U.S.A. (e-mail:
up the bushes to expand their wings, and [email protected],edu)
PROC. ENTOMOL. SOC. WASH.
101(2), 1999. pp. 460-461
Note
New Synonymies in Australia Psix Kozlov and Le
(Hymenoptera: Scelionidae: Telenominae)
Johnson and Masner (1985. Systematic were a more difficult problem. Dodd, be-
Entomology 10: 33-58) revised the world ginning in 1913, described 102 species of
species of the telenomine genus Psix Koz- Telenominae, but because he had to rely
lov and Le, recognizing 18 species. The ge- solely upon the vague, insufficient, and
nus is primarily found in the Old World sometimes inaccurate descriptions available
tropics, with at least one probable acciden- at the time, it was difficult to equate his
tal introduction into the New World. In fact, generic concepts with those that developed
several species had been described before and were accepted in later years. Johnson
Kozlov and Le (1976. Zoologicheskii Zhur- and Masner (1985) were able to recognize
nal 55: 143-145) first described the genus that Telenomus olympus Dodd was, in fact,
from Afghanistan. The varied placement of a species ofPsix on the basis ofa specimen
these early species reflected the confused identified by Dodd in the Australian Na-
taxonomy surrounding the large genera Te- tional Insect Collection. Correct generic as-
lenomus Haliday and Trissolcus Ashmead. signment of the bulk of his species, how-
The work of Nixon (1935. Transactions of ever, required first-hand examination of the
the Royal Entomological Society of Lon- remaining type material.
don 83: 73-103, and subsequent papers) al- Johnson (1988. Proceedings of the En-
lowed us to recognize species of Psix tomological Society of Washington 90:
among the Afrotropical and Oriental Tris- 229-243) reported on the types of Austra-
solcus (then known as Microphanurus lian species of telenomines described by
Kieffer). However, the Australian species Dodd and recognized that two further spe-