Treesearch

Yellow beeplant is a valuable native forage species for bees wasps and butterflies. Over 140 species of native bees have been observed foraging for nectar or pollen on yellow beeplant in southern Utah (Cane, 2008). Yellow beeplant is an annual forb which could provide food to insects in the first growing season of a range seeding (Ogle and others, 2011a). This available food source could sustain pollinators until perennial forb species produce flowers, typically in the second growing season.

A wide variety of wildlife utilizes arrowleaf balsamroot. Deer, elk, bighorn sheep and pronghorn eat the leaves, stems and flowers. Arrowleaf balsamroot can be used to improve spring and summer forage in open rangelands. Ogle and Brazee (2009) list arrowleaf balsamroot as desired forage for cattle, sheep, elk, and pronghorn in spring and summer. Young tissues of arrowleaf balsamroot contain nearly 30% protein (Rickets, 1994). Arrowleaf balsamroot is attractive to native pollinators (Cane, 2011; Ogle and others, 2011b). The seeds are eaten by birds and rodents. It is believed that the...

Calosota elongata Gibson (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae) is a gregarious, ectoparasitic larval parasitoid that was described recently (Gibson 2010) in association with the goldspotted oak borer, Agrilus coxalis Waterhouse [now considered to be Agrilus auroguttatus Schaeffer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae)] in its native range in southeastern Arizona. We have discovered this parasitoid outside of its presumptive native range on 1 December 2010 near the Pine Creek Trailhead, Cleveland National Forest in San Diego Co., California, beneath the bark of coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia Née (Fagaceae), in...

Globemallow species are grazed opportunistically by pronghorn antelope, deer, elk, and bighorn sheep (Beale and Smith, 1970; Rumbaugh and others, 1993). The leaves, fruits and seeds are eaten by rodents, rabbits and birds (Pendery and Rumbaugh, 1986). Palatability of globemallow species has been rated desirable to preferred in spring and summer for sheep and antelope and desirable in spring, summer and fall for cattle, horses, deer and elk (Ogle and Brazee, 2009). Globemallow is preferred over grass but not alfalfa during the spring, but is less desirable than grass and alfalfa during the...

Blue penstemon is suited for use in restoration and wildlife enhancement plantings. It is not noted for having value as forage for livestock, and forage use is limited by big game. The fibrous root system and wide canopy cover make it a good plant for low-water use landscaping (i.e. roadsides) and other ornamental plantings.

Tapertip hawksbeard leaves are consumed by pre-laying sage grouse hens and make up a large portion of their diet (Barnett and Crawford, 1994). Sage grouse chicks also feed on tapertip hawksbeard leaves in addition to the insects attracted by the flowers (Drut and others, 1994; Klebenow and Gray, 1968).

Hybridization is considered to play an important role in speciation and evolution. Given the predicted northward tree migration in the eastern USA due to the impact of climate change, hybridization between related species is expected to become more frequent due to overlapping distribution ranges in the future. Oak species are "hot spots" of contemporary hybridization, serving as model organisms in the development of ecological species concepts. Q. rubra L. and Q. ellipsoidalis E.J. Hill were selected as study species, since they show different ecological requirements but hybridize with...

The walnut twig beetle, Pityophthorus juglandis Blackman (Coleoptera: Scolytidae, sensu Wood 2007), was first described from specimens collected in 1896 in Grant Co., New Mexico (Blackman 1928). Bright (1981) and Wood & Bright (1992) reported a distribution for P. juglandis that included Arizona, California, and New Mexico in the U.S. and Chihuahua in Mexico. Cranshaw (2011) described the recent expansion of the range of P. juglandis to include the western U.S. states of Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, as well as the eastern U.S. state of Tennessee.

By measuring and analyzing larval head capsule widths, we determined that a northern California population of the walnut twig beetle, Pityophthorus juglandis Blackman (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), has three larval instars. We also developed rules to classify P. juglandis larval instars. Overlap in the ranges of widths among consecutive instars was addressed by fitting a distribution model to the data and determining limits for head capsule width classes and probabilities of instar misclassification. Growth ratios for laboratory and field samples of P. juglandis were consistent with the...

Adults and nymphs of a new genus and species of the family Macrochelidae are described from detritus cavities of the leaf-cutting ant, Atta texana. This new species is notable in having peritremes with no posterior loop, a series of small subterminal teeth on the fixed cheliceral digit rather than the single large tooth typical of other macrochelids and well-developed paranal cribral extensions in both the protonymph and the deutonymph, but not in adults.