SFS Annual Meeting

5/24/2018  |   11:00 - 11:15   |  420 B

LARVAE OF NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF PTERONARCYS (PLECOPTERA: PTERONARCYIDAE) Larvae of the eight North American Pteronarcys (Plecoptera: Pteronarcyidae) species have been difficult or impossible to identify over the past century. This stems from the lack of rigorous comparisons of reared material. The absence of a reliable key diminishes the importance of Pteronarcys larvae in aquatic ecological and biomonitoring studies. We provide comparative larval descriptions and a key illustrated with high resolution photographs of important diagnostic characters for the eight North American species of Pteronarcys. Earlier descriptions are reviewed and supplemented with new photographs, illustrations and morphometric data to aid in the separation of morphologically similar species.

Luke Myers (Primary Presenter/Author), Lake Champlain Research Institute, myerslw@plattsburgh.edu;


Boris Kondratieff (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Colorado State University, Boris.Kondratieff@ColoState.edu;


Presentation:
This presentation has not yet been uploaded.

5/24/2018  |   11:15 - 11:30   |  420 B

DESCRIPTION AND DIAGNOSIS OF ASSOCIATED LARVAE AND ADULTS OF VIETNAMESE AND SOUTH CAROLINA CADDISFLIES According to Morse et al. (2017), only 47% of trichopteran larvae in the Southeastern United States have been described sufficiently to enable confident identification to species. In Vietnam and other parts of Asia, almost none of the larvae are known. Continued work on describing larval species may improve the accuracy of water quality monitoring metrics. Genetic barcoding (COI) was used to associate unknown larvae with known or unknown adults from these regions. The morphology of the larvae was then described in words as well as illustrated to aid species level identification. If the species was new to science, the adult was described in the same manner.

Madeline Genco (Primary Presenter/Author), EnviroScience, Inc., mgenco@enviroscienceinc.com;


Presentation:
This presentation has not yet been uploaded.

5/24/2018  |   11:30 - 11:45   |  420 B

CURRENT PROGRESS IN THE STUDY OF THE MAYFLY SPECIES (INSECTA: EPHEMEROPTERA) OF NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA Just under 800 species of mayflies are known from North and Central America and outlying areas of the Caribbean. About 80% of these species are represented in the Purdue University Entomological Research Collection. Current efforts funded by a National Science Foundation, Collections in Support of Biological Research grant to curate the collection are revealing new stage associations and new distribution records, some of which challenge current assumptions about phylogeny, geographic ranges, and basic identification. Parallel databases of collection data and published distribution & life history data are being built and compared to help recognize these new discoveries. Further efforts to maintain and expand the Mayfly Central website are progressing with the addition of a Caribbean species list and continual updates of the lists for North & Central American countries. A recent overview of the insect diversity of Canada has been influenced by this effort, as have revisionary studies of Neotropical taxa. The outcomes of our work highlight the importance of following through with specimen curation and data management after fieldwork is otherwise complete.

Jacob Hopkins (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), IUPUC, jachopki@iupuc.edu;


Ciara Phares (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), IUPUC, cnphares@iupuc.edu;


Ajit Venkatesh (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), IUPUC, ajvenkat@iu.edu;


Devin Koors (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), IUPUC, dlkoors@indiana.edu;


David Cool (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), IUPUC, dwcool@iupuc.edu;


Sophia Riebl (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), IUPUC, sophia@riebl.com;


Jennifer Zaspel (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Milwaukee Public Museum, zaspelj@mpm.edu;


Luke M. Jacobus (Primary Presenter/Author), Indiana Univ. Purdue Univ. Columbus, lmjacobu@iupuc.edu;


Jentry Lange (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), IUPUC, jelange@iupuc.edu;


Presentation:
This presentation has not yet been uploaded.

5/24/2018  |   11:45 - 12:00   |  420 B

NAVIGATING TAXONOMIC BOUNDARIES: ADULTS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN TRICHOPTERA GENERA In number of species, Trichoptera constitute the 7th largest order of insects and are commonly among the most abundant animals in freshwater ecosystems. Despite the importance of caddisfly adults for fly fishing, for life history research, and potentially for biomonitoring, there are no comprehensive resources for identification of the 154 North American genera in this life stage. Diagnostic keys for genera of adult Ephemeroptera, Odonata, aquatic Orthoptera, Plecoptera, aquatic Hemiptera, Megaloptera, aquatic Neuroptera, aquatic Lepidoptera, aquatic Coleoptera, Tipulidae, Culicidae, and Simuliidae were provided in the 4th edition of the reference book by Merritt et al. (2008). In the upcoming 5th edition of that work, Trichoptera will be treated in a single chapter (two chapters in most previous editions) and an illustrated key for adults of North American genera will be included. Diagnostic characters for genera will be found mainly in wing venation, tibial spurs, ocelli, maxillary palps, and other non-genitalic features. We hope that an improved ability to identify adult caddisflies will help North American freshwater scientists navigate these additional taxonomic boundaries in Trichoptera and stimulate increased research interest and practical value for this major order of freshwater insects.

John C. Morse (Primary Presenter/Author), Clemson University, jmorse@clemson.edu;


Ralph W. Holzenthal (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Minnesota, holze001@umn.edu;


Desiree R. Robertson (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Field Museum, drobertson@fieldmuseum.org;


Andrew Rasmussen (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Florida A&M University, andrew.rasmussen@famu.edu;


Douglas C. Currie (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Toronto, dc.currie@utoronto.ca;


Presentation:
This presentation has not yet been uploaded.

5/24/2018  |   12:00 - 12:15   |  420 B

WEB-BASED LARVAL FISH AND UNIONID MOLLUSK GLOCHIDIA TAXONOMIC KEY RESOURCES FOR FRESHWATER ENVIRONMENTS Access to and utility of traditional hardcopy taxonomic keys is sometimes limited by availability, new species, corrections and costs, forcing scientists to rely on multiple, sometimes outdated keys. Web-based key platforms can provide greater access to these important resources and allow flexibility for updates, high-resolution images, incorporation of non-published information, and greater identification precision. With funding support from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a collaborative effort was undertaken to develop open-access, web-based versions of seminal freshwater larval fish and egg taxonomic keys. Spatial coverage of these available resources include fishes of the Great Lakes, Ohio River, Tennessee River, and Colorado River basins. Additionally, a web-based key is being developed to aid researchers and professionals with identification of freshwater unionid mollusk larvae (glochidia). The project is presently incorporating printed resources in collaboration with malacology experts to improve the database and support the accurate identification of freshwater glochidia. This presentation will describe and provide a demonstration of the web-based keys, discuss their value, and explain how to contribute to improving the utility of the keys.

Kathy Koch (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), LimnoTech, kkoch@limno.com;


Doug Bradley (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), LimnoTech, dbradley@limno.com;


Chris Cieciek (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), LimnoTech, ccieciek@limno.com;


Heidi Dunn (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), EcoAnalysts, hdunn@ecoanalysts.com;


Jonathan Black (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), EPRI, jblack@epri.com;


Doug Dixon (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), EPRI, ddixon@epri.com;


Nate Jacobson (Primary Presenter/Author), LimnoTech, njacobson@limno.com;


Presentation:
This presentation has not yet been uploaded.

5/24/2018  |   12:15 - 12:30   |  420 B

IMAGING FLUID-STORED ARTHROPOD COLLECTIONS USING 3D PRINT TECHNOLOGY Natural history museums have progressed considerably in digitally imaging the holdings of pinned material, however imaging of fluid preserved collections still lags. Imaging specimens in ethanol requires handling numerous specimen per museum record and managing issues related to lighting and reflective surfaces. To speed up the handling process and reduce challenges with imaging in ethanol, we designed a polylactic acid imaging box using 3D print technology designed around readily-available, optically-clear microscopy supplies. We designed a process for operators to work in teams to scan collections in batches using a flatbed scanner. To batch crop images and standardize the size of images, we wrote functions in R. At 2400 dpi, resolvable structures for adult Trichoptera included segments of antennae, individual setae on the head and abdomen, shape of maxillary and labial palp segments, shape and count of tibial spurs, wing detail, and some detail on male genetalic structures. This low-cost and standardized imaging box model is available for download and can be used for imaging museum material, image vouchering for DNA, recording body size information for ecological samples, or in recordkeeping step for biomonitoring samples.

Patina Mendez (Primary Presenter/Author), University of California, Berkeley, patina.mendez@berkeley.edu;


Chris Venter (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Brisbane, CA, venter@eds.org;


Presentation:
This presentation has not yet been uploaded.