Wings 2008 Spring 09

WINGS ESSAYS ON INVERTEBRATE CONSERVATION THE XERCES SOCIETY SPRING 2008 Insects and the City Sacha Spector I spotted the first one as I emerged from as exhilarating and inspiring as any I’ve the subway into the bright sunshine of witnessed. a crisp autumn morning. I watched an- It was also a breathtaking reminder other, and then two more wing their of the power that invertebrates have way down Broadway. As I walked to my to connect the three billion of us who office at the American Museum of live in urban settings with the natural Natural History, I counted them head- world. Already, half of the world’s hu- ing along each avenue. Southward, man population lives in cities, a global down Amsterdam and Columbus Ave- trend that will continue well into this nues and Central Park West, they century. For the urban dweller it is the streamed by the dozens. Monarch but- orange and black flash of a monarch terflies, migrating in the millions to rather than a tiger or jaguar, the call their winter roost in Mexico, were grace- of the katydid instead of the howl of fully navigating the canyons of New coyotes, that provide our most intense York City (but ignoring traffic regula- moments for remembering that even tions, since Amsterdam Avenue runs our biggest metropolises are part of north only). It was a wildlife spectacle something greater. During their migration, monarch butterflies can be found in a wide variety of locations ranging from flower-rich prairie to busy city streets. Monarchs are regular visitors to countless gardens; their presence provides a direct link between natural areas and the most densely urbanized regions. Danaus plex- ippus, photographed on marigold by Gretchen Halverson. SPRING 2008 3 Of course, invertebrates in cities are son demonstrates the value of New old news — we have always lived side York’s community gardens and pocket by side with species that appreciate the parks as surprising outposts of insect stable, nourishing niches to be found diversity and enriching points of neigh- in our buildings and our pantries. In borhood connection. Travis Longcore some sense though, even those some- and Catherine Rich describe the inten- times unwelcome species that share our sive efforts that are needed to sustain homes with us offer connections to the endangered insects in California’s urban larger realm of wild, amazing nature. habitat fragments. The complexity and That house centipede hunting under ferocity of the arachnid micro-predators your sofa has a few relatives that hunt that can be found all around us are the for bats on the roofs of tropical caves. subject of Greta Binford’s essay on back- Central American cousins of that Am- yard spiders. From the other side of erican cockroach hiding behind your the Atlantic, Matt Shardlow provides refrigerator form stable, male-female evidence and hope that pockets of pairbonds and cooperate for years to England’s degraded, post-industrial ur- raise their young. The silverfish that ban areas can be repurposed as refuges nibble our books belong to one of the for early-successional species. Finally, most ancient insect orders, Zygentoma, Celeste Mazzacano, Scott Hoffman whose direct lineage goes back nearly Black, and Matthew Shepherd take us four hundred million years. In other on a trip down urban streams that are words, we bunk down with living fossils polluted but promising in their re- and voracious predators and nurturing silience, and are home to many of our insectine parents. nation’s most endangered invertebrate At the same time, as if to remind us species. that we have a lot to learn about the Together, the contributors to this possibilities of invertebrate life in the issue provide a powerful argument that city, undiscovered species keep turning it is time to re-examine the ways we up in urban centers. Nannarrup hoff- encounter and conserve invertebrates mani, a genus and species of centipede in urban settings. I invite you to enjoy new to science was found in Central these essays — and then to get out there, Park, virtually across the street from my whether by taxi, bus, or simply pound- office, just a few years ago. Last year ing the pavement, and become an three new species of pholcid spiders urban invertebrate explorer. You’ll be were described from the urban forests of pleasantly surprised. I’ll bet my subway São Paolo. There are many new stories pass on it. to uncover and tell in the heart of the urban jungle. The stories in this issue of Wings Sacha Spector is manager of the Inverte- celebrate the variety of urban inver- brate Conservation Program at the Ameri- tebrates and explore the challenges of can Museum of Natural History’s Center conserving them in the midst of our for Biodiversity and Conservation, and sec- most populated regions. Kevin Matte- retary of the Xerces Society’s board. 4 WINGS Entomologist in the Big Apple Kevin Cox Matteson I pedaled my bike southward in late af- and collect the yellow bowl traps that I ternoon traffic on Third Avenue in East had set out twenty-four hours earlier in Harlem in New York City, carefully two community gardens. Soon the sun avoiding double-parked cars and deliv- would dip below the urban horizon of ery trucks. The sidewalks were packed ten-story apartment buildings, resulting with outdoor vendors and shopping in a precipitous drop in insect activity. pedestrians. At 113th Street, I bounced I turned right on 111th Street, nodded over a large pothole, jarring my digital to a group of teenagers hanging out on camera and nearly knocking my insect the corner, and hopped off my bike at net loose from its precarious attachment the wrought-iron gate of a community to my bike. I glanced at my watch. It garden owned and maintained by the was nearly four in the afternoon and I nonprofit New York Restoration Project. had yet to observe butterflies, net bees, I opened the gate, wheeled my bike in- New York City’s community gardens provide sanctuary for many human activities, from dominoes to band practice, even a pet cemetery. Recent research shows that places such as Tremont Community Garden in the Bronx also support a surprising variety of insects. Photograph by Kevin Cox Matteson. SPRING 2008 5 side, and took a deep breath. It was time populated neighborhoods, on city to catch some insects. blocks where people actually live. This was a typical day during my Community gardens, of which doctoral research, conducted in com- there are over seven hundred in New munity gardens located in the Bronx York City, easily fit this “on the block” and East Harlem while at Fordham Uni- criterion and provide a unique and chal- versity in New York City from 2003 to lenging research experience. Although 2007. It has taken some time to realize small — usually less than twelve hun- that the study of ecology — the inter- dred square yards (a thousand square relationship of organisms and their en- meters) — they play a large role in the vironments — has daily applications no community and are eclectically utilized matter where you live. Although urban by neighborhood residents and full of residents may visit city parks on occa- distractions for the researcher of ento- sion, most parks are set apart from hu- mology. My research in these urban gar- man residences, requiring transit by bus dens was conducted amidst festivals and or subway. And for children growing up cookouts, with the perpetual tempta- in the city, the block on which they live tion to put down the insect net and dig- is their entire world. Therefore, despite ital camera to relax, have a drink, play the attraction of conducting an ecolog- with the kids, and to be a part of the fun ical study in the “urban wilderness” pre- that is summertime in New York City. sent in large parks and refuges of New My chosen research sites were in the York City (for example, Jamaica Bay Bronx and East Harlem, where several National Wildlife Refuge in Queens, gardens served as local watering holes Central Park in Manhattan, and Pros- (bring your own brown bag) and as cen- pect Park in Brooklyn), I found myself tral meeting spots for playing domi- seeking field sites located in densely noes. In other gardens, small groups of children would gather to peer at a line of ants marching to a food spill, to un- earth worms, or (my personal favorite) to “help” me by chasing butterflies or screaming at bees and wasps. Teenagers used one garden for band practice during the night while a group of men used it for barbecues during the day (which was convenient when I forgot lunch). The corner of one quiet community garden was even used by a self-proclaimed “witch” for ceremonies and by neighborhood residents as a pet cemetery. (Where else in the city are you going to bury your dog or turtle?) One of the most abundant groups of insects found in urban community gardens Despite the distractions my research are long-legged flies. Condylostylus sp., continued, and as data was collected photographed by Tom Murray. ecological patterns emerged. It is often 6 WINGS the case in urban ecology that some species, labeled “urban exploiters” by Robert Blair of the University of Min- nesota, do very well and are extremely abundant, while other species are rare or excluded. This pattern was apparent in these gardens, with several insect species and taxa being superabundant, including the introduced cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae), the native com- mon eastern bumble bee (Bombus impa- tiens), and metallic-green long-legged flies (family Dolichopodidae).

Load more