Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive Insects in Eastern Oregon and Washington Forests and Adiacent Lands
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JamesR. LaBonte, P ant D v s on OregonDepartrnent of Agr cu ture 635Capto NE Sae.n,Oregon97810email j abonte@odastate or.us DonaldW Scott, B ue Mountans Pestlvlanagement Serv ce Center,USDA Forest Service, 140T Geke er Lane.La Grande,Oregon 97850 James D. Mclver and Jane Leslie Hayes,Pacfic NorthwestResearch Staton Forestryand Fange Scences LaboratorvT40T GekeLer Lane La Grande Oregon97850 Threatened,Endangered, and SensitiveInsects in EasternOregon and WashingtonForests and AdiacentLands Abstract lnsecrspla) an inrcgral role in ihe heald of lbrest ecosystens. While mosl insect spcciesin easiernOregon and [ishington forestsare presumcdto be abundantand secure.some may bc rare or in decline.Accounts are given lbr iltcen east-sideforesl insed speciescurrenrly listed as threatcned.endangered. or rensitile (TES). We discussreasons for thcir listjng, \\'hich includc peripheralpopulations. relict spccics.species with resficted habitatsor hosls. and endemi( \peLi(\ Wherherlhc nccdsofcurently listcd TES east-sideibrest insectsare being met by cuffent managementpracdces can onl) be ascenainedil adequateinforDarion is availableon their distribuiion. abundance.habital requiremenls,and biologies. However' thjs infofmation is lacking for many specics.For instance.i\c of lhe TES speciesdiscussed in ibis paper have poorly known di\tributions, andbeucr information may changctheir status.Applicatjon ofgeneral principlcsforthe conser!adonofinvertebrale di\crsj!y andfunctions na,v help prevento$ercas! sideforest inseclsliom acquiringlederal or stateTESclassiiicalion and could aid spcciesalreadl lisred. Manl' pracricesalrcady undenakenb,,- lcdcral land m.rnagersma! be helping to prolec! TES popula- lions and habirar.Spcciiic managemenlpractices, such as preserlalion of key habrlu|sat risk of degfadalionor alteration (e.9., springs and sphagnun bogs), may be ncccssarl,to prevenr fic dccljne or local extinction of someTES insccls. Giten the inad equateinformation availablefor mostnon pesl forest insec6 and theirgreat ditersilr. a nroresyslenatic approachto theif conser vation and manageinentmay be necdcd. lntroduction insectspecies are fbund in this region (e.g.,Par- sonset al. l99l). The extremedifficulty in distin- Insects are integral componentsof virtually all guishingbetween many speciesof insectsfurther tenestrial ecosystems.They are key elementsin complicatesconservation and management effbrts. tbod and energywebs becauseof their high spe- This problem is compoundedby the very limited cies diversity, great abundance.and breadth of numberoftaxonomic specialistsavailable to iden- ccological and trophic roles. Although in forest (Lattin Both ofthese environs most attention in the past has fbcused tify insects 1993,New 1995). upon insectsas fbrest pests,their many contribu- issuesare linked to the absenceof adequatedata tions to a healthy forest ecosystemare now rec- for the majodty of insectspecies. Littlc more in ognized.While mostfbrest insect specles oleastem fomation is available than namesand descrip Oregonand Washington are presumed to be rela- rion. for mo\t \ne(ie:\.Man) inse.:t.pecie. are tir el) commonand se(urc. some spe\.ie\ rre con known fiorn only a singlespecimen, orjust a few, sidercdpotentially thrcatened or endangered.The andan equallylow numberoflocalitiesfrom which purposeof this paper is to provide accountsfor theyare recorded. Consequently, these species arc and discussionsof the 15 insect speciesof east- frequenttylisted as TES by default, as is true of em Oregon and Washingtonthat are considered severalspecies addressed in this paper.However, to be rare or declining, plus 2 additional species suchspecies shouldbe considered forlisting with of interest. caution,especially as scarcity ofinsect specimens Insectspose formidable challengesto threat or recordsdoes not neccssarilygquate to actual ene,l.endangereJ. or .ensili\e ITFS):'pecies con- rarity.Subsequent collecting efforts may find these servation and managementefTorts (New 1995). speciesto be relativelycommon and widely dis- Oneof themost daunting aspects is thegreat species tributed, which was the casewith the caddisfly, diversityofthis class.Litcrally thousandsofforest Cryptochia neosa,discussed herein. NorthwestScience, Vol. 75, SpecialIssue,2001 185 O 2001 bt the Nonhsen Scicnnil.]\ssociation. Allrisbn '.ic^.d Thebasis for Iistingspecies as TES is theEn- Oregonpopulation is in WascoCo., just eastof dangeredSpecies Act (ESA 1973),and listings the CascadeCresl (LaBonte 1995). Habitat: Re- are continuallyre-evaluated (e.g.. USDI 1999). stdctedto sphagDurnbogs in forestedareas fiom Speciesmay be listed at Federalor statelevels. sealevel (Kitvanaugh1992) to montaneareas in Difl'ercnt categorization criteria and proccsses the Oregonand Washington Cascades (Johnson resultin lisrs ofTES speciesthar ofren diller dra- I 979.LaBonte 1995).S.tatu!: Habitar desrrucrlon matically betwcenagencies, organtzauons, or or degradationvia urbanization.grazing, l1oris- ad.lacentstates. For instance.the Washington State tic succession,trampling, and bog drainage or DepartmenLof Fish and Wildlife (WSDFW) lisrs sphrgnummining. and pesticide applications fbr 17 spccies of inscctsas stateor Federalcandi- iorest pestsor mosquitoabatement are threats 10 (hftp://w\r,w.$'a.go\/wdf dates w,ftablphsinvrt.hhn# knownpopulations (LaBonre l995) arthropods).The OregonDepartmcnt ofFish and Nebria gebleri Kavanaugh; Wildlite (ODFW) hasa cooperativeagreemenr .fragnrlae Com mon name:Sfawberrv Mountainsgazellc rvith thc Oregon Natural Heritage Program beetle: Famil)': Cinabidae.Distribution geb (ONHP) to developand maintain thc srateinver- : N eb r ia leri Dcjeanis distributedthroughout tebrateTES listing.which curently lists78 po westernCanada tential TES insectsin variouscategories (ONHP and the United States,from the ConrinentalDi- vide to the West (Bousquet 2001).The NatureConservancy (TNC) alsomain- Coast and Larochelle 1993). tainsa list of insectsthat are believed to be rare However.this subspeciesis known only or narrowly distributed.Listed insectsoften rep from the vicinity ofthe Strawbeny Mountains in resenttaxa that are rclict or endcmic, have re- noftheastemOregon (Kavanaugh 1979). Habitat: st cted habitatsor hosts.have populations at the Atelevationsftonl 1500-2300m, alongthe cobble periphery of wider distributionsor simply those and gravel banks of montanc perennial streams about which little is known. alnidconilercus forest (Kavanaugh l979. LaBonte 1995).$1atqs: Apparently rclatively abund?Lnt and Of the 21 insect specicsknown from easte[] securein known habitat(LaBonre 1995). OregonorWashington listed by the ONHP(2001) which is largcly within the Malheur National Forest or theWSDFW (websitc).none are listed as Fed- and the Strawbenl Mountain Wilderness.Potential erally Threatenedor Endangercd.although tu'o thrcats include pesticide arclisted as Federal Specics ofConcern and one applicationstbr forest pests(LaBonte is a Federal Candidatcspecies. Fifteen of these 1995).The eflects oflogging. water pollution speciesare associated with forestsor adjacentlands andsedimentation, livestocktrampli[g, and iiquatic habitats.Accounts tbr thesc species and sfeambank degradationupon thesc beedes and two other speciesthat ofler severalpoints of areunknown. discussionarcprovided, focusing upon their known ScaphirutnsmanniiWickham: Common name: distributions. habitats,and statusin eastemOr- None;Family: Carabidae. Distribution: Previously egonand Washington. The listingstatus of each known only from the stepperegion of southeast- specresis prcsentedin Table L The following dis- em Washington,lromrhe vicinity of Asotin.Asotin cussionilddresses ho\r' thesespccies may be in- Co.(Gidaspow 1973), and sourhwest ofPullman. fluenced by specific disturbancesand manage Whitman Co. (Wickham 1919,Greene J975). mcnt practices!including treatnents to promote Recentlyfbundin noftheastemOregon, nsar Troy, forest health and productivity and how land Wallowa Co. (LaBonte, unpubtished).Habitar: managersand stewardsnray mitigate deleteri- Odginally known only lromcanyonsat elevations ous impacts. below about200 m, in riparianstands along small tributariesof the Snakc River (Greene1975, SpeciesAccounts LaBonte1995). Recently found in a remnantstand Coleoptera(Beet es) of riparian forest along the GrandeRonde River. at an elevationof about760 m (LaBonte. unpub AgonumbelleriHo,tch: Common namc: Beller's lished).$1419!: Unknown fbr Oregonpopulations. ground beetle:Familv: Carabidae(carabid or SoutheasternWashington populations are threat- groundbeetles). Distribution: Southwestem Brirish enedby ruraldevelopment, agriculture. under Columbia. westcrnWashington. and northern storyvegetation destruction via livestockgraz- Oregon(Bousquet and Larochelle 1993). The sole ing andtrampling, possible rangeland pesticide i86 LaBonte.Scott. Mclver. and Hayes TABLE L Listings oi Tlrcalcncd and tjndangeredin\ects of ea\rsideOrcgon and \\'ashingion forests and adjacenlarers (this inlbrmarioll is nkcn lio ONHP2001 and WSDFW websile.scc lclt). Order (Falnil)-) Coleoptera Fed. (Carabidae) Speciesof Coleoplcra (Carabidac Coleop|e (C.r bidac) Heteroptefa Hclcroplcra (Hcbidac) Heteropterl (Cxniu(lJc Helcroplcra Imperiled, few popu lations kno$ n (OR) Hatcroptcra Impefiled, few popu (Nlilidac) lationsknown (OR) Crirically impcnlcd. (Nilridae) one populationknown (oR) Lepidoplcra (N,,-lnphalidael lcnidotterr Lepidoplcra {Lvcacnidac) Lepidoplcra Lepidoptera Leprdoplera lmpcrjled. fe$ popu- ladonsknorvn (OR) Candida|c Tfichoptera Fed.Species ofConcefn