A Comparison of Antlions, Bees, Darkling Beetles and Velvet Ants Across Sand Dune and Non-Sand Dune Habitats at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge Nicole F
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Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 5-2014 A Comparison of Antlions, Bees, Darkling Beetles and Velvet Ants Across Sand Dune and Non-Sand Dune Habitats at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge Nicole F. Boehme Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Boehme, Nicole F., "A Comparison of Antlions, Bees, Darkling Beetles and Velvet Ants Across Sand Dune and Non-Sand Dune Habitats at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge" (2014). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 2078. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/2078 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A COMPARISON OF ANTLIONS, BEES, DARKLING BEETLES AND VELVET ANTS ACROSS SAND DUNE AND NON-SAND DUNE HABITATS AT ASH MEADOWS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE by Nicole F. Boehme A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Biology Approved: _________________________ _________________________ Dr. James P. Pitts Dr. Theresa L. Pitts-Singer Major Professor Committee Member _________________________ _________________________ Dr. Barbara Bentz Dr. Mark McLellan Committee Member Vice President for Research and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 2014 ii Copyright © Nicole F. Boehme 2014 All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT A Comparison of Antlions, Bees, Darkling Beetles and Velvet ants across Sand Dune and Non-sand Dune Habitats at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge by Nicole F. Boehme, Master of Science Utah State University, 2014 Major Professor: Dr. James P. Pitts Department: Biology Insects fulfill important roles within all ecosystems, including deserts, and interact directly and indirectly with the endemic and endangered species at the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (AMNWR). Here I investigate the variability of species richness, diversity, abundance and community composition of four insect groups between stabilized sand dune habitats, unstabilized sand dune habitats and non-sand dune habitats. The insects examined in this thesis include antlions (Myrmeleontidae), bees (Apiformes), darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae) and velvet ants (Mutillidae). As the impact and interactions of two of the insect groups, antlions and velvet ants, are largely unknown within any ecosystem, this thesis also includes a faunal study of velvet ants at AMNWR and their spatial and temporal variation at the refuge. Generalized linear mixed models were used to identify significant differences in richness, diversity and abundance for each insect group between the stabilized sand dune, unstabilized sand dune and non-sand dune iv habitats. Species richness differed between habitats for antlions, beetles and velvet ants over the study period. Diversity differed between habitats for antlions and beetles, and abundance differed between habitats for all groups over the study period. Nearly every habitat supported some unique species. The faunal survey of velvet ants revealed minor variation in flight times between species and a unique pattern of temporal niche partitioning in one species. Habitat preferences were observed for seven of 42 velvet ant species at AMNWR. In a comparison of the diversity of velvet ants between AMNWR and the Nevada Test Site (NTS), six velvet ant species that occurred at the NTS were not found at AMNWR. Diagnoses and a key are provided for the velvet ants of AMNWR. This thesis increases the number of known terrestrial invertebrates at the refuge and provides a comparison of terrestrial insect distribution and habitat use at AMNWR. These investigations contribute to the goals and objectives of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to obtain basic inventories and understand the terrestrial habitat use of invertebrates at AMNWR. (212 pages) v PUBLIC ABSTRACT A Comparison of Antlions, Bees, Darkling Beetles and Velvet ants across Sand Dune and Non-sand Dune Habitats at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge Nicole F. Boehme Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (AMNWR) supports nearly 30 organisms found nowhere else in the world. Most of these species are aquatic, dwelling in more than 50 seeps and springs within the over 24,000 acres of the refuge. Much of the research at AMNWR has centered on these unique and abundant springfed pools across the desert landscape. Many of the terrestrial habitats and species at the refuge have not been as well studied. In 2008, Bio-West, Inc. in Logan, Utah was contracted to inventory the terrestrial organisms present on the refuge. To investigate the terrestrial invertebrate fauna, with special interest for pollinators, Bio-West, Inc. recruited graduate students in the Department of Biology at Utah State University. The goals of the refuge for the inventory of terrestrial insects included identifying pollinators for ten of their endemic and endangered plant species, obtaining basic inventories of terrestrial invertebrates, and understanding habitat use by the terrestrial invertebrates that occur at AMNWR. To contribute to the goals of the refuge, this thesis provides inventories of multiple insect groups and compares the distributions of those groups between desert habitats. These inventories will not only contribute to the goals of the refuge, but will also contribute to the basic knowledge needed for most terrestrial insect groups in all desert environments. Velvet ants are investigated in detail because vi their impact within a community is poorly understood. Velvet ants are very abundant in some desert habitats and some species are known to prey upon pollinators. Hence, their impact on pollinator abundance could potentially be very important. vii FRONTISPIECE viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank James Pitts for his constant encouragement, patience and support throughout every stage, and year, of this project and every other pickle I could get myself into. I also must extend my deepest gratitude to Theresa Pitts-Singer for sparking and encouraging my interest in research and for her support of myself and this work, and Dr. Barbara Bentz for her support and invaluable suggestions and input for the betterment of this research and my graduate career. I would like to thank my lab technicians, Stephany Perez, Joel Smith and Andrew Ermer, for their invaluable help in processing specimens. I am incredibly grateful for my field help David Tanner, Catherine Clark, Shaun Boehme and Trevor Frank, most importantly for their company, but also through their physical contribution as my pack- animals. I am also grateful to David Tanner and Kevin Williams for their work in specimen identification. I am grateful for the continuous interest and support from the staff at Ash Meadows National Wildlife refuge and personnel at Bio-West, Inc. and my funding sources the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via Bio-West, Inc., Logan, Utah 84321-2291, and the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322-4810. Many thanks are due to my many friends and peers for their constant support and encouragement. I am also incredibly grateful to my family. To my husband and daughter for their endless love and support and to my parents, grandparents, in-laws, sibling and numerous extended family members who dedicated time and encouragement to me. Thank you! Nicole F. Boehme ix CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... III PUBLIC ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... V FRONTISPIECE .............................................................................................................. VII ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................. VIII LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... XII LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... XIII CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 Thesis Description ............................................................................................... 1 Background .......................................................................................................... 2 Sand dunes ........................................................................................................... 3 Insects .................................................................................................................. 4 Objectives ............................................................................................................ 7 Thesis Outline ...................................................................................................... 7 References ............................................................................................................ 8 2. SPATIAL VARIATION IN THE RICHNESS, DIVERSITY, AND ABUNDANCE OF INSECT COMMUNITIES ACROSS SAND DUNE AND NON-SAND DUNE HABITATS AT ASH MEADOWS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ..............