Distribution of Shore Bugs and Shore Flies at Sylvan Springs, Yellowstone National Park
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Great Basin Naturalist Volume 44 Number 1 Article 8 1-31-1984 Distribution of shore bugs and shore flies at Sylvan Springs, Yellowstone National Park Vincent H. Resh University of California, Berkeley Mark A. Barnby University of California, Berkeley Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn Recommended Citation Resh, Vincent H. and Barnby, Mark A. (1984) "Distribution of shore bugs and shore flies at Sylvan Springs, Yellowstone National Park," Great Basin Naturalist: Vol. 44 : No. 1 , Article 8. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol44/iss1/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Western North American Naturalist Publications at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Basin Naturalist by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. DISTRIBUTION OF SHORE BUGS AND SHORE FLIES AT SYLVAN SPRINGS, YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK Vincent H. Resh' and Mark A. Barnby' Abstract.— Three species of shore bugs (Hemiptera: Saldidae) and 10 species of brine flies (Diptera: Ephydridae) were collected at Sylvan Springs (Wyoming section of Yellowstone National Park, USA), an area containing both acid and alkaline thermal springs. The fauna consists of both widespread (e.g., shore bugs Salduki comatula Parshley and SuUiiki explonata [Uhler] and shore flies Atissa litoralis [Cole] and Scatelki stagnaUs [Fallen]) and Yellowstone Park-endemic species (e.g., Saldula nr. arenicola and the shore fly Ephtjdra thcrmophila Cresson). The ratio of adults to nymphs of the numerically dominant shore bug Saldula nr. arenicola is higher along heated margins (11-12:1) than along near-ambient-temperature margins (0.6-2:1) of a thermal channel at Sylvan Springs; this may reflect dif- ferences in food availability, osmoregularity, thermal tolerance, predation, or other factors. Shore flies include spe- cies typical of acid (£. thennophila) and alkaline {Paracocnia bisetosa [Coquillett] and Paracoenia turbida [Curran]) springs. 8.3), whereas the remaining 10 were acidic The insect fauna of thermal springs has (pH of 1.8-5.3). At Sylvan Springs the green been of interest to biologists worldwide (Tux- alga Cyanidiuni caldariian occurs in the out- en 1944, Winterboum 1968), but most atten- flows of acidic springs at pH<4, and it is the tion in North America has been focused on sole photosynthetic organism inhabiting the inhabitants of thermal areas in Yellow- spring outflows where temperatures are be- stone National Park (Montana, Idaho, but tween 40 and 57 C (Brock 1978). A large mat mainly Wyoming, USA). Early studies by of the green alga Zygogonium is also present Brues (1924, 1932) on the distribution of in- at Sylvan Springs (Lynn and Brock 1969). Al- sects in Yellowstone thermal springs exam- though this mat is adjacent to thermal areas, ined the faunal diversity of such habitats, and the water temperatures in the mat are close more recent studies such as Wiegert and Mit- to those of ambient air. chell (1973), Collins (1975), and Collins et al. Shore bugs (Hemiptera: Saldidae) and (1976) have shown that such habitats are use- shore flies (Diptera: Ephydridae) were col- ful field laboratories for examining con- lected on 16 August 1982 from the periphery ceptual aspects of insect ecology. of the Zygogonium mat and along the mar- In Yellowstone Park hot springs, the distri- gins of the main channel into which many of bution of at least some species of shore flies the springs at Sylvan Springs flow. Along this (Diptera: Ephydridae) may be related to the channel, which is approximately 150 m in pH of these spring habitats (Wirth 1971). length, water temperature ranged from be- Since Sylvan Springs is an area of the Park low that of ambient air (which was 27 C at that contains both alkaline and acid springs, time of collections) up to 54 C. The area in the fauna was examined to determine wheth- which all collections were made is described er insect species described as typical in- by Brock (1978, Fig. 2.4, the lower quarter of habitants of acid, alkaline, or both spring the map); approximately 500 m^ of habitat types occur in this area. was sampled. Methods Results Brock (1978, Table 2.3) reported the water Shore Bugs chemistry of 12 of the many springs that comprise Sylvan Springs. Two of these 12 Although the saldid Micracanthia qtiad- springs were alkaline (pH values of 7.2 and rimaculata (Champion) has been reported to 'Division of Entomolog\ and Parasitology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720. 99 100 Great Basin Naturalist Vol. 44, No. 1 be abundant on and around the Zygogoniwn pupae of E. thermophila, the only ephydrid mats of Yellowstone Park acid springs (Col- collected in the Zygogonium mat, were found lins 1972), we did not collect this species on in small pools of spring water; these ambient- this algal mat or in any other area of Sylvan temperature pools were approximately 1-3 Springs. Instead, the numerically dominant cm deep and had no discernible flow. In con- shore bug was an undescribed species of Sal- trast, Collins (1975) reported that high den- dula, in the arenicola group of this genus. sities of E. thermophila eggs and larvae only This species appears to be endemic to ther- occurred in the portions of a Zygogonium mal springs, and possibly to Yellowstone Park mat that were near outflows with high tem- T. Polhemus, unpubl. data). Since the en- peratures and concentrations of interstitial (J. tire arenicola group requires taxonomic revi- algae. sion T. Polhemus, pers. comm.), this spe- Adults of only 3 shore fly species, E. (J. cies will not be described here. thermophila, S. stagnalis, and A. litoralis, oc- Two other species of shore bugs were col- curred along the heated margins of the main lected at Sylvan Springs, Saldula comatula channel, although all 10 shore fly species list- Parshley and Saldula explanata (Uhler). Both ed in Table 1 occurred along margins where species are widely distributed throughout the water temperature was near that of ambient western U.S. and Canada (Polhemus and air. The above-named three species together Chapman 1979). comprised almost 90% of all shore flies col- Within the Sylvan Springs area, S. nr. lected (Table 1); this was, at least in part, be- arenicola occurs on the ambient-temperature cause their distribution covered more of the Zygogonium mat and along the margins of areas of Sylvan Springs that we examined. the main thermal channel. Individuals of this Since Sylvan Springs is used by park natu- species that occur along the channel margins ralists in their interpretive programs, the im- where water temperature is above 40 C die if mature stages of shore flies within the ther- they fall into the heated water. This species is mal effluents were not quantitatively unusually slow moving compared to most collected because such sampling would species of Saldidae, and a similar "sluggish- drastically alter the appearance of this habi- ness" has been reported for Saldtila usingeri tat. However, the four benthic collections Polhemus from a California thermal spring that were made indicated that far more shore (Polhemus 1967). This behavior may be an fly larvae and pupae occurred in the cooler adaptation to avoid accidentally landing in than in the heated portions of Sylvan Springs. lethal thermal waters. The distribution of nymphs and adults of S. nr. arenicola varies along the thermal Discussion gradient of the main Sylvan Springs channel. Tlie shore bug and shore fly components of The ratio of adults to nymphs is 11:1 where the Sylvan Springs fauna consist of some spe- water temperature is 54 C and 12:1 at 42 C. cies that are apparently endemic to Yellow- In contrast, at temperatures of 30 C the ratio stone Park (e.g., S. nr. arenicola, E. thermo- is less than 2:1, at 27 C it is 1:1, and at 24 C phila), and others that are more widespread it is 0.6:1. in their distribution (e.g., S. explanata, S. Saldula comatula and S. explanata did not stagnalis). The shore bug M. quadrimaculata occur along the thermal portions of the chan- that was previously reported as an inhabitant nel that were occupied by S. nr. arenicola. of Yellowstone Park acid springs closely re- Both species were limited to the ambient sembles Saldula spp. in appearance and may temperature areas of the channel that were have been misidentified in earlier studies. near the juncture of Sylvan Springs with the The changing ratio of S. nr. arenicola surroimding meadow and forest areas. adults to nymphs along the Sylvan Springs channel in which higher proportions of adults were found in heated areas, but higher pro- Shore Flies portions of nymphs were found in cooler Ten species of Ephydridae were collected areas, is similar to a pattern reported long at Sylvan Springs (Table 1). Eggs, larvae, and ago by Hubbard (1892) for adults and larvae January 1984 Resh, Barnby: Yellowstone Insects 101 of the carabid beetle Nebria in Yellowstone climates to counter loss of body water (Lind- Park hot spring effluents. Such a pattern skog 1968). At Sylvan Springs, higher humid- could result from factors that favor nymphs ity microclimates occur along the heated in the cooler areas or adults in the heated spring margins and might influence the distri- areas, or factors detrimental to nymphs in the bution of S. nr. arenicola adults. heated areas or adults in the cooler areas. Since food resources are less abundant Increased numbers of nymphs along the along the heated margins, adult shore bugs cooler margins could result from S. nr. areni- may cannibalize their conspecific nymphs, cola adults selectively ovipositing in areas and consequently reduce the relative abun- that contain more abundant food.