Ecology and Systematics of Coleoptera in Woody Debris Of
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2011 Ecology and Systematics of Coleoptera in Woody Debris of Eastern North American Forests Michael Leslie Ferro Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Entomology Commons Recommended Citation Ferro, Michael Leslie, "Ecology and Systematics of Coleoptera in Woody Debris of Eastern North American Forests" (2011). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 2533. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/2533 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. ECOLOGY AND SYSTEMATICS OF COLEOPTERA IN WOODY DEBRIS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICAN FORESTS A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the formal requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Entomology by Michael Leslie Ferro B.S., Central Missouri State University, 2001 M.S., University of Missouri, Columbia, 2004 December 2011 In closing, gentle reader, I'd like to thank you. `What's that?' you say? Me thanking you? No, it's not a misprint, for you see, I enjoyed writing this book as much as you enjoyed reading it. The End. -C. Montgomery Burns ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I sincerely thank my parents, Michael and Marilynn, and my sister Mary, for their constant support, help, and understanding. Without the enormous amount of time, effort, trips to the library, 4-H meetings, and a thousand other activities they invested in me throughout my life this would not have been possible. Gary Baldwin, Stephen Wilson, and John Belshe were essential components of my early education. Without their willingness to teach and advise while I was in high school and later as an undergraduate this would not have been possible. Robert Sites, a fierce advocate for his students, saw me though my first grand studies. Akekawat Vitheepradit, Ely Kosnicki, and Derek Woller, fellow members of the systematics laboratory, provided me with invaluable experiences and ideas. Without the independence I was given to develop skills while completing my masters this would not have been possible. Christopher Carlton, a singular personality and spectacular advisor, had the courage to let me wander down my own path, but always helped with directions when I got lost. Without his help, friendship, advice, support, assistance, backing, guidance, and amity this would not have been possible. Matthew Lincoln Gimmel helped in all things academic, and participated at nearly all levels in the various endeavors represented by this and other research I undertook during our brief time together. Without him this would have been possible, but there would be a lot more spelling errors. Victoria Bayless is a spectacular curator and a delightful colleague in all things professional and social. Without her I would have never gotten to pet a tapir. Thank you so much. I thank my committee members, Meredith M. Blackwell, Kyle E. Harms, and Dorothy P. Prowell for their guidance during my academic tenure. I thank Ken R. Bondioli for serving as the‖Dean‘s‖representative. I thank my museum-mates Stephanie Gil, Jong-Seok Park, Igor Sokolov, and Alexey Tishechkin for all of their help and encouragement. I thank those that helped with identifications: Robert Anderson (Curculionidae), Stephanie Gil (Corylophidae), W. Eugene Hall (Ptiliidae), Lee Herman (Staphylinidae), Alfred Newton (Staphylinidae), Jong-Seok Park (Staphylinidae), Robert Rabaglia (Scolytinae), Igor Sokolov (Carabidae), Margaret Thayer (Staphylinidae), and Alexey Tishechkin (Eucnemidae, Histeridae). I thank Victoria Bayless, Christopher Carlton, Dmitry Chouljenko, Jan Ciegler, Stephanie Gil,‖Matthew‖Gimmel,‖Sean‖O’Keefe, Nancy Lowe, Adriean Mayor, Nhu Nguyen, Jong-Seok Park, Will Merritt, Igor Sokolov, and Alexey Tishechkin for assistance collecting specimens. I thank Chuck Cooper, Jeanie Hilten, Michael Kunze, Keith Langdon, Adriean Mayor, Becky Nichols, and Chuck Parker for assistance in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I thank Carol Cranford for organizing "Beetle Wranglers" to help service emergence chambers. I thank Victoria Bayless, James Boone, Donald Chandler, James Cornell, Johannes Frisch, Adriean Mayor, Alfred Newton, Nikolai Nikitsky, Philip Perkins, John Wagner, and, Joachim Willers for the loan of specimens. iii I thank Kyle Harms and Heather Bird Jackson for their help with R code. I thank Katherine Parys and Marguerite Madden for help with GIS applications and characterizations of the study sites. I thank Jong-Seok Park for assistance with preparing the maps. I thank Brad Kiefer, Nhu Nguyen, and Jason Robinson for their friendship. I thank Dmirty "Mad Dog" Chouljenko for being. I thank my nephews Victor and Michael Chapa for their enthusiasm. Finally I thank the lovely Sarah Samson for putting up with me. She is a patient, understanding jewel. This project was funded in part by National Science Foundation NSF DEB-0516311 to Christopher Carlton and Victoria Bayless and the Discover Life in America minigrants program. Without all of the above, this would not have been possible. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 1 2. FIFTEEN NEW SPECIES OF SONOMA CASEY FROM THE EASTERN UNITED STATES AND A DESCRIPTION OF THE MALE OF SONOMA TOLULAE (LECONTE) (COLEOPTERA: STAPHYLINIDAE: PSELAPHINAE) ...................................................................................................... 3 2.1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 3 2.2. MATERIAL AND METHODS ............................................................................................. 5 2.3. SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNTS ................................................................................................. 6 2.3.1. CLASSIFICATION OF SONOMA CASEY 1886 ................................................ 6 2.3.2. KEY TO THE MALES OF SONOMA EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER ... 7 2.3.3. DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES GROUPS ............................................................. 10 2.3.4. DIAGNOSIS OF SONOMA ................................................................................ 11 2.3.5. SPECIES ACCOUNTS ......................................................................................... 11 2.4. BIOLOGY OF PSELAPHINES WITH AN EMPHASIS ON SONOMA SPP. ............... 32 2.5. DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................ 33 3. NEW SYNONYMIES AND RANGE EXTENSION FOR NORTH AMERICAN THORACOPHORUS MOTSCHULSKY (COLEOPTERA: STAPHYLINIDAE: OSORIINAE) ...... 50 3.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 50 3.2 MATERIAL AND METHODS ............................................................................................ 50 3.3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................................ 50 4. A PRACTICAL EMERGENCE CHAMBER FOR COLLECTING COLEOPTERA FROM ROTTING WOOD, WITH A REVIEW OF EMERGENCE CHAMBER DESIGNS TO COLLECT SAPROXYLIC INSECTS .......................................................................................................................... 52 4.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 52 4.2 MATERIAL AND METHODS ............................................................................................ 57 4.3 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................ 59 4.4 DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................................... 60 5. THE BEETLE COMMUNITY OF SMALL OAK TWIGS IN LOUISIANA, WITH A LITERATURE REVIEW OF COLEOPTERA FROM FINE WOODY DEBRIS ................................. 65 5.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 65 5.2 MATERIAL AND METHODS ............................................................................................ 69 5.3 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................ 71 5.4 DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................................... 74 v 6. COMPARISON OF THE COLEOPTERA COMMUNITIES IN LEAF LITTER AND ROTTEN WOOD IN GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK, USA ........................................... 76 6.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................