Essays on Invertebrate Conservation

Home , Anemone, Clonia (bush cricket), Clonia (Hemiclonia), Meconema thalassinum, Neduba, Neoconocephalus

WINGS ESSAYS ON INVERTEBRATE CONSERVATION

THE XERCES SOCIETY SPRING 2010 CONTENTS

Sea Anemones: Flowers of the Sea Susan J. Tweit Generally hidden from our view except at low tide, anemones lead surprisingly complex lives. Page 3.

Butterfly Monitoring: On Being in the Right Place at the Right Time Arthur M. Shapiro A wealth of information collected over nearly four decades of dedicated field research is beginning to reveal startling changes in the lives of California butterflies, including declines in some formerly common species. Page 8.

The Beautiful Katydids Piotr Naskrecki Katydids may be best known for the singing we hear during summer evenings, but they are a diverse group of insects with widely differing diets and lifestyles. And not all of them sing. Page 14.

Appropriate Forest Management In the Face of a Bark Beetle Epidemic Scott Hoffman Black Although dead and dying forests are turning the mountain landscapes of western North America brown, we need to carefully think through our practices for deal- ing with the effects of an epidemic bark beetle infestation. Page 20.

The Great Sunflower Project Gretchen LeBuhn Across North America, ordinary people are tracking the visits that bees make to sunflowers growing in their yards and gardens, thereby adding to our scientific understanding of the health of pollinator populations. Page 25.

Xerces News A report on bark beetles; pollinator conservation strategy for Yolo County; new resources on our website; an expanded guide to freshwater mussels; protecting bumble bees and a stonefly; and the2010 DeWind Award winners. Page 29.

WINGS Sea Anemones: Flowers of the Sea

Susan J. Tweit

If there is poetry in my book about the sea, ing up on my journaling while my stu- it is not because I deliberately put it there, dents, a group of creative writers from but because no one could write truthfully around the United States, were taking about the sea and leave out the poetry. a break to snorkel. Part of my attention — Rachel Carson, was on the wet-suited and swim-finned accepting the National Book Award bodies rocking in the swells around the for The Sea Around Us, 1952 buoy where the panga was moored, and part was on my writing, when Raoul, I was perched on the bench seat of a our boatman, exclaimed, “Mira, Susan! panga, a deep-sided fisherman’s skiff Flores del mar!” and pointed over the with a powerful outboard engine — a gunwales. vessel of the sort that is common trans- I looked over the side into the clear portation on the Sea of Cortez — catch- azure water. A school of hundreds of

Anemones are carnivorous animals, closely related to corals and jellies. They get their color from algae that live within their bodies. Green anemone (genus Anthopleura), photographed by Bill Bouton.

SPRING 2010 Rocky shores offer habitat for anemones and other marine life, and, at low tide, provide opportunities for people to observe these otherwise hidden creatures. Photograph by Kathy Hall. colorful fish flickered past and suddenly “Son gigantes!” I said. “How big do circled, producing a swirl of sparkling you think they are?” air bubbles. Then I saw what Raoul was Raoul held his hands out in a circle pointing at. Among the rocks protrud- about the size of a dinner plate. ing from the white sand bottom clearly “Wow,” I replied. As we watched, the visible perhaps twenty feet below was center anemone in the cluster burped. a cluster of sea anemones, or flores del Its flower-like central disk convulsed, mar, “flowers of the sea.” No ordinary the center drawing in as if to swallow sea anemones, however. They were itself, and the fringe of tentacles disap- huge, with flat central disks as big as pearing into its mouth. A moment later, my face, and colored bright greenish- a white fragment of something flew out, blue, with rows of petal-like tentacles the tentacles reappeared, and the disk that looked the size of my fingers. On rearranged itself back into a placid un- their fat stalks they swayed ever so gen- derwater blossom. tly with the swells, mimicking the mo- Sea anemones get their name from tion of the panga overhead. that deceptively lovely, flower-like ap-

WINGS pearance. But the name of their phy- ach, and any inedible shell or bones are lum, Cnidaria — literally, “nettle-like heaved back out of the mouth slit with creatures”— is a better clue to their a very human burping motion. character. These anemones are no meek Most anemones cluster in colonies garden flowers. In fact, they’re not even of dozens or hundreds, but the flores plants at all; they are carnivorous ani- del mar that Raoul pointed out were mals, closely related to jellies and cor- not numerous enough to call a colony als. In the adult stage of their lives, sea — just three huge specimens with thick, anemones are sedentary, or nearly so, bumpy-skinned stalks. They were al- attached to the ocean bottom or to most certainly giant green anemones, some solid object underwater by the which are among the world’s largest, suction-cup-like disk at the bottom of found from Alaska to Panama attached the fleshy cylinder that comprises most to rocky substrates in locations ranging of the body. from nearshore tidepools to waters fifty The top of a sea anemone’s column feet deep. is what appears flower-like: the flat oral Giant green anemones are often disk with a slit-shaped mouth at its solitary creatures, but, in the vicin- center, surrounded by several rows of ity of such dense aggregations of food those petal-like tentacles. The gently as mussel and sea urchin beds, these waving “petals” are actually potent huge anemones may crowd together to armaments. Each tentacle is tipped by benefit from the foraging of predatory a nematocyst, a capsule that explodes sea stars, commonly called starfish. A on contact, expelling a sticky, thread- sea star strolling into an urchin bed, like dart studded with venomous barbs for instance, provokes an underwater that embed themselves in the flesh of stampede; as the spiny creatures try whatever touches them. The barbs carry to escape their many-armed predator, a neurotoxin powerful enough to stun some invariably rush directly into an- or kill small animals such as crabs, fish, other peril: the tentacles of giant green sea urchins, and shellfish. They’re not anemones. Also, sea stars are messy eat- generally large enough to pierce human ers, dropping chunks of meat and shell skin; still, the poison may cause a tin- that anemones can snag. gling or sticky sensation. Giant green anemones get their Sea anemones “hunt” by sitting startling coloration from other inver- patiently, their seemingly innocuous tebrates that live in their tissues. When tentacles open wide. When a smaller these anemones live where there is suf- creature such as a sea urchin careless- ficient sunlight, minute algae — either ly walks across the anemone or a fish bright green unicellular zoochlorellae brushes the tentacles, the nematocysts or yellow-brown dinoflagellates called release their stinging barbs, stunning zooxanthellae — take up residence in the prey. Like a flower closing with the the anemones’ digestive tracts. Both night, the tentacles quickly fold inward, types of algae make chlorophyll and bearing the food to the anemone’s synthesize their own food from sun- mouth. Once inside, the meaty parts are light. Some of the food they produce digested in the animal’s bag-like stom- leaks through their cell walls and into

SPRING 2010 Despite the variety in color, these sea stars belong to a single species, the ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus). Sea stars are messy eaters, dropping chunks of food that can nourish nearby anemones. Photograph by Kawika Chetron. their hosts, akin to what happens with produced by the tiny algae is crucial — lichens, where a food-producing alga without it, they die. Coral “bleaching,” feeds the fungus within whose tissues the loss of color and subsequent death it resides. of coral in ocean reefs, happens when What is not clear is whether the the sugar-making zooxanthellae are anemone-algae relationship is similar killed by overly warm ocean water, as to that of the fungus and algae that is happening as a consequence of global make up lichens, where the non-pho- climate change. tosynthesizing fungus, which cannot Despite their stinging tentacles, sea survive on its own, essentially captures anemones are vulnerable to predators. and enslaves free-living, photosynthe- Some nudibranchs — brightly colored sizing algae as a food source. Like the mollusks often called seaslugs — graze species of algae in lichens, the algae of the tips of the tentacles and then ingest sea anemones can and do survive on the nematocysts, which lodge, in per- their own, but giant green anemones fect working order, at the ends of the apparently also can exist without their nudibranchs’ tubercles, soft “spines” algal partners, although then they grow protruding from their backs. The nu- more slowly than they otherwise would. dibranchs then use the nematocysts in Zooxanthellae have a similar relation- their own defense. ship with coral, except that, for these Other predators simply crawl or reef-forming ocean creatures, the food saunter up to an anemone’s succulent

WINGS column and begin to feed. Wentletrap but animal, blooming on the threshold snails — small snails with long-spiraled of the deeper sea.” Strange flowers in- shells — secrete a violet-colored toxin deed: they live underwater, sting with that acts as an anesthetic, numbing their petals, house algae within their the tissues before they begin chewing. tissues, and eat meat. Sea spiders — tiny crustaceans that look like minute, scrawny crabs — are not so subtle: they sink their sharp proboscises This article is adapted from Seasons on into the anemones’ soft flesh and suck the Pacific Coast: A Naturalist’s Note- their juices. book, Chronicle Books, copyright © 1999 That morning off Baja California, I by Susan J. Tweit. A plant ecologist who watched the huge green anemones on turned to writing when she realized that the sea floor below, hoping to see what she loved telling the stories behind the they were eating, until the panga swung data more than collecting the data itself, away and I lost them from view. Tweit explores the relationship between “Whenever I go down into this “human” and “nature.” She has written magical zone of the low water of the twelve books as well as hundreds of news- spring tides,” wrote Rachel Carson in paper columns, articles, essays, and radio The Edge of the Sea, “I look for the most commentaries. She also teaches writing delicately beautiful of all the shore’s workshops and maintains a widely ad- inhabitants — flowers that are not plant mired blog, “Walking Nature Home.”

Nudibranchs are among the few animals that eat anemones. They browse the stinging tips of an anemone’s tentacles, which they ingest and transfer to the ends of their own tentacle-like tubercles. Dendro notus iris, photographed by Keoki Stender.

SPRING 2010 Butterfly Monitoring: On Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

Arthur M. Shapiro

Over lunch at a Nepali restaurant in Cal- of statistical approaches, we interpreted ifornia, I sat down with two colleagues, those declines in terms of changes in Florian Altermatt from Switzerland and both climate and land use. Chris vanSwaay from the Netherlands, In the highly charged American to discuss the organization and politics political climate, this resulted in a lot of monitoring butterflies for conserva- of bizarre and very nasty things being tion. My research group had received said about me online by people who widespread attention in the American had never heard of me until a few min- print and broadcast media after we utes before. My European friends are published a paper in the Proceedings of not used to such abusive rhetoric. While the National Academy of Sciences dem- Europe has its own political problems, onstrating significant declines in Cali- even right-wing extremists generally fornian butterfly faunas over the past acknowledge the consensus of climate thirty-five or so years. Using a battery scientists that the planet is warming, and biologists whose data appear to support that consensus are not subject to ridicule and vilification. In a growing number of European countries, butterfly-monitoring programs are in place to detect and quan- tify effects of environmental change. The situation is painfully different here. The mere fact that our paper made so many waves is testimony to that dif- ference: it drew a lot of attention pre- cisely because so little long-term data are available on this side of the Atlantic. That dearth makes my data set, which is now entering its thirty-ninth year, that much more valuable, but the gathering of that information did not begin as an extended monitoring project. What started as a short-term effort The field crescent (Phyciodes campestris) has disappeared from almost all of the to identify the most important climatic author’s monitoring sites. Photograph by variables affecting butterfly seasonality Ann Thering. at a handful of sites has evolved into

WINGS Four decades of monitoring butterflies along a transect from Cali- fornia’s Sacramento Valley to the Sierra Nevada has yielded a wealth of data that is only now beginning to be understood. Common sootywing (Pholisora catullus), photographed by Bryan Reynolds. a permanent, ten-site transect right And here we are, with a butterfly across north-central California. It em- database of nearly forty years, one of braces nine thousand feet (nearly twen- the two largest and oldest in the world! ty-eight hundred meters) of elevation, (The other is the British Butterfly Moni- and includes the entire set of Merriam toring Scheme, founded about the same “life zones” from Upper Sonoran to time, but created as an open-ended Arctic-Alpine (with climates and vegeta- monitoring program.) The data set is tions to match) and more than 150 spe- not perfect, but despite its limitations cies and subspecies of butterflies. I do it has told us a lot. Not all of what we’ve all the data collection myself, visiting learned relates to climate change, but each site at roughly two-week intervals most of it is not good news. After dec throughout butterfly season, ranging ades of denying that butterfly popula- from at least forty-four weeks in the tions were declining, I’ve been forced by lowlands to as little as fourteen weeks the data to admit that right in my own above treeline. That adds up to roughly back yard they are going downhill. 220 days a year in the field. Of course, I Some things are obvious to the do other things too, including teaching unaided eye. The large marble (Euchloe on average six courses a year and train- ausonides) and the common sootywing ing graduate students. But any derma- (Pholisora catullus) used to be very com- tologist who looked at my face would mon here; now the first is regionally ex- immediately conclude that I was either tinct and the second nearly so. The syl- a farmer or a sailor. The time for ben- van hairstreak (Satyrium sylvinus) used efiting from sunscreen is long past. to swarm over dogbane and milkweed

SPRING 2010 flowers in riparian habitat in the Sacra- mento Valley; now it’s gone, or nearly so. But much of what has happened over thirty-eight years is much more subtle, so subtle that it needed statistics — what one of my political detractors derisively called “statistical gibberish”— for us to get at the truth. Our data required several years of careful work to extract the hidden secrets. We assembled an out- standing team, headed by my former student Matt Forister, now at the Uni- versity of Nevada, Reno. So what did we find? I’ll provide a brief synopsis here, with the qualifica- tion that further analyses are in prog- ress and further conclusions are to be expected in the next couple of years, as Monitoring programs in both California more data come flooding in. and Britain indicate that the red admiral First, we found that of twenty-three (Vanessa atalanta) is changing its flight common butterfly species studied near period in response to climate change. sea level, sixteen are emerging earlier in Photograph by Henk Wallays. spring than they did in the 1970s, and two of these, the red admiral (Vanessa Europe, Florian Altermatt found that atalanta) and the sachem (Atalopedes longer growth seasons are allowing campestris), are emerging three weeks some butterflies and moths to add a earlier than they used to. (Strikingly, generation late in the season. In low- the red admiral is the butterfly most land California, most of our ruderal phenologically responsive to climate butterflies — species that thrive where change in Britain, and the sachem has the natural vegetation has been dis- also expanded its range on the West turbed by humans — have several gen- Coast northward into Washington and erations through the season, becom- Idaho and eastward into Nevada.) The ing progressively more abundant with remaining seven species are emerging each generation and reaching peak later. Several of these seven are declin- numbers in autumn. Then, depending ing, with the field crescent (Phyciodes on the winter, they undergo more or campestris) and the purplish copper less severe overwinter mortality before (Lycaena helloides) in freefall. In fact starting over the following spring. An the field crescent is now extinct at all extra round of reproduction late in the but one of my sites, and it is on shaky season can cause all kinds of problems. ground in the one place where it still Many of these species have winter dor- can be found. mancy (diapause) in the larval or pupal It’s also the case that emerging ear- stage, which is triggered by a combina- lier is not necessarily a good thing. In tion of day length and temperature. A

10 WINGS reset reproductive calendar can lead to This was an isolated catastrophe, but it’s miscues, such that dormancy actually easy to see such occurrences becoming sets in earlier than before — as seems to more or less the norm as global warm- be happening with the anise swallow- ing continues. tail (Papilio zelicaon) — or it fails to hap- Second, we found that butterfly pen at all, leaving the last generation faunas in the Sacramento Valley are de- unprepared for winter. teriorating rapidly, particularly over the We have not yet looked for advanc- past decade. Not only are species being ing first-flight dates at higher elevations, completely lost, but many others are where the timing of snowmelt is critical. becoming less abundant. These trends But there, synchronization with host- are not well explained by climate, and plant growth is a serious concern. At the inevitable conclusion is that some Donner Summit in 1992, for example, factor other than climate is the prime the snowpack was very poor, April was factor here. When we examined land quite warm, and May was warmer than use, based on county-level data, bingo! a normal June. Most species emerged Not only is land use changing — from weeks early, and an early-June snow- butterfly-friendly rural to butterfly- storm killed most of the caterpillars. sterile urban and suburban — but rap- Those stragglers that emerged after the idly spreading development seemingly snow had melted reproduced at more leapfrogs natural areas and destroys or less the normal time, but the veg- habitat connectivity, making it con- etation was already very advanced and siderably more difficult for dispersing had dried up altogether by midsummer, gravid females to find patches of usable causing large-scale larval mortality. habitat.

Sachem butterflies (Atalopedes campestris) in the Sacramento Val- ley are now emerging nearly three weeks earlier each spring than they were in the 1970s. Photograph by Bryan Reynolds.

SPRING 2010 11 We were initially flummoxed at the elevation species has increased signifi- sudden deterioration of our lowland cantly. Many of these cannot breed in ruderal butterfly fauna — species such the subalpine and alpine zones because as the large marble and the common their hostplants are not there — yet. In sootywing — that had long ago accom- general, plants shift distributions more modated to human activity, breeding slowly than butterflies, so butterflies happily on naturalized exotic weeds. cannot colonize until their plant re- But when we began analyzing along sources do. Overall species numbers the entire transect, a broader, hitherto recorded in the subalpine and alpine unsuspected pattern emerged: in fact, zones are trending upward, unlike any the ruderal fauna was declining faster other sites on my transect. At the same than was the non-ruderal. This seemed time, three of the four most character- counterintuitive. But in fact there does istic alpine species (and I hasten to add appear to be a significant loss of habitat they are not restricted to alpine habi- for these species, and an even more sig- tats everywhere) are declining, two of nificant disruption of habitat connec- them — the Nevada skipper (Hesperia tivity. As their numbers dwindle in the nevada) and the small wood-nymph lowlands, there are fewer individuals (Cercyonis oetus) — dramatically. available to move upslope and colonize The alpine fauna faces a grim fate the mountains in the summer. if warming continues. Here in Califor- Finally, at the highest elevation, nia we have various alpine species — in- near and at treeline, climate-driven sects, other animals, plants — that occur change is obvious. The incidence of disjunctly in the Sierra Nevada from the upslope dispersal by non-ruderal, mid- Donner Pass area southward and, in the

Rapidly spreading urban areas have diminished habitat for many butterflies, including the purplish copper (Lycaena helloides). Photograph by Ann Thering.

12 WINGS Butterflies that live in the mountains, such as the small wood-nymph (Cercyonis oetus), may be worst hit by climate change. Photograph by Kim Davis and Mike Stangeland. far northwest part of the state, in the dramatic effects, those associated with high country of the Klamath-Siskiyou- land use, are almost certainly based on Trinity-Eddy mountains. We infer on human activity. The more subtle ones various grounds that, when the Pleis- associated with climate change are just tocene glaciers receded, these species becoming evident. This is all quite far followed cold climates upslope to the from what I started out to look for near- summits. In the intervening lowlands ly forty years ago when I arrived as a north of Donner (punctuated by two very green assistant professor out here young volcanoes, Mount Lassen and at the West Pole, and I would be happy Mount Shasta) climates became too to learn that the data were misleading warm and perhaps too dry for them, me. But they’re not. and they died out, leaving populations in the two alpine regions of the state. As climates continue to warm, the zone Arthur M. Shapiro has been chasing but- of inhospitable climate will march terflies since he was a child in Pennsylva- upslope, pushing these species off the nia, a pursuit that led him through col- summits and into oblivion. As I put it lege and eventually to the University of to the press, “They’ll have nowhere to California at Davis, where he has worked go but Heaven.” for nearly four decades. He is currently a That, in a nutshell, is what we professor of entomology, evolution, and have extracted so far from thirty-eight ecology. Since 1977, in an annual compe- years of data. These are our conclusions tition, he has awarded a pitcher of beer to about the past. Predicting the future, of the first person each spring to catch a live course, is fraught with pitfalls. The most cabbage white butterfly.

SPRING 2010 13 The Beautiful Katydids

Piotr Naskrecki

The male stops singing and lifts his discerning than most, and he is almost body high above the surface of the as likely to reject her as she is to reject palm leaf on which he stands. His body him. In many katydids, the male’s in- shifts almost imperceptibly toward a vestment in offspring is nearly as sig- large shape in front of him. A female nificant as that of the female, and, not has finally arrived, attracted by the loud surprisingly, he wants to place it with bursts of high-frequency calls that he the best partner possible. Females who has broadcast from his perch for the are deemed too small or too weak to be last couple of nights. She is definitely good mothers will be unceremoniously interested in him, but the deal is by no spurned. means sealed. All the energy he has ex- On the leaf, the female spotted syl- pended on calling, and the dangers he van katydid (Scopiorinus impressopuncta- has exposed himself to by revealing his tus) extends her long antennae toward location to the entire world, are noth- those of the male, and for a few minutes ing but a prelude to the true test that the pair “smell” each other with their will determine whether his genes are long appendages. Suddenly, still silent, passed on to the next generation. In the male forcefully shakes his entire most animals the arrival of the female body, sending a series of low-frequen- signifies her willingness to mate, and cy waves through the leaf toward the her wooer is more than happy to oblige. female. She responds in the same fash- Katydid males, however, are far more ion, and for a while the pair continue

The globular white mass at the base of the female katydid’s swordlike ovipositor is the spermatophylax, the nutrient- rich gift from the male. Photograph by Piotr Naskrecki.

14 WINGS This southern African species, Clonia melanoptera, a predator, uses its large, spiny legs to catch its prey. Photograph by Piotr Naskrecki. to exchange short, silent vibrations. Sat- lax contains not only his sperm cells, isfied with her strength and size, the which ensure fertilization of the eggs, male does not retreat. As the female ap- but also a large packet of carbohydrates proaches, he lowers his body and slides and proteins, which nourish the female. under her, firmly grabbing the tip of her In some cases, the weight of this nuptial abdomen with a pair of short processes gift may exceed 20 percent of the male’s on his; he then secures her position on body weight and constitutes an enor- top of him by crossing his long hind mous contribution to the fitness of the legs over her back. For the next few potential progeny. It has been shown hours the pair remain connected, while that a large nuptial gift significantly the male produces a complex gelatinous increases the body size — and thus the structure, which he carefully attaches survival potential — of the offspring. Of to the base of the female’s ovipositor, course, not all katydid males produce her egg-laying organ. Then, after the huge nuptial meals; in some species, the pair finally separate, the female doubles only function of the spermatophylax up and begins eating it. is to keep the female busy removing it, This nuptial gift, known as the with the hope of reducing the chances spermatophylax, represents a major in- of her mating with another male. vestment on the part of the male and Katydids, known in Britain and Eu- is the reason why the male katydid is rope as “bush crickets,” are classified as often as coy as the female in selecting the superfamily Tettigonioidea of the a mating partner. The spermatophy- order Orthoptera. They are related to

SPRING 2010 15 principal enemies. In any case, luckily for us, courtship calls of many North American species can be enjoyed even by those whose high-frequency perception is past its prime. Late-August evenings in rural New England tend to be hot and sticky, and if you close your eyes it is easy to believe that you are in some remote tropical location. Mosquitoes reinforce this feeling, but if you brave that minor unpleasantness you may be rewarded with one of the most beautiful aural Translucence allows this sylvan katydid landscapes on the North American (Mustius superbus) to blend with the leaf. continent. Among the multitude of Photograph by Piotr Naskrecki. bell-like tree crickets and buzzy cone- headed katydids, one sound is sure to crickets and grasshoppers, but differ stand out and make an unforgettable from them in a number of important impression on your senses — the oth- characteristics. Nearly all species of ka- erworldly, loud, and steady staccato tydids produce sound by rubbing the of the true katydid (Pterophylla camel- base of the left wing against the right lifolia). But despite the ubiquity of its one. Crickets employ a similar tech- acoustic presence, finding the singer is nique, but one that involves a different not an easy task. True katydids usually part of the wing, whereas grasshoppers sing from high perches, often twenty to usually sing by rubbing their hind legs thirty feet above the ground, and their against their wings or abdomens. Ka- green, cryptic coloration makes spot- tydid songs can be extremely loud. In ting a singing male difficult. If you are North America, the robust conehead persistent, though, and lucky, you will (Neoconocephalus robustus) produces a be rewarded with the sight of a large, call with the intensity of 116 decibels, beautiful insect that looks like some- a sound louder than a lawnmower or a thing that came from the steamy rain- jackhammer, although a large part of its forests of South America. And, in fact, energy is inaudible to human ears be- it probably did. cause of its high frequency. Many spe- The North American true katydid cies produce calls that greatly exceed is a member of the lineage known as our hearing capabilities, often reaching sylvan katydids (the subfamily Pseudo- frequencies above 100 kilohertz — the phyllinae), a group of insects that flour- upper range for the most sensitive of ishes in the tropics and includes some of human ears is about 22 kilohertz — the most spectacular examples of plant and some entomologists speculate mimicry in the animal kingdom. One that the main function of such high- tropical species in particular, the pea- pitched calls may be to interfere with cock katydid (Pterochroza ocellata), takes the echolocation of bats, the katydids’ its resemblance to a dried, damaged leaf

16 WINGS to the extreme. No two individuals are recent, comprehensive regional study alike in their color or even the shape anywhere in the world revealed faunas of the wing, a mechanism adapted to of katydids of which 30 to 75 percent of prevent such predators as birds and species were new to science. Even in the monkeys from learning to recognize United States, where the katydid fauna them as a potential meal. This poly- is relatively well known, new species are morphism fools not only predators, but discovered with some regularity. About also some taxonomists. A recent study 280 species have been recorded from demonstrated this unequivocally when the continental United States — Hawaii twelve previously recognized “species” has its own endemic genus, Banza, with of the genus Pterochroza were identified eleven species — but new kinds are still among the offspring of a single female! being found in the southern regions of For decades, ethologists — scientists the country. In some groups, such as the who study animal behavior patterns — coneheads (Neoconocephalus), studies of have used a handful of katydid species their acoustic behavior reveal the pres- as model organisms to study and un- ence of “cryptic species,” types that are derstand processes that govern mate virtually indistinguishable on morpho- selection and parental investment, but logical grounds but are reproductively we know shockingly little about the isolated and different in their behavior. lives of the vast majority of the more Unfortunately, as new species are than sixty-seven hundred known spe- being discovered, we are losing others. cies. In addition, there are probably two Katydids are one of the few groups of to four thousand species awaiting dis- North American invertebrates in which covery and description; virtually every the extinction of species has been un-

Many katydids have remarkably realistic camouflage. The peacock katydid (Pterochroza ocellata) resembles dead leaves; other species mimic green foliage. Photograph by Piotr Naskrecki.

SPRING 2010 17 ambiguously demonstrated, as exempli- the oak katydid (Meconema thalassinum). fied by the now-extinct Antioch Dunes It is a small, pale-green species, whose katydid (Neduba extincta). As with most males are unusual for their inability to invertebrates, habitat loss is the main sing, choosing instead to attract females culprit, but North American katydids by drumming against tree bark with may face additional dangers. In many their hind legs. In some places, includ- meadows of the northeastern United ing my own garden near Boston, this States you are less likely to encounter outsider is now the only species found. any of the native shield-backs (Atlan- Although the general perception of ticus) than you are an invasive Roesel’s katydids is that of green, leaflike, and katydid (Metrioptera roeselii). This ag- rather dull herbivores, across the globe gressive, predaceous species came from they have evolved into a multitude of Central Europe, probably sometime at shapes, sizes, and lifestyles. In south- the beginning of the last century, and ern Africa, giant predatory katydids has been spreading like wildfire along (Clonia) spread their muscular, spiny the East Coast and steadily moving west. legs to catch cicadas and beetles, while Although nobody has yet looked at the in the forests of Costa Rica rhinoceros actual impact of this species on local katydids (Copiphora rhinoceros) prey on katydids, the fact that it hatches and snails and lizards. In Australia, pollen- matures earlier in the season than local feeding katydids (Zaprochilus) extract species do — and then feeds on young nectar and pollen from the flowers nymphs of other species — is bound to of trees and bushes; and in Tibet the have serious implications for the native black Hyphinomos ekes a living among fauna. Woodlands of the Northeast are patches of ice sixteen thousand feet also full of another European arrival, (forty-nine hundred meters) up in the

The oak katydid (Meconema thalassinum) is a European species now well established in North America. Photograph by Piotr Naskrecki.

18 WINGS This katydid (Hetrodes pupus) is well protected by the armored plates on its body, but if those fail it sprays the attacker with its own bitter blood. Photograph by Piotr Naskrecki.

Himalayas. The diversity of shapes just begun to discover potent chemical among species of katydids, such as the defenses present in some species. Katy- sticklike Phasmodes and the armored, dids are beautiful and fascinating ani- tanklike Hetrodes, is so great that it is mals that in many ways help us under- hard to believe that these insects are stand the world around us. It would be members of the same lineage. But this nice to repay the favor by making sure is what makes them such interesting that we allow them to continue their subjects of research. We know, based very existence. on both morphological and genetic data, that they are all closely related to each other, and we can now trace Piotr Naskrecki is a research associate at the historical and evolutionary forces the Museum of Comparative Zoology at that shaped their bodies and behaviors. Harvard University, where he works on the Ecologists use katydids to assess evolution and systematics of orthopteroid the level of habitat disturbance, often insects. He is also involved in a number applying methods that rely solely on of invertebrate-conservation projects, in- the unique acoustic signatures of each cluding the IUCN Red List assessment of species, and physiologists tap into their African katydids and the development of nervous systems to understand the na- internet-based identification tools and ture of hearing. Ethologists continue to resources for invertebrate biologists and disentangle the intricate rules of their conservation practitioners. As a writer courtship in order to explain what lies and photographer he strives to promote behind the often mysterious choices of the beauty, value, and conservation of in- mating partners, and biochemists have vertebrate animals.

SPRING 2010 19 Appropriate Forest Management In the Face of a Bark Beetle Epidemic

Scott Hoffman Black

When I was growing up in Nebraska, by what appears to be a ghost forest, my family often made trips to the Rocky due to a very large and perhaps un- Mountains. Images of jagged peaks, precedented outbreak of bark beetles. swift cold rivers and streams, and pine Formerly green hillsides are now brown forests are still vivid in my mind. Mil- with dead and dying trees. lions of green trees blanketed the steep There are more than six thousand slopes and valleys. Visiting Colorado species of bark beetles worldwide, with last year, I was shocked to see that in about five hundred species in North many places these have been replaced America. Most species cause little or no

When bark beetle numbers grow too large, even healthy trees can succumb to their attacks, leaving a landscape in which many of the trees are dead or dying. Lodgepole pine forest in Colorado photographed by Whitney Cranshaw, courtesy Bugwood.org.

20 WINGS Natural enemies of bark beetles such as insect-eating birds, predatory beetles, and parasitic wasps help to limit outbreaks. Red-bellied woodpecker photographed by Johnny N. Dell, courtesy Bugwood.org. economic damage, normally infesting Despite their apparently devastating stumps and downed woody material or impact, they play an important role in standing trees that are either dead or the development of forest ecosystems severely weakened. The beetles usually by shaping the habitats used by other reproduce on an annual cycle. During wildlife. They are a key part of many the summer, adults emerge from their forest food webs, providing sustenance host trees and fly to new ones. Once for insect-eating birds such as wood- there, they burrow into the bark and, peckers, serving as prey for spiders and if successful, find mates and create egg- predatory beetles, and acting as hosts laying tunnels. The larvae spend several for parasitic wasps. Feeding beetles cre- months feeding on the phloem — the ate snags that may be used by wood- inner layer of bark through which sap peckers, owls, wrens, nuthatches, and flows, rich with sugar and nutrients — chickadees, as well as by such mammals emerging as adults the following sum- as bats, squirrels, American martens, mer. As they eat, the larvae bore intri- Pacific fishers, and lynxes. Dead trees cate networks of tunnels, forming gal- that fall into creeks are essential for leries under the bark. Different species creating pools that provide habitat for create different patterns. trout. The beetles also function as nutri- These beetles have been part of ent recyclers, agents of disturbance, and Rocky Mountain forests for millennia. regulators of forest productivity, diver-

SPRING 2010 21 No larger than a grain of rice, bark beetles can cause big problems for trees. Adults emerge during the summer and, prior to mating, fly to new trees where their larvae take up residence under the bark. Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae), photographed by Whitney Cranshaw, courtesy Bugwood.org. sity, and tree density, all of which help bers that they overwhelm the defenses maintain the dynamic conditions that of even healthy trees. The result is the support a broad variety of forest plants dead and dying forests that we now see and animals. throughout western North America. But, as important as these insects There is no single simple reason that are, the fact remains that they are ca- a population of bark beetles reaches epi- pable of killing large numbers of trees. demic levels, but the warming climate, A few species of beetles, such as those of particularly in the last few decades, the genus Dendroctonus, normally exist appears to have played a major role in as small populations that feed mainly recent insect outbreaks. Warm and dry on trees that have recently died. Healthy conditions are important to increasing trees are strong enough to overcome the infestations in the Rocky Mountains; presence of bark beetles at normal pop- such conditions not only stress host ulation levels. The first line of defense is trees and make them less able to defend “pitching.” As the beetle begins to tun- against beetles, but they can also accel- nel into a tree, large amounts of resin erate the growth of beetle populations, push it back out, leaving it entombed in in part because milder winters reduce a sticky lump. But, when conditions are seasonal mortality. right, beetle populations can grow rap- In addition to climate, forest struc- idly. Beetles launch pheromone-mediat- ture can be an important contributing ed attacks, producing chemical signals factor in beetle outbreaks. The current that attract other beetles in such num- epidemic of bark beetles is to some ex

22 WINGS tent possible because vast areas of for- fire occurrence, extent, or severity. ests provide suitable habitat for them. Some policy makers have asserted In particular, lodgepole pine is afflicted that logging of forests may be a rem- by the mountain pine beetle (D. ponder- edy to stop bark beetle outbreaks, but osae), and mixed forests of Engelmann the facts just do not support this claim. spruce and subalpine fir are suffering Despite nearly a hundred years of ac- from incursions of the spruce beetle (D. tive forest management to control the rufipennis). mountain pine beetle, there is very Many people are rightfully con- little evidence that logging is effective cerned about these infestations. The once a large-scale insect infestation has dead trees, of course, change the face of begun. Thinning of forests has also the landscape, and some people worry been suggested as a preventive action that the large amount of standing dead to control future outbreaks by alleviat- material will lead both to a greater ing some water stress on trees during number of forest fires and to fires that dry spells, which in turn might help are more severe, perhaps threatening them better withstand infestation. But nearby houses and neighborhoods. As for thinning to be effective it would a result, many decision makers and land have to reduce water stress significantly, managers are rushing to promote log- an unlikely outcome during the severe ging and thinning in affected areas. droughts that are associated with most To understand the issues and look outbreaks. Moreover, under favorable for potential solutions, I recently worked climatic conditions, such as those of the with Dominik Kulakowski of Clark Uni- past decade, outbreaks of bark beetles versity, Barry Noon of Colorado State University, and Dominick DellaSala of the National Center for Conservation Science and Policy to review the relevant science and produce a report on the impacts of bark beetles upon fire in forested ecosystems and the efficacy of potential measures for controlling outbreaks. Although it is widely believed that beetle outbreaks set the stage for severe forest fires, the majority of research does not support this supposition. Evi- dence from several studies, including those of Dominik Kulakowski, shows that climatic conditions appear to have an overriding effect on fire regimes in forests of lodgepole pine and mixed Healthy trees can repel bark beetles by ex spruce and fir — so much so that chang- pelling them with resin before they bur- es in fuels brought about by outbreaks row in too deeply. Photograph by Whit- of bark beetle have little or no effect on ney Cranshaw, courtesy Bugwood.org.

SPRING 2010 23 utilizing some of the dead trees that are now abundant in the landscape, there is really no ecological justification for logging them. Given that neither logging nor preventive thinning is likely to prevent major infestations due to the overriding influence of climatic stress in driving outbreaks, what should we do? If the goal is to protect communities, fire- mitigation efforts should be focused on those areas closest to communities and homes, and not on remote and eco- logically valuable areas. If the goal is to protect human lives and property from the dangers of fire in nearby trees, then Of the approximately five hundred spe- we should ensure that there is strategic cies of bark beetle in North America, most removal of hazard trees where they may cause no problems for forests. Red turpen- tine beetle (Dendroctonus valens), photo- harm life and property. Focusing such graphed by Whitney Cranshaw, courtesy efforts around communities is much Bugwood.org. less expensive, far more effective at reducing risk, and less damaging to eco- often erupt simultaneously in numer- logical values. ous stands across the landscape; even if We also need to remember that, the resistance of one stand of trees were although the current insect outbreaks strengthened, beetles from other stands are extremely large — and may even be are likely to spread over an entire area. unprecedented in recent history — there The logging of beetle-killed trees — is strong evidence that affected forests often referred to as “salvage” or “post- will regenerate in time. Some areas are disturbance” logging — can actually losing many trees and I may not be able lead to heightened insect activity, both to see the landscapes of my youth again by reducing parasites and predators during my lifetime, but green forests of the beetles and by creating greater will eventually return in most loca- stress on the remaining trees through tions. Until that time, the landscape damage to bark and roots. And logging that surrounds us may appear different, can have a profoundly negative impact but beetle-affected forests are nonethe- on these forest ecosystems by disturb- less functioning ecosystems that pro- ing wildlife populations and impairing vide food and shelter for animals, and water quality. It has also been shown cool, clear water for fish, other wildlife, to seriously damage soil and roots by and humans. compacting them, leading to greater water stress and increased susceptibility to insects and disease. Thus, although Scott Black is the executive director of the there may be economic benefits from Xerces Society.

24 WINGS The Great Sunflower Project

Gretchen LeBuhn

As you sit at your table today, do you pollinated by an insect. The good news know where the water you’re drinking is that this is just the beginning of the came from? In San Francisco, 85 per- list of ecosystem services, benefits pro- cent of drinking water comes from the vided to human society by healthy, Sierra Nevada Mountains. How about natural ecosystems. Pollination, for the last prescription medicine you example, is a valuable ecosystem ser- took? Of the top 150 prescription drugs vice that contributes greatly to human used in the United States, 118 originate health and livelihood. It is provided from natural sources. Three-quarters of in the main by a multitude of insects, these come from plants and a fifth from though hummingbirds and a few spe- fungi. The remaining few percent come cies of bats help in North America, and mostly from bacteria, though 2 percent elsewhere a smattering of other birds are from snake venom! And where did and mammals — even lizards on some the ingredients for your lunch and din- islands — support the work of insects. ner come from? One of every three bites As readers of Wings know, however, you took probably came from a plant the not-so-good news is that scientists

The Great Sunflower Project has thousands of people across North America growing sunflowers and watching to see how many bees visit them. Photograph by Tim Schleicher.

SPRING 2010 25 think some pollinator populations are nity gardens. Worldwide, community in jeopardy. Bumble bees in both the gardens provide 10 to 15 percent of the United States and Great Britain are dis- food supply. For the urban poor, such a appearing, and the widespread losses garden may provide 60 to 80 percent of of honey bees from Colony Collapse a family’s food, and it can be the only Disorder have been regularly reported way for a woman to make an economic in the media. And these declines may contribution to the family. not be restricted to particular species; a Unfortunately, a continent-wide 2007 report from the National Academy survey of pollination services cannot of Sciences suggests that they may be be undertaken using traditional scien- broad in scope. The problem is that no tific methods. The research infrastruc- one knows just how pervasive the de- ture that would be required to survey clines are, nor does anyone know what pollinators and pollination services at effect these declines are having on pol- countless individual sites is prohibi- linator services to plants. No one knows tively expensive, the scale just too vast. because there has never been a survey The Great Sunflower Project, however, at a large enough scale to understand offers an alternative approach. By using what’s happening in North America. citizen scientists across the continent, Economists and ecologists have each surveying pollinators in his or her begun working together to find a way to own back yard or local park or commu- place a monetary value on the contribu- nity garden, we can gather the neces- tion of natural ecosystems to human ex- sary data to inform our understanding istence. The estimates are eye-opening. of pollinator declines while providing For example, one recent calculation of our participants with the ability to put the value of pollination services world- the pollination services in their own wide is $217 billion per year. Replacing immediate environments into a local, the benefits of natural pollination — the regional, and even continental context. portion of these services currently pro- Although most citizen science projects vided by wild insects at no cost — would simply list the number of species found be a daunting task, costing many tril- at a site, we believe that citizen scientists lions of dollars. By carefully planning can be very effective at surveying com- and managing human-dominated land- plex ecological processes such as pol- scapes, however, valuable ecosystems lination. Imagine knowing enough to and their services can be conserved. say, “Wow, my garden has many more We know that pollinators are de- pollinators than most of my neighbors clining, but we know virtually nothing and most of San Francisco, but fewer about the effect these losses have had than average for the Bay Area.” on pollination services, particularly in The Great Sunflower Project is urban and suburban areas. We do not designed to extend understanding in know the magnitude of the crisis, nor just this way. The process is not com- have we identified how and where to tar- plicated: citizen scientists record how get our conservation measures in these many bees visit their sunflower over a areas. Such information is particularly fifteen-minute period, effectively gen- important for efforts such as commu- erating an index of pollinator service.

26 WINGS A wide range of bees visit sunflowers. Male longhorn bee (Melissodes robustior) photographed by Rollin Coville.

Project participants can also take pho- ten thousand people had signed up. tographs of the visiting bees and upload Within two months, there were twice them to the project’s website. To cre- as many. Now, in 2010, more than sev- ate a standardized barometer, the same enty-five thousand sunflower gardeners variety of sunflower, Lemon Queen, is have joined the project. Although we used at every site, and to ensure that the began in California, there are presently data are comparable between locations, citizen scientists in all fifty states and certain conditions must be met. The every Canadian province and territory. weather should be warm and sunny and We have had a large response from re- the observations made in the morning, tired people, home-schooled children, preferably around ten o’clock. The ob- teachers, community gardeners, nature server should only record bees visiting centers, beekeepers, and parents look- newer flowers that are actively producing for a family project. While our focus ing nectar or pollen. Using Geographic has been on the scientific benefits, we Information Systems, we can combine relish the opportunity to get children these data with information about pes- outside to watch processes unfold in ticide use, changes in land use, and lo- the natural world; in 2009, the Great cations where honey bees have disap- Sunflower Project was endorsed by the peared. Ultimately, this effort will allow Forum on Children and Nature as one us to identify areas where pollination of the top thirty projects for getting services are low and thus target efforts children into nature. And it is a pleasure at pollinator conservation. to increase scientific literacy by sharing Launched in 2008, the Great Sun- with participants how research projects flower Project was an immediate success. are designed, teaching them how to Within a week of my sending out a few collect data, and providing them with emails asking for volunteers, more than online tools to understand and analyze

SPRING 2010 27 the data they collect. services, pollinators, and the threats We expect three outcomes from they face. In finding a way to track and this effort. First, we hope to create a de- value the pollination services provided tailed map across towns, cities, states, by nature, the Great Sunflower Project and countries (and, eventually, conti- is a step toward a sustainable future. nents), identifying the areas that do not have adequate pollinator services. Sec- ond, we will have a digital record of pol- Gretchen LeBuhn is an associate professor linators visiting sunflowers, allowing us of biology at San Francisco State Univer- to understand where honey bees are not sity. Her work focuses on both the evo- providing pollinator services and to see lutionary ecology of plants and the con- whether and where native bees are re- servation of their pollinators, including, placing them. Third, we are creating a in particular, research into the effects of community of citizen scientists, help- climate change on alpine bumble bees and ing to raise awareness about ecosystem the effects of urbanization on wildlife.

Lemon Queen is the sunflower grown by all participants in the Great Sunflower Project. Photograph by Elizabeth Smith.

28 WINGS XERCES NEWS

Bark Beetles in Western North America As highlighted in the article beginning from the report apply to millions of for- on page 20, forest die-off associated est acres of lodgepole pine and mixed with bark beetles is a major concern spruce and fir across North America. across western North America. A recent- The report was written by Xerces ly released report, Insects and Roadless executive director Scott Black; Dominik Forests: A Scientific Review of Causes, Con- Kulakowski, professor of geography and sequences, and Management Alternatives, biology at Clark University in Massa- suggests that bark beetle outbreaks will chusetts; Barry Noon, professor of wild- not lead to greater fire risk, and that tree life ecology at Colorado State Univer- thinning and logging is not likely to al- sity; and Dominick DellaSala, president leviate future epidemics of bark beetles. and chief scientist of the National Cen- The report also indicates that tree cut- ter for Conservation Science and Policy. ting in roadless forests is unlikely to The report can be downloaded from the keep houses safe from wildfire. Findings Xerces Society’s website.

Pollinator Conservation Strategy for Yolo County The Yolo Natural Heritage Program re- woodland, shrubland and scrub, ripar- cently released the Yolo Natural Heritage ian and wetland, and urban and barren Program Pollinator Conservation Strategy. — are affected by threats to native pol- This first-of-its-kind conservation strat- linators. The strategy summarizes these egy, written by Xerces Society scientists, threats and identifies conservation provides policy makers and land man- measures that can be taken to protect agers with information vital to securing pollinators. Although written for a spe- the future of pollinators in California’s cific county in California, the threats Yolo County. and strategies discussed are relevant for Each of the six major landscapes other states. The report can be down- in the county — agricultural, grassland, loaded from our website.

New Resources for Pollinator Conservation Online The Pollinator Conservation Resource of the United States, making this the Center on our website offers a wealth most comprehensive source for advice of information about protecting and about pollinator conservation. providing forage and nesting habitat for Also new to the website is a page bees and other pollinating insects. Now about organic farming and bees. Al- lists of suppliers of native plants and though organic farming is widely con- seeds have been added for each region sidered to be good for the environment,

SPRING 2010 29 it is not without impact, and our Or- tors from Farming; Organic-Approved Pes- ganic Farming Toolkit offers factsheets ticides: Minimizing Risks to Pollinators; and guidelines, including Organic Farm- and Tunnel Nests for Native Bees: Nest ing Practices: Reducing Harm to Pollina- Construction and Management.

An Expanded Field Guide to Freshwater Mussels The Xerces Society has recently published the second edition of Freshwater Mussels of the Pacific Northwest, by Ethan Nedeau, Al Smith, Jen Stone, and Xerces endangered species program director Sarina Jepsen. This field guide provides an introduction to freshwater mussels west of the Rocky Mountains. The expanded publication dis- cusses the anatomy, life cycle, habitat, ecosystem role, diversity, distribution, human use, and management of freshwater mussels. It also offers updated information on the status and taxonomy of western freshwater mussels and a de- tailed bibliography. A profile describes each mussel, where it occurs, and its life history and habitat needs, and provides conservation guidance. To purchase a paper copy of this guide, or to download it at no charge, please visit our website.

Protecting Bumble Bees and a Stonefly Recent work by Xerces Society staff and Plant Health Inspection Service request- Dr. Robbin Thorp of the University of ing a ban on the movement of bumble California at Davis has established that bees outside of their native ranges and, at least four species of North American for interstate movement within their bumble bees are in steep decline; two of native ranges, a requirement that bum- these species teeter on the brink of ex- ble bees be certified as disease free. The tinction. A major threat is the spread of petition, submitted in collaboration diseases from commercially reared bees with Defenders of Wildlife, the Natu- shipped throughout the United States. ral Resources Defense Council, and Dr. In January, the Xerces Society sub- Thorp, was supported by more than mitted a citizen petition to the U.S. De- sixty scientists, including the world’s partment of Agriculture’s Animal and top bumble bee experts.

30 WINGS The Society also led a coalition of roads, pollution from insecticides and scientists and conservationists to request septic systems, stream de-watering, and that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service mountain-biking trails that cross and extend Endangered Species Act protec- re-cross the creeks. tion to the Arapahoe snowfly Capnia( Snowflies (sometimes called winter arapahoe). Known from only two small stoneflies) require cool, clear rivers and tributaries of the Cache la Poudre River streams, and are excellent biological in the Front Range of northern Colo- indicators of watershed health. Protec- rado, the Arapahoe snowfly is critically tion under the Endangered Species Act imperiled. Threats come from a variety would ensure careful management not of activities that impact the creeks and only to sustain the Arapahoe snowfly their water quality. These include live- but also to maintain the diversity of stock grazing, logging, erosion from wildlife that this watershed supports.

2010 DeWind Award Winners The Xerces Society congratulates the genetics interact to influence survival 2010 winners of the Joan Mosenthal of the threatened bog copper (Lycaena DeWind Awards, given annually to epixanthe) in southern Ontario. university students who are engaged in Jill Sherwood (Iowa State Univer- research that will further the conserva- sity) will study how climate change af- tion of butterflies and moths. fects interactions between the Clodius Lindsay Crawford (University of parnassian (Parnassius clodius) and its Western Ontario) will investigate how caterpillar hostplant, Dicentra uniflora, habitat fragmentation and butterfly a species of bleeding heart.

WINGS, Spring 2010 Volume 33, Number 1 Wings is published twice a year by the Xerces Society, an international, non- profit ro ganization dedicated to protecting the diversity of life through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat. A Xerces Society membership costs $30 per year (tax-deductible) and includes a subscription to Wings. Copyright © 2010 by the Xerces Society. All rights reserved. Xerces Exec utive Director: Scott Hoffman Black; Editors: Scott Hoffman Black, John Laur sen, and Matthew Shepherd; Design and Production: John Laursen. Printed on recycled paper. For information about membership and our conservation programs for native pollinators, endangered species, and aquatic invertebrates, contact us: THE XERCES SOCIETY FOR INVERTEBRATE CONSERVATION 4828 Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, Portland, OR 97215 telephone 503-232-6639 fax 503-233-6794 [email protected] www.xerces.org

SPRING 2010 31 The shapes and colors of nudibranchs vary greatly, and many have a surreal, other- worldly appearance. But don’t let the beauty deceive. These marine mollusks are car- nivores, feeding on sponges, hydroids, and anemones — and even on their own species. Spanish shawl (Flabellina iodinea), photographed by Keoki Stender.

THE XERCES SOCIETY FOR INVERTEBRATE CONSERVATION 4828 Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, Portland, OR 97215

Board of Directors Counselors Dennis Paulson May R. Berenbaum Paul R. Ehrlich Robert Michael Pyle President Boris Kondratieff Michael Samways Linda Craig Claire Kremen Cheryl Schultz Treasurer John Losey Robbin Thorpe Sacha Spector Thomas Lovejoy Scientific Advisors Secretary Jerrold Meinwald Thomas Eisner David Frazee Johnson Michael G. Morris E. O. Wilson Scott E. Miller Piotr Naskrecki Marla Spivak Paul A. Opler

A $30 per year Xerces Society membership includes a subscription to Wings.

Many katydids mimic leaves — usually with amazing fidelity — in order to conceal themselves. When discovered, though, some species can startle predators to give themselves a chance of escape. Our cover photograph shows a peacock katydid (Pterochroza ocellata) in full display; page 17 shows it in camouflage mode. Photograph by Piotr Naskrecki.