Spring 2012 Bulletin of the Oregon Entomological Society
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Spring 2012 Bulletin of the Oregon Entomological Society Owlflies in Oregon (Neuroptera: Ascalaphidae) Ron Lyons and Dana Ross On 12 August 2004, Dana Ross collected an adult owlfly (Figure 1) in Jackson County in Oregon Gulch, CSNM, 4075´ elevation, at a black light trap. There are no additional owlfly specimens from Oregon in the collection at the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODAC) in Salem or among the pinned specimens in the Oregon State Arthropod Collection (OSAC) in Corvallis. There is, however, another owlfly specimen from Oregon in the collection at Southern Oregon University (SOU) in Ashland. This adult (Figure 2) was collected in Josephine County, 5 miles SE of Selma on VIII-3- 85 by M.D. Coffey. Both specimens were identified from photographs as Ululodes mexicanus (McLachlan) by Joshua Jones, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Figure 1. Oregon Gulch Specimen (deposited at OSAC). Photo by Dana Ross. Entomology at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, using the abdominal pattern and the Beckemeyer (2003) found several resting owlflies while hunt- wing venation. The Oregon Gulch specimen is a female; the ing for odonates in the southwest and suggested that odonatists Selma specimen is a male. As far as we know, this is the first searching for damselflies might keep an eye out for this distinc- published report of owlflies in Oregon. tive resting posture. Owlflies are interesting members of the Neuroptera in the family Information on the life history and behavior of owlflies can be Ascalaphidae. Owlflies as larvae and adults are predators. In found in the well illustrated paper by Henry (1977) and Shet- appearance, larval owlflies are similar to larval antlions, while, as lar’s (1977) doctoral thesis. Shetlar’s thesis also has information can be seen from the accompanying figures, adult owlflies look on morphology and anatomy. Additional information on the rather like a cross between a small dragonfly and a butterfly. The eggs and larva can be found in Henry (1972, 1976, 1978), and on adult body and wings of North American species are odonate- adults in Halstead (1989). like while the antennae are long and knobbed, similar to those of butterflies. The eyes of adult Ululodes owlflies are split into In his unpublished PhD thesis, Shetlar (1977) listed 8 species of two parts by a lateral groove, which is just visible in Figure 3. owlflies in 3 genera in the United States. These are: Dragonfly-like in flight, adults in North America tend to fly only for a short period in the early evening and can be attracted to Ascalobyas albistigma (Walker) lights. At rest on vegetation, Ululodes owlflies adopt a distinc- Ascaloptynx appendiculatus (Fabricius) tive posture (Figure 3)—hanging upside down on bare branches. Ululodes arizonensis Banks Feel free to distribute this newsletter to others. Submit content to Ron Lyons (pondhawk @ uci.net). To be included on the distribution list contact Jim Johnson (jt_johnson @ comcast.net). Bulletin of the OES, Spring 2012 Figure 2. Selma Specimen (deposited at SOU). Figure 3. Ululodes mexicanus resting on vegetation; Torrey Pines State Reserve U. bicolor (Banks) extension, San Diego County, California 1992 June 29. Photo by Ron Lyons. U. floridana (Banks) U. macleayana (Guilding) border and the collection locations of the Oregon specimens. U. nigripes Banks Based on the comments of Joshua Jones (private communica- U. quadrimaculatus (Say) tion), it would appear that there is some confusion between U. arizonensis and U. mexicanus. Hopefully, among other things, Ululodes mexicana (McLachlan) mentioned from southern his research will clarify the distributions of each of these species. Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico by Henry (1972, 1977) is not listed in Shetlar’s thesis. (Oswald [2007] indicates that the cor- In the meantime, we are soliciting information in the form of rect form is mexicanus.) Instead, Shetlar (1977) uses the infor- documented or anecdotal observations of owlflies in Oregon, in mation from Henry (1972) under the name Ululodes arizonensis part to determine whether or not owlflies are established in the without comment. Oswald et al. (2002) listed the distributions of state. Based on the two Oregon specimens, we know that owlflies owlflies in Mexico by state. Mexicanus is a valid species that has can reach into the Rogue Valley at least as far as the Grants Pass been found in a number of states in Mexico including Chihua- area, at least sometimes. Owlflies might also be expected to oc- hua and Sonora, both of which border the United States. cur in the southeastern parts of the state, at least sometimes, but to our knowledge, no one has ever looked for them there. (Mind In their catalogue of the Neuroptera of America north of Mexico, you, no one was looking for them in the Rogue Valley either.) Penny et al. (1997) following Shetlar (1977) listed the same 8 species changing U. quadrimaculatus (Say) to U. quadripunctatus (Burmeis- On the lighter side, owlflies have made it onto postage stamps ter). (According to Oswald [2007], the name “Ululodes quadrimacu- from Cyprus and the former Yugoslavia. Interestingly both latus”, while a synonym of U. quadripunctatus, is invalid under the countries featured the same species, Ascalaphus macaronius rules of nomenclature.) Penny et al. (1997) updated the distribution Scopoli (Figure 4, left). In an exchange in Ornament magazine, information to reflect material published after Shetlar’s thesis and Lyons (2005) discussed with Ornament Coeditor Robert Liu the included some unpublished information. The record for the SOU possibility that some Native American southwestern “dragonfly” specimen, identified as Ululodes arizonensis (Banks) by N.D. Penny jewelry (Figure 4, right) was actually inspired by owlflies. Some in 1987, was not mentioned in this paper. followup comments were added by Kuehn (2005). In the United States, owlflies are generally con- sidered insects of the southern tier of the coun- try. While rarer farther north, the distribution of one, U. quadripunctatus, does reach up the eastern states and into Ontario Canada. Shetlar (1977) lists two species from California, Ululodes arizonensis and U. bicolor. In his specimen list there is a male specimen under Ululodes arizo- nensis with the details Siskiyou Co. —Ft. Jones, B. L., 19-viii-69, M. Grifantini (PU). Fort Jones is only a few miles SW of Yreka, California. (This specimen location is not shown on the distribu- tion dot map.) Yreka is not far from the Oregon Figure 4. Left, postage stamp from Cyprus. Right, Native American “dragonfly” pin. 2 Bulletin of the OES, Spring 2012 Acknowledgements ton 80(1): 75–86. Online at <http://biostor.org/ref- erence/66826.text> We thank Chris Marshall (OSAC), Jim LaBonte (ODA) and Kuehn, F.B. 2005. in Letters from Our Readers. Ornament: The Peter Schroeder (SOU) for access to, and help with, their Art of Personal Adornment 29(1): 13–15. institution’s collections. We thank Joshua Jones (Texas A&M) Lyons, R.W. 2005. in Letters from Our Readers. Ornament: The for identifying our specimens. We would also like to thank Dr. Art of Personal Adornment 28(4): 13–14. C.S. Henry (University of Connecticut), Joshua Jones and Dr. J. Oswald, J.D., A. Contreras-Ramos, and N.D. Penny. 2002 Neu- Oswald (Texas A&M) for sharing their knowledge, thoughts and roptera (Neuropterida). Pp. 559–581 in Bousquets, J.L.; Mor- suggestions concerning owlflies. rone, J.J. (eds.). Biodiversidad, Taxonomía y Biogeografía de Artrópodos de México: hacia una síntesis de su conocimiento. References Vol. 3. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Distrito Federal, Mexico. x+690 pp. Beckemeyer, R.J. 2003. A Few records of Owlflies (Neuroptera: Oswald, J.D. 2007. Ululodes. Neuropterida Species of the World. Ascalaphidae) Encountered while Collecting Odonata in the Version 2.0. 106 records. <http://lacewing.tamu.edu/ Southwestern United States and in Nicaragua. Journal of the Species-Catalogue/>. Accessed on 3 April 2012 Kansas Entomological Society 76 (4): 651–652. Penny, N.D., P.A. Adams, and L.A. Stange 1997. Species Catalog Halstead, J.A. 1989. On the Biology and Rarity of the OwlflyUlu - of the Neuroptera, Megaloptera, and Raphidioptera of Amer- lodes arizonensis in California (Neuroptera: Ascalaphidae). ica North of Mexico. Proceedings of the California Academy Pan-Pacific Entomologist 65(4): 418–419. of Sciences 50(3): 39–114. Online at <http://biostor. Henry, C.S. 1972. Eggs and Rapagula of Ululodes and Ascalo- org/reference/3267.text> ptynx (Neuroptera: Ascalaphidae): A Comparative Study. Shetlar, D.J. 1977. The Biosystematics of the Nearctic Ascalaphi- Psyche 79(1–2): 1–22. Online at <http://psyche.ent- dae (Insecta, Neuropteroidea, Planipennia), with Notes on club.org/79/79-001.html> Biology and Morphology. Ph.D. thesis Pennsylvania State Henry, C.S. 1976. Some Aspects of the External Morphology of University, x+247 pp. Larval Owlflies (Neuroptera: Ascalaphidae), with Particular Ref- erence to Ululodes and Ascalopterynx. Psyche 83(1): 1–31. Online 2012 Aeshna Blitz at <http://psyche.entclub.org/83/83-001.html> Henry, C.S. 1977. The behavior and life history of two North An annual gathering of those who are insane for Oregon’s American ascalaphids. Annals of the Entomological Society Odonata—scheduled for the weekend of 27 July at Three Forks on the Owyhee River, Malheur County. All are welcome. Yes, of America 70: 179–195. even if you want to look for “lesser” insects. Be prepared for Henry, C.S. 1978. An Evolutionary and Geographical Overview primitive camping. Contact Jim Johnson at <jt_johnson@ of Repagula (Abortive Eggs) in the Ascalaphidae (Neurop- comcast.net> or Steve Valley if you plan to attend. tera). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washing- Entomology in Oregon—Herman Austin Scullen Cary Kerst I’ve been moving the pinned Odonate collection into envelopes for the Oregon State Univer- sity Arthropod Collection (OSAC).