Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Thomas M. Onuferko, Matthias Buck, Jason Gibbs, Paul C. Sokoloff
Summary: Inland sand dunes in the Great Plains of North America provide refuge for sand-loving organisms, but are threatened by vegetative stabilisation. A study found that overall taxonomic richness did not change with increased stabilisation, but the abundances of dune specialist wasps decreased. Bees and wasps responded differently to plant cover on the dunes, with higher abundance and richness on dunes dominated by dune scurfpea.
INSECT CONSERVATION AND DIVERSITY
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Nolan J. Rappa, Michael Staab, Laura -Sophia Ruppert, Julian Frey, Jurgen Bauhus, Alexandra-Maria Klein
Summary: Retention forestry enhances biodiversity by promoting certain forest structural elements, but its effectiveness in enhancing the biodiversity of bees and wasps and the relationship to habitat-based classifications are not yet fully understood.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Ikechukwu Eugene Onah, Seirian Sumner
Summary: Global biodiversity is declining, particularly concerning insect populations. DNA barcoding is a useful tool for species identification and discovery, with new primers developed for polistine wasps showing promise for accurate documentation worldwide.
Article
Zoology
Mira Boustani, Pierre Rasmont, Holger H. Dathe, Guillaume Ghisbain, Max Kasparek, Denis Michez, Andreas Mueller, Alain Pauly, Stefan Risch, Jakub Straka, Michael Terzo, Xavier Van Achter, Thomas J. Wood, Nabil Nemer
Summary: The study provides a first annotated checklist of the wild bees of Lebanon, reporting a total of 573 species with an estimated diversity closer to 700. It highlights the affinities of local species assemblages with montane habitats of the Mediterranean and Anatolia, and encourages further research on local wild bee faunas for conservation purposes.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Louis F. Nastasi, Andrew R. Deans
Summary: This study summarizes the current state of knowledge of cynipid wasps in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, focusing on species from different genera. A total of 323 names, including 170 valid species, are listed in a catalogue format, providing information on taxonomy, distribution, host associations, and vernacular names for each species. Additionally, the catalogue includes original descriptions of galls and characterizations of gall traits for many species, as well as proposing new vernacular names for galling species without existing names.
BIODIVERSITY DATA JOURNAL
(2021)
Review
Biology
Thomas S. Collett, Natalie Hempel de Ibarra
Summary: The learning flights and walks of bees, wasps, and ants are coordinated movements that allow them to remember their nest or other important places visually. These movements were discovered in the 19th century and provided the first evidence of insect learning. Over the years, research has focused on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying these behaviors and their role in insect navigation.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Zoology
Luis Damian Ramirez-Guillen, Armando Falcon-Brindis, Benigno Gomez
Summary: The family Scoliidae, consisting of approximately 560 species, is mainly distributed in the Pantropical region worldwide. However, the biology and taxonomy of Scoliidae has been understudied in the Americas, including Mexico. This study revised the Scoliidae species in Mexico and provided a species checklist and taxonomic key. The findings contribute to the understanding of faunistics, ecology, and conservation of Scoliidae in Mexico.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Lillian Germeroth, Theodore Sumnicht, Robin Verble
Summary: The grain of observation is crucial for research outcomes. Ant studies have covered a range of spatial grains and identified patterns related to factors such as nutrient availability, leaf litter depth, disturbance, and forest composition. This study examines a Bornean leaf litter ant community at small and large spatial scales and explores the differences in community structure using quadrats and extraction. The findings suggest that small-scale ant abundance and richness do not correlate until a specific distance, and macro-scale stand variables may not significantly regulate small-scale ant communities.
Article
Biology
Amrita Srivathsan, Leshon Lee, Kazutaka Katoh, Emily Hartop, Sujatha Narayanan Kutty, Johnathan Wong, Darren Yeo, Rudolf Meier
Summary: This study introduces a cost-effective and simple DNA barcoding method that can be used in various settings. The research provides amplicon coverage recommendations based on multiple runs of the latest generation of MinION flow cells, and introduces a novel software to address bioinformatics challenges related to MinION reads. Additionally, the study suggests that MinION barcodes are highly similar to Sanger and Illumina barcodes, and that MinION technology has improved rapidly since 2018.
Article
Entomology
Vladimir A. Lukhtanov, Nazar A. Shapoval, Alexander V. Dantchenko, Wolfgang Eckweiler
Summary: The study analyzed the partitioning of species groups in the butterfly subgenus Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) using three datasets. It was found that the DNA barcoding approach alone was not able to reveal the phylogenetic structure, but the combined analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear sequences was successful in identifying species groups.
Article
Entomology
Isaac L. Esquivel, Katherine A. Parys, Karen W. Wright, Micky D. Eubanks, John D. Oswald, Robert N. Coulson, Michael J. Brewer
Summary: This study investigated the impact of crop and semi-natural habitat configuration on the diversity and abundance of native bees in a large cotton agroecosystem. Results indicate that native bee communities persist in large-field cotton systems, with the highest number of bees found at the interface of cotton and semi-natural habitat. While cotton grown next to semi-natural habitat had higher species richness, the number of bees collected varied.
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Michael Haas, Hannes Baur, Tanja Schweizer, Juan Carlos Monje, Marina Moser, Sonia Bigalk, Lars Krogmann
Summary: Despite their ecological and economic importance, hymenopteran parasitoids, such as the chalcidoid family Pteromalidae, are severely understudied, leaving their true diversity unknown. This study improves knowledge on pteromalid diversity in Germany by presenting new records of 17 genera and 41 species. The ecological significance of Pteromalidae and their potential value as indicators for nature conservation efforts are briefly discussed.
BIODIVERSITY DATA JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Geology
Brunno B. Rosa, Gabriel A. R. Melo, Guilherme C. Ribeiro
Summary: In this study, a new extinct species of the hymenopteran family Crabronidae is described from the Crato Formation in northeastern Brazil, extending the lineage's occurrence into the Early Cretaceous. The discovery sheds light on the paleoenvironment and biogeography of apoid wasps and bees during this period, revealing that crabronids had a wider range of environments and distribution compared to bees.
CRETACEOUS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Paolo Rosa, Thomas Wood, Teresa Luisa L. Silva, Joana Verissimo, Vanessa A. Mata, Denis Michez, Pedro Beja, Sonia Ferreira
Summary: The study focuses on DNA barcoding of cuckoo wasps, with 144 specimens and 103 species analyzed. The results provide new insights into the DNA barcodes and distribution of cuckoo wasps, and two new species are described. The study also proposes taxonomic changes and new classifications.
BIODIVERSITY DATA JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
George F. Obiero, Thomas Pauli, Elzemiek Geuverink, Rene Veenendaal, Oliver Niehuis, Ewald Grosse-Wilde
Summary: Chemoreceptors play important roles in helping insects interact with their environment, detect food sources, and aid communication. Social species of Hymenoptera have larger chemoreceptor gene repertoires compared to solitary species, possibly due to the need to recognize nest-mates and caste. The study of chemosensory-related gene repertoires in apoid wasps revealed intriguing findings, such as larger odorant receptor repertoires and a notable loss of odorant receptor gene diversity associated with the evolution of pollen-collecting behavior in bees.
GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Editorial Material
Zoology
David W. Langor, Cory S. Sheffield
Editorial Material
Zoology
David W. Langor, Cory S. Sheffield
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Cory Sheffield, Jennifer Heron, Luciana Musetti
BIODIVERSITY DATA JOURNAL
(2020)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Monica Kohler, Ashton Sturm, Cory S. Sheffield, Cameron N. Carlyle, Jessamyn S. Manson
INSECT CONSERVATION AND DIVERSITY
(2020)
Article
Entomology
Cory S. Sheffield
JOURNAL OF HYMENOPTERA RESEARCH
(2020)
Article
Ecology
Tabitha A. Graves, William M. Janousek, Sarah M. Gaulke, Amy C. Nicholas, Douglas A. Keinath, Christine M. Bell, Syd Cannings, Richard G. Hatfield, Jennifer M. Heron, Jonathan B. Koch, Helen L. Loffland, Leif L. Richardson, Ashley T. Rohde, Jessica Rykken, James P. Strange, Lusha M. Tronstad, Cory S. Sheffield
Article
Ecology
Michael Stemkovski, William D. Pearse, Sean R. Griffin, Gabriella L. Pardee, Jason Gibbs, Terry Griswold, John L. Neff, Ryan Oram, Molly G. Rightmyer, Cory S. Sheffield, Karen Wright, Brian D. Inouye, David W. Inouye, Rebecca E. Irwin
Article
Plant Sciences
Cory S. Sheffield, Lars Vilhelmsen, Frederique Bakker
Summary: Early taxonomic works on North American bees by Europeans used specimens collected in the New World, with some specimens having imprecise type locations leading to uncertainty in nomenclatural status. The author of this study merged and renamed certain species to stabilize the taxonomy, addressing issues of unclear classification.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF TAXONOMY
(2021)
Article
Entomology
Jason Gibbs, Emily Hanuschuk, Reid Miller, Melanie Dubois, Massimo Martini, Steve Robinson, Phoenix Nakagawa, Cory S. Sheffield, Sophie Cardinal, Thomas M. Onuferko
Summary: This study records 392 species or morphospecies of bees in Manitoba, Canada, which is an increase of 154 species compared to the previous report in 2015. It also includes five new generic records and reports 13 new records that are new for Canada. Additionally, the study proposes name changes, removes certain species from the list, and provides additional notes on taxonomy, nomenclature, and behavior for select species.
CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST
(2023)
Article
Zoology
Erika Helmond, Kerri Finlay, Cory Sheffield, Mel Hart, Jennifer Heron
Summary: Physella wrighti is an endangered freshwater snail found only in Liard Hot Springs. Water temperature plays a crucial role in its survival, with a preferred temperature of 23 degrees C. The study found that snails in temperatures lower than 23 degrees C had the longest survival time and produced the most egg masses, but with the lowest viability. Snails in 23 degrees C had the highest egg mass production and viability.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Cory Sheffield, Kirsten M. Palmier
Summary: Based on recent specimens and records on iNaturalist, we provide evidence that the two-spotted bumble bee has recently expanded its range in Canada, westwards into the Prairies Ecozone and east into the Maritime Provinces.
BIODIVERSITY DATA JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Cory Sheffield
Summary: This study investigated the sweat bees of the genus Agapostemon and found that Agapostemon fasciatus and A. melliventris are not conspecific. A more detailed analysis of morphology, distribution, and genetic data revealed that A. fasciatus should be resurrected as a valid North American bee species. The accurate distributions of both species can be modeled based on the diagnostic features provided.
BIODIVERSITY DATA JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Zoology
Cory S. Sheffield, Ryan Oram, Jennifer M. Heron
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Kirsten M. Palmier, Cory S. Sheffield
BIODIVERSITY DATA JOURNAL
(2019)