New
Species from Big Creek Reserve
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"Rare"
undescribed moth turns out to be abundant on Big Creek redwoods.
UC Berkely professor Jerry Powell
and post-doctoral researcher Dan Rubinoff recently visited Big
Creek to particpate in the 14th annual butterfly count. They
also brought along lures for the green budworm Choristoneura
retiniana in an effort to look for a new species of budworm
which might feed on Santa Lucia Fir Abies bracteata. They
set out pheromone trap lures at Cone Peak near stands of the
Fir, but brought extra lures to Big Creek, and set them under
the redwoods overnight. Nothing came to the traps during the
night. The next day, to the researchers' astonishment, the trap
filled up with hundreds of 1/2 inch long Tortricid moths in the
genus Syndemis. This moth was previously known from only
two specimens, one collected at Big Creek and the other from
the Santa Cruz mountains. Jerry and Dan propose to call it Syndemis
sequoiae after the host plant Sequoia sempervirens,
but as yet it remains undescribed. The new moth is diurnal and,
apparently, can become quite abundant! |
A pair of articles in the journal Fremontia,
volume 30 (2003), describe these and other insect-plant relationships
at Big Creek and elsewhere.  |
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"Syndemis sequoiae" male sitting on fender of car near pheromone
trap. |
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Pheromone trap filled with
"rare" redwood feeding moth species. 5-31-02 |
Researchers gather around pheromone
trap on roof of Jerry Powell's jeep. Dozens of male Syndemis
moths are circling the car. 5-31-02 |
Four new moth species!
UC Berkeley professor Jerry Powell
and Czech Republic collaborator Dalibor Povolny have described
several new species of moths from the California central coast,
including four new species from Big Creek. These moths are members
of the family Gelechiidae, subfamily Gnorimoschemini, a group
particularly common in coastal strand and coastal dune habitats.
Prior to their survey, 117 species in 18 genera had been described.
Powell and Povolny have added 21 new species. Some species' larvae
live in silken tubes in sand, but the remainder of the species
arre leaf miners, stem borers, or gallmakers. The two other species
not illustrated below are Gnorimoschema crypticum Povolny
and Powell (which creates soft galls in stems of Haplopappus
(Hazardia) squarrosa, and Scrobipalpopsis madiae Povolny
and Powell, which possibly feeds on foliage of Madia madioides
in redwood canyons. Powell has found 11 species of Gnorimoschemini
in the Big Creek coastal scrub habitats.
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A painting of a male Exceptia sisterina
Povolny and Powell described from specimens taken from Big Creek
Reserve in coastal scrub habitat. Nothing is known about the
larval biology of this species. |
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Male Euscrobipalpa arenaceariella Povolny
and Powell collected from Big Creek Reserve(left).
Dark form female E. arenanceariella.(right).
The young larvae of this species mine in the soft leaves of mugwort
Artemisia douglasiana. As they get larger they emerge
and fold a leaf edge to make a shelter. Inside the shelter they
skeletonize the leaf. |
New moth!
For the second time this year, a new
species of insect has been decribed based on collections at Big
Creek. The larvae of Elachista indisella were collected
by UC Berkeley professor Jerry Powell as part of his comprehensive
moth survey, and sent to a museum taxonomist Lauri Kaila, who
works at the Finnish Museum of Natural History in Helsinki, Finland.
Kaila recently published his revision of the Nearctic species
of the genus Elachista (Lepidoptera: Elachistidae), which
included 49 newly named and described species, among which is
the Big Creek species E. indisella. (Reference: Acta Zool.
Fennica 211:1-235.)
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Female Elachista indisella, raised
from caterpillar. Collected from leaf mines in the blades of
the grass Hierochloe occidentalis, redwood understory,
Big Creek canyon. |
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scale=1mm |
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New Walking Stick! UC Santa
Barbara researcher (and UC Coal Oil Point Reserve manager) Cristina
Sandoval has discovered at least one new species of Timema
at Big Creek. Timemas are a kind of walking stick insect that
feed on foliage of trees and shrubs, and are fairly large and
conspicuous at Big Creek. This new species Timema landelsensis
feeds on the foliage of our endemic Hoover's Manzanita Arctostaphylos
hooveri Cris thinks that the Big Sur coast may be a "hot
spot" for Timema diversity, and she is looking for
other species now. Big Creek is an ideal place to look for these
insects, with its mix of protected habitats and post-fire successional
states. The species was named after Big Creek Reserve's full name
"Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve," and honors Ed Landels,
one of the founders of the reserve, and his daughter Toni Landels
Hyman, who has selflessly helped with reserve planning and fundraising.
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Timema landelsensis female on leaf of
Hoover's manzanita Arctostaphylos hooveri |
T. landelsensis male. These are fairly
large insects; adults are 2-3 cm long. |
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Researcher Cristina Sandoval sampling Timema
on pine foliage. |
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