Bugwatching Book Launch

My new book, Bugwatching: The Art, Joy, and Importance of Observing Insects, had its first event last Saturday at the Linda Hall Library in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It was well attended both in person and via a livestream, with over 600 individuals registered.

Linda Hall Library is a science library with many historically important holdings. They also create professional quality in-house exhibits, and host speakers on a variety of topics. With any luck I will be invited back to present again. The staff is friendly, and a true joy to work with.

This past Wednesday I was one of the panelists for a Grow Native! webinar, titled “Dispelling Myths of Native Gardening.” Grow Native! is the native plant marketing, and educational arm, of Missouri Prairie Foundation, another excellent organization. I think I gained as much from the other panelists as I gave in my own expertise and experience.

Please consider booking me for your own event, as I have few scheduled thus far. I do have one high profile engagement on Thursday, January 8, 2026, but I am not at liberty to disclose additional information at this time. Watch this space and I will update as I am able.

I apologize for not keeping up with the comments over the last month. I was on vacation, and then had these two programs to prepare for. I am currently caught up, and intend to stay that way. I typically review comments every Tuesday, at the least.

I have been trying to remember to use my phone to take photos, like this one tonight of an immature female Round-tipped Conehead katydid in our yard.

My photos are also severely backlogged. I have become frightened by the potential of losing them in the uploading process (I frequently cannot safely eject the SD card from my laptop, for example). Consequently, I have not uploaded cards in their entirety since mid-September, 2022. I take far too many photos, and that makes the process daunting as well. I wish I was better organized, but this is the current situation. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

My dear friend Alexandra Rose (an oceanographer), and her mom, Pam, have always been supportive of my work.

As we continue to face collective challenges such as the effects of climate change, the rise of authoritarian regimes at home and abroad, and the uncertainties of labor and the marketplace, I wish all of you the best. Please keep up your own ”good trouble,” your art, your science communication, or whatever gives you joy, hope, peace, and confidence.

Recent "Bug Eric" News

Bioblitz on the Snadon Tract of Coyne Prairie, Missouri, USA.

I was honored to be invited to be a guest on This Green Earth, a podcast, and NPR talk show hosted by KPCW in Park City, Utah, USA, last Tuesday, June 3. I spent a delightful twenty minutes or so with Claire Wiley and Christopher Cherniak, discussing wasps, and my book Wasps: The Astonishing Diversity of a Misunderstood Insect. If you would be interested in having me as a guest on your own podcast, please contact me via email: bugeric247ATgmailDOTcom. Thank you.

This past Saturday and Sunday, Heidi and I participated as group leaders for the annual prairie bioblitz organized by Missouri Prairie Foundation. This year it celebrated National Prairie Day at the Snadon Tract, a new addition to MPF's existing Coyne Prairie in Dade County, Missouri, USA. A future blog post will detail some of our insect and arachnid findings there.

Indian paintbrush flowers on the Snadon Tract of Coyne Prairie.

The bioblitz events of Missouri Prairie Foundation keep getting bigger and bigger. It is humbling to realize that a few attendees come specifically to meet myself and Heidi, and go on "bug walks" with us as we document the macrofauna. MPF is one of the most friendly and accomplished nonprofit organizations I have ever encountered, and I encourage my followers to consider membership or donations.

More personal traveling is on the horizon, but I will do my best to post notification of any public engagements. Meanwhile, the official publication date of my new book, Bugwatching: The Art, Joy, and Importance of Observing Insects is July 22. Please see the top of the sidebar if you wish to preorder. Thank you as always for your loyalty and support.

Save A Spider (Every) Day

Every day should be “Save A Spider Day,” considering all that these arachnids do for us as people, and ecosystems around the globe. Alas, March 14 is the only day officially designated for their respect, admiration and, at the least, tolerance. The timing this year is pretty good, though, given hysteria surrounding some sensational journalism, and a forthcoming field guide to spiders in North America.

Lucas the spider, © Joshua Slice, furnished by Sayles & Winnikoff Communications

I was prompted to write this post by Kelly Cleary of Sayles and Winnikoff Communications, the marketing company promoting a new Cartoon Network series starring “Lucas,” the fluffy, adorable animated jumping spider that took the internet by storm a few years ago. This is a wonderful, positive milestone for arachnid appreciation, and I am honored to be asked to be a messenger for something innovative and excellent.

There is the fictional, lovable Lucas, and then there is the Joro Spider, a real species that is getting the polar opposite treatment in the press. Eight years ago, a large orb weaver was discovered in the state of Georgia, USA, and determined to be Trichonephila clavata, a species native to most of Asia. This was considered something of a novelty at the time, but soon more individual specimens were turning up in nearby locations. Since then, the Joro Spider has expanded its range to include most of northern Georgia, and parts of northwest South Carolina and adjacent North Carolina. Single specimens have turned up in Alabama, and even Oklahoma, likely a result of someone unwittingly moving them on an object or vehicle.

Adult female Joro Spider © Kim Fleming via Bugguide.net

Recently, scientists have extrapolated the potential expansion to eventually include most of the Atlantic coast of the U.S., plus Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, Indiana, and other states. This is based on latitudes where the spider is found in its native Asia, plus the warmer maritime influence along the coast. This is what scientists are supposed to do when confronted with an alien species in a new territory: make predictions and then inform the public accordingly.

Unfortunately, journalists are prone to sensationalize this kind of information and, in this instance everything is, literally, being blown out of proportion. When they are young and small, spiders disperse themselves by “ballooning,” climbing to the top of tall objects, standing on tiptoe, and issuing long strands of silk to catch the wind. Someone forgot to properly explain this to reporters, so now we have the expectation of very large spiders raining down on us come springtime. Relax, it is not going to happen.

© Wikimedia Commons

Whether the Joro Spider is going to have a negative impact on native spiders, temporarily or permanently, will not be determined for some time. Any effort to control, or eradicate the Joro Spider is likely to have more dire ecological consequences than the spider itself. Do report your sightings with at least clear photos, if you cannot present an entomologist or arachnologist with the specimen itself. Otherwise, there is no need for overreaction.

Need help identifying the Joro, or any other spider? I have good news. My friend and scholar Sarah Rose has written Spiders of North America, in the Princeton Field Guide series. I will have a review here eventually, but suffice that I have intimate knowledge of the scope of this reference, its design and presentation, and can speak highly of the expertise and communication skills of the author. You will want to put in your pre-order soon.

Not everyone is a fan of spiders, likely not even everyone reading this post, but we can at least learn about their place in the natural order of things, and welcome them in our yards and gardens as free pest control, and architects of marvelous silken webs. Meanwhile, until journalism is more responsible, please help us spread correct information via social media and our in-person interactions with others. To paraphrase Smoky the Bear, “only you can save spiders.”

The Problem With "Murder"....Anything

It is a source of personal frustration that this blog must constantly address sensationalized mainstream press accounts of various insects and arachnids billed as the next great menace. That is putting things politely, actually. Humans excel at one terrible thing: creating enemies where none exist, or none would exist, were it not for people themselves.

Asian Giant Hornet, Vespa mandarinia© Allan Smith-Pardo, USDA APHIS PPQBugwood.org

It is also deeply troubling that a story about “murder hornets” is achieving more prominence than a story about the murder of a black male by a Caucasian father and son. Both hornets, and people of various demographics, are victims of unrelenting violence that they do not deserve. This is not a political issue; it is a humanity issue of staggering proportions and devastating consequences.

The fact that I can speak more intelligently about social wasps than people of color is disgraceful. I have a better education in entomology than in human cultural and ethnic diversity. Where did I fail? How did I allow myself to become an unwitting accomplice to institutionalized racism? How can I continue to advocate for “bugs” while my fellow human beings are fearing for their lives?

I know where to get factual information about insects. It comes from scholars I trust, from scientific literature that is thankfully now more accessible to the public than ever (are you reading this, journalists?), and from my own educational experiences, in class and in the field. I make an effort to learn, to understand, to act in accordance with what I know to be true. Science is by no means static; it also adapts to new discoveries. That is how we are going to get treatments and, hopefully, a vaccine for COVID-19.

The Asian Giant Hornet, Vespa mandarinia, is a large social wasp native to Asia, but adaptable to similar climates elsewhere if given the chance. That is what happened in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, when a nest was discovered and destroyed in September of 2019. A single deceased specimen was found in Blaine, Washington, USA, near the Canadian border, in December, 2019. Genetic analysis showed it was from a different origin than the colony from Nanaimo. End of story, to date.

Asian Giant Hornet, Vespa mandarinia© Washington State Department of AgricultureBugwood.org

Yes, Asian Giant Hornets can decimate hives of honey bees to procure food for their larvae in the form of bee larvae and pupae. The adult wasps will also eat honey to fuel their flight muscles. The marauding wasps can be kept from entering hives with the installation of queen excluder devices.

The root of the hornet problem, and indeed all invasive species issues lies with human enterprise, but that is not sexy enough for media corporations competing for clicks and re-tweets. Responsible journalism would highlight lax inspections of shipping containers at international ports. Honest and brave writers would dare to suggest that our global economy threatens to undermine some industries (apiculture in this case) and destroy native ecosystems through accidental and intentional importation of exotic species.

Likewise, our problems with race relations and other social and economic conditions exist in places we don’t want to look: inside our white privileged selves, our monochromatic neighborhoods, our segregated private schools….We must come to terms with that for the collective peace and advancement of our society.

Hornets are armed with heavy-duty jaws and, if female, a sting. They operate on instincts that, while surprisingly plastic, can be brutal in their execution. Human beings can be armed with any number of worse weapons, some capable of annihilating entire cities and more, but graced with minds that can overcome instinct. We can adapt much more easily than insects, or any other animal species, to crises and challenges simply by changing our minds.

We must admit to, and own, our biases, faults, mistaken notions in the face of facts, and work to change them. That is the only honorable and just course for our lives, alone and together. Seize the opportunity to reject conspiracy, irresponsibility, and lack of empathy. Be a hornet of a different stripe, a warrior of compassion.

Bug Eric 2020 Outlook

This blog has slowed down considerably as I turn my attention to Sense of Misplaced blog to address larger social, environmental, and justice issues. However, I am still actively engaging in entomology activities. That will be more evident this calendar year.

Black Swallowtail butterfly from the 2019 City Nature Challenge in Colorado Springs

Speaking Engagements

I may be coming to a location near you this spring, summer, or fall. I have been invited to give a keynote address for The Biggest Week in American Birding the evening of Tuesday, May 12, 2020 at Maumee Bay Lodge and Conference Center in Oregon, Ohio (near Toledo), courtesy of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. The topic will be “Birding and Bugwatching in the Age of Animal Decline.”

I will be participating in a panel discussion on the “insect apocalypse” at the North American Prairie Conference in Des Moines, Iowa the evening of Monday, July 20, 2020. More details will be forthcoming.

Last but not least, I will be a keynote speaker for the autumn Roan Mountain Naturalists’ Rally at Roan Mountain State Park, Tennessee, the evening of Saturday, September 12, 2020. I will also be leading a field trip in the park that afternoon before the presentation.

Colorado Springs Bioblitz Events

Colorado Springs will be participating in the City Nature Challenge for the second consecutive year, April 24-27, recording image and/or audio observations in iNaturalist. April 28-May 3, experts will be identifying the images and recordings submitted.

This summer the City of Colorado Springs has seen fit to schedule two more bioblitzes. The first is a public event at Stratton Open Space, June 19-22. Many organizations will have informational tables at the “base camp,” and science teams ranging from entomology to mycology to botany will be on hand recording observations that will be entered into iNaturalist.

The second bioblitz will be for science teams only, at Jimmy Camp Creek Park, July 18-19.

Book Projects

The most exciting news is that I am now under contract to complete two books this year, for publishers who must remain anonymous and on subjects that I cannot reveal. Watch this space for updates as I am permitted to share them.

New Blog Feature

Soon I will be adding another tab at the top of this blog’s home page that will link to more of my insect-related writings online. Please comment if you find any of the links anywhere on my blog are broken. I continue to moderate comments on my posts at least once per week.

Thank you again for your support and encouragement. Have a great 2020 and make sure you get outdoors as often as you can.

Stop Saying the Monarch is a "Gateway Species" for an Appreciation of Other Insects

The media, and overzealous advocates for the Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, have convinced the public that the sky continues to fall. Recent headlines about how the Monarch is going extinct because the overwintering population in California is at a low ebb, down 86% in one year, elicit fear for the butterfly's future. The constant drumbeat of dire situations for the insect is one of several tactics used to keep the Monarch in the spotlight.

Meanwhile, it was also announced that the census of the overwintering Monarchs in Mexico showed an increase of 144%. These discrepancies in abundance from year to year are typical of large populations of pretty much any organism. So, why the panic?

The Monarch is the Giant Panda of invertebrates. It has a lobby built of organizations that stand to lose money unless they can manufacture repeated crises. Well-intentioned as they are, they are siphoning funding away from efforts to conserve other invertebrate species that are at far greater risk. The Monarch is not going extinct. It is even found on other continents. Only in North America is there the spectacular phenomenon of long-distance migration, but to date not a single population has perished.

A popular argument for making the Monarch an invertebrate icon is that "being such an icon has really helped us reach the average person about habitat and native plants and conservation, and by extension, the environment and climate change," as one friend on social media put it. Well, if only that were true. If people who care about the Monarch had any understanding of ecology at all, they would not be complaining that "there are beetles eating the milkweed I planted for Monarchs!" They would not be devastated because one wasp killed one of the caterpillars. They would not ask "how do I get rid of [insect x] and still keep my butterflies?" Nature does not work that way. It does not allow you to play favorites.

Those who rear in captivity Monarch caterpillars found in the wild rarely understand the complexities of the insect's life cycle. Fertile female butterflies flit leaf to leaf, "tasting" each milkweed plant by scratching the foliage with their tarsi (feet). This irritates the plant, causing it to reveal just how toxic it is. Milkweed plants, named for their milky sap, contain potent toxins called cardiac glycosides. Monarchs have evolved not only to cope with those poisons, but to sequester them for their own defense, advertised in the caterpillars by a bold pattern of black, yellow, and white bands. However, many individual milkweed plants are still too toxic to be consumed by insects.

Walk through a large patch of milkweed and plant after plant may be devoid of Monarch caterpillars, milkweed beetles, weevils, aphids, and other milkweed specialists. Then, one plant....everybody. They all found the weakest plant, still toxic, but not deadly to them. People who rear Monarchs may not understand this and wonder why their caterpillars are eating poorly or even dying.

Ok, enough complaining about an undereducated but compassionate public. Are there solutions? Yes. Number one, entomologists and naturalists need to stop obsessing over Monarchs and do a vastly better job of teaching about how ecology works, stressing why we need to foster and tolerate all organisms, regardless of whether they are likeable. We must advocate for landscaping with native trees, shrubs, and flowers of all kinds through programs like Habitat Hero by Audubon Rockies. We need to address city codes and the rules of HOAs to reflect the importance of doing away with manicured lawns and exotic plants that offer no habitat or sustenance for wildlife. The nursery industry needs to come around and support initiatives for natural landscapes at the personal property level, in business and industrial parks, and along road corridors.

Thank you, this concludes this public service announcement, brought to you by face-palming entomologists everywhere who study insects other than the Monarch.

Happy Holidays and What Lies Ahead

Work, work, activism. That is what Bug Eric has been up to lately, and mostly what the immediate future holds in store. I just added a new page to this blog, though, and can share with you some upcoming events near and far that you might want to be aware of in 2019. Happy New Year!

Guava Skipper from Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas, demonstrating the "rule of thirds" in photography

My good friend Nancy Miorelli created a wonderful handout on how to take great images of insects and arachnids with your smartphone. You can find that document under the tab above, entitled "Take Great Bug Pics." Many of the tips she gives also apply to photography in general, so please check it out. Nancy is an outstanding science communicator, gifted artist, and tour guide if you ever want to visit her in Ecuador.

Specimens awaiting my attention....

Right now I am busy identifying all manner of arthropods, from insects to spiders to millipedes and woodlice and amphipods from pitfall trap samples taken in Miami, Florida. This is part of a nationwide project funded by a National Science Foundation grant and there are more stakeholders than I can count. Once the results are compiled, I'll let you know the outcome. Meanwhile, what are snails doing in here....

You'll only see the Mexican Bluewing along the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas

The continuing saga of the border wall, especially in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas, is a nightmare for those of us who value not only the rights of global citizens to seek asylum from violence and abuse in their countries of origin, but for the wildlife and ecology of this unique region. The National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas has become the center of the storm, both figuratively and literally. I urge you to visit their website to understand what is at stake, and to see updates to the travesty that is unfolding and how you can act to stop it. This has ceased to be about politics and has become a situation of wanton destruction and abuse of power.

A lovely native sweat bee, Agapostemon sp.

Locally, the Mile High Bug Club just announced the formation of a chapter in Denver, Colorado (club headquarters are in Colorado Springs). Mark your calendars for the kickoff, on Sunday, February 10, at 6 PM (to 8 PM), at Highlands Event Center, 3401 W. 29th Ave., Denver, 80211. Chapter founder Ryan Bartlett will be giving a presentation on native bees for your entertainment and education. Watch this blog for announcements of other events, including a behind-the-scenes visit to the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster.

Buprestis langii, a type of jewel beetle

I will be giving a presentation about "Colorful Colorado....Beetles!" for the Aiken Audubon Society at Bear Creek Nature Center in Colorado Springs on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, 7-9 PM. This should be a nice preview for the Mile High Bug Club's annual tiger beetle hunt, which usually takes place in April at Lake Pueblo State Park, dates and times to be announced.

Pleasing Fungus Beetles

Additionally, Denver, Boulder, Ft. Collins, Golden, and Colorado Springs are participating in the 2019 City Nature Challenge. The event is like a bioblitz, with participating individuals taking images of plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms April 26-29, and then uploading the observations to iNaturalist where experts will help identify them, April 30-May 5. The event started several years ago as a challenge between Los Angeles and San Francisco and has now grown to a global scale. Check the website to find out if your city is participating.

Birds are ok....except when they eat the bugs!

The Pikes Peak Birding and Nature Festival will celebrate its fifth anniversary from Friday evening, May 17-Sunday afternoon, May 19. Please consider attending to visit some of our more spectacular natural wonders, view local specialties like Black-billed Magpie,and check out the blacklighting for moths, presented by Mile High Bug Club. MHBC will also have a table at the "Birds and Brews" social event Saturday night, May 18. All field trips will originate in Colorado Springs.

Come "mothing" with Mile High Bug Club© Amanda Accamando

The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History will be hosting its ever-popular Bug Fair, also the weekend of May 18-19. The museum regularly breaks attendance records with this shindig. I may make an appearance to sign copies of Insects Did it First and the Kaufman field guide, as well as promote Mile High Bug Club to a larger audience. It is well worth the visit despite the crowds. One year I met Dominic Monaghan of Lost fame. You never know who you might run into....

White Peacock butterfly from Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas

I will try and resolve to put up more posts here in 2019 than I did in 2018, but I make no promises. What are your resolutions for the new year? I hope they include continuing to explore, be it a new state, province, or country, or even a local park or your backyard. There are so many discoveries still awaiting us. You might be the one to find something new or shed new light on the familiar.

Momentary Hiatus

Circumstances have conspired lately in both positive and negative ways to derail my intended schedule of posts here. No excuses, just realities that are in some ways beyond my control.

My father passed away on Tuesday, May 15, and I have been dealing with normal legal and logistical challenges since then. It may be awhile before that abates entirely. The emotional issues are there as well, and if you are so inclined you can read about them in this post on my Sense of Misplaced blog. I appreciate your understanding and respect.

I also continue to devote more attention to Sense of Misplaced because I firmly believe the "bigger picture" impacts every aspect of my life, your life, and our society in general. We have to start thinking way outside the box and I believe my true calling is to help achieve that. Consequently, more content is being provided there at this time.

Lastly, I am writing once again for my major client, for their Insectlopedia blog. The demand for content there is seasonal, so I have to write when the client requests it. My goal remains to write mostly during the winter so that I can be afield at this time of year, but we do not always get our way in the working world.

I may have more exciting news to share in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. Thank you as always for your continued loyalty.

Beehives and Detergent Pods

What do the vandalism of beehives and eating laundry detergent pods have in common, besides being dangerous to the perpetrator? They both have gotten undo attention thanks to traditional and social media. Destructive and dangerous behaviors like these tend to make the news precisely because they are unique. The problem is that they become more commonplace the more they are publicized.

Honey bee hives

I was under the impression that beehive vandalism is running rampant lately when in fact there have been only two (2) reported crimes, one in Sioux City, Iowa and the other in Prunedale, California. The number of individual honey bees killed is staggering, no question, but so far these appear to be isolated episodes. That is what the media will do. It will inflate or undermine the reality of what is going on. I wonder now exactly how many teenagers have been eating those laundry detergent pods. Maybe that has been overstated, too.

One other danger of social media and standard media hype is that it can add fuel to the fire. What was a single display of stupidity or vandalism can then result in copycat behavior by others, escalating the damage. I posited the question of what is behind the beehive vandalism to an entomology group on Facebook. One of the prevailing theories was that the Prunedale massacre could easily have been a copycat crime due to the widespread publicity of the Sioux City news story. Insurance fraud was mentioned as a potential motive, along with competing beekeeping businesses, but we may never know. While at least one video out there claims that beekeeping practices are "cruel" and honey bees are basically slaves to humans now, I doubt People for the Ethical Treatment of animals (PETA) or any other animal rights group would harm the bees themselves.

Another interesting point brought up by the entomology group was that we seldom hear about crime in rural areas, which makes a story like the destruction of the beehives all the more attractive to the media. Social media makes almost all geographical locations accessible to traditional channels of news and information, so the two tend to feed each other. Rural crimes, I am told, can be a matter of disgruntled neighbors, vindictive ex-spouses, bored teenagers, or any number of other stimuli.

While I by no means condone beehive vandalism, I lament that the media fails consistently in giving the entire story of apiculture. Honey bees are not native to the New World (North, Central, and South America), but have been introduced here. In the U.S., the first colonies of honey bees were brought by settlers to Jamestown in 1622. They needed the bees to pollinate the crops they imported, not knowing whether native North American bees could, or would, do the job. Furthermore, beeswax was an essential product back then. Honey was perhaps the least of it.

Since then, apiculture has become an industry, one that markets itself vigorously and creatively. It has become a giant enterprise because agriculture has scaled to the point where there is no other way to effect pollination. Indigenous plants and landscapes have been marginalized at best, removing native bees from the picture. The scale of agribusiness is what has taken us to the point where, and I exaggerate to make a point, one non-native species is all that stands between us and starvation.

That was my thought when I learned of the attacks on the hives. Should someone or some organization want to crash a lot of crops, decimating honey bees would be a good start. Fortunately, even with a great deal of ambition and manpower, that scenario is next to impossible to achieve.

More of these for NATIVE bees!

So, a twelve- and thirteen-year old have been arrested in connection with the destroyed hives in Sioux City. Besides fines, a criminal record, and potential incarceration, I wonder if they might be sentenced to community service in....apiculture. Indeed, maybe those kids we label as idiots for ingesting laundry detergent pods could start a youth beekeeping trend instead. Better yet, get them to work making "bee condos" for native, solitary bees that can be hung up around community gardens and local, small-scale farms. Get that activity on Youtube channels. Time for constructive, not destructive, initiatives my young friends.

Insects in the News

One of my unfortunate duties as a blogger of truth and science, here and at Sense of Misplaced, is that I must occasionally dispense bad news. There are plenty of awful stories these days, but bear with me and I'll conclude with something uplifting.

The insect story getting the most press right now, by far, is the "Insect Armageddon" opinion piece in the New York Times, and the follow-up article about the German citizen scientists who made the observations. It appears that there has been a precipitous decline in insect abundance in many parts of Europe, up to 75% over the last twenty-five years. Should the numbers hold up to repetition, this is indeed alarming, if not catastrophic. Insects are the foundation of all major biological processes. You can do the math, use your imagination, and draw the obvious conclusions.

There are plenty of places to point blame for the demise of insect populations, and wildlife declines in general, but accusations and rhetoric are not likely to reverse the course of events. We have to act personally, and locally, to go about changing things for the positive. That means resisting the urge to grab the over-the-counter insecticides, planting native trees, shrubs, and flowers in our urban and suburban landscapes, growing our own vegetables without using chemical treatments, putting up "bee condos" for solitary bees....There is no end to what we can do, and it does make a difference. You are setting an example, for one thing.

jAmerican Burying Beetle, © EcoArkansas.com

Meanwhile, our very own government agencies are against us here in the U.S. Make no mistake about it, the current edition of the federal administration is out to ruin public lands in many ways. I already wrote about U.S. Fish & Wildlife granting permission for the construction of a strip mall known as "Coral Reef Commons" on globally endangered pine rockland habitat near Miami, Florida. The President's directive to shrink Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is further proof of the overriding policy to open public lands to private interests, namely those in the natural resource extraction industries.

It is also quite probable that a lawsuit filed by The Independent Petroleum Association of America, American Stewards of Liberty, and Osage Producers Association will result in the de-listing of the endangered American Burying Beetle, Nicrophorus americanus. This is in spite of the fact that there is grave concern as to whether the species is truly "recovered." It is found only in a handful of isolated locations whereas its historical range was over most of the eastern U.S. It also remains largely a mystery as to why it disappeared in the first place. Until a better understanding is reached, any action toward removing the species from the endangered list is premature at best, and irresponsible at the least. God forbid any creature, Native American population, or other sacred entity stand in the way of short-term profits for greedy corporations.

Oh, well, two can play the lawsuit game, and recently the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas filed suit against the federal government to block construction of the border wall, which would cut right through that private preserve. Take that! I have visited this area and can attest to the rich diversity of all organisms there, thanks to the caretakers who are so devoted to it. Many, if not most, United States records for mostly Mexican butterfly species are recorded from the National Butterfly Center. It is on every naturalist's bucket list of places to visit. A wall cannot be erected there, or through the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge....

Bee-mimicking clearwing moth, Heterosphecia tawonoides, © Marta Skowron Volponi

Ok, I promised some good news, and here it is. It was recently revealed that a spectacular species of clearwing moth was rediscovered after a gap of 130 years in the scientific record. Known previously from only a single specimen housed in a museum in Vienna, Austria, Heterosphecia tawonoides was observed in the Taman Nagara rainforest of Malaysia. It just goes to show how little we know about a planet we are hell bent on destroying in the name of "progress."

Resolve for the new year to get involved, get outdoors, document, record, and report what you find. You never know where your personal discoveries will lead; or whether you are the only thing standing between a lone population of some creature and its potential extirpation. I'm facing that right now myself, but more on that later.

Breaking: Mexican Silverspot Butterfly Sighted in Colorado

Right place, right time, and with a little help from your friends. That is how discoveries are made. All of those factors came together to verify the spotting of a Mexican Silverspot butterfly, Dione moneta on the eastern edge of Colorado Springs, Colorado on April 18, 2017.

Sharon Milito is a geology lecturer at University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and a retired Colorado Springs School district eleven teacher. She has also been a volunteer with the city for ten years, doing paleontology surveys and acting as a science education consultant. She has, in her volunteer capacity, access to places not open to the public, including Jimmy Camp Creek Park on the very eastern edge of the city.

Sharon and I went scouting on Tuesday, April 18, and she took me to specific locations that seem to have a slightly greater biological diversity in the sprawling former ranch. It is a unique composite of many different habitats including mostly shortgrass prairie punctuated with sandstone bluffs. Some of the bluffs are covered in Ponderosa Pine forest. There is also Jimmy Camp Creek itself, a drainage fed by numerous springs within the property. There is almost always water in the creek, and some surprisingly deep pools in the sandstone bed. Otherwise, lots of mud trampled by cattle that still graze the park.

One of the areas we went to boasted a grove of wild plum, Prunus americana, in full bloom. It was like walking into a fairy tale. Hundreds of butterflies were sipping nectar from the blossoms. Most were Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui, but there were also Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), Milbert's Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis milbertis), Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus), Marine Blue (Leptotes marina), and several Monarchs (Danaus plexippus). Most of the Monarchs seem to have had a rough migration up from the south. The whole morning scene was mesmerizing and enchanting.

Eventually, Sharon called me over to ask "what about this one here?" and pointed out a butterfly that had me perplexed initially. At first I thought it was a Variegated Fritillary, which would be expected at this time of year. The wing shape was a little odd, though, and when I glimpsed the underside, it was studded with large, silver spots. Wow, a Gulf Fritillary. That is not a very common butterfly in these parts. I got several images of the insect and we went our merry way. Later, I posted what I thought was our somewhat significant find to the Facebook group "Arthropods Colorado" for more folks to enjoy.

Enter Robb Hannawacker. He raised the stakes substantially higher by proposing that the butterfly was in fact a Mexican Silverspot, Dione moneta. I was embarrassed to admit that until he mentioned it I was not even aware of the species at all, let alone where it is supposed to occur. Robb mentioned the identifying markings, and how our specimen matched them, and it is now pretty obvious that is what we have.

According to my copy of the Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America, the Mexican Silverspot "Strays to south Texas, rarely to southwest and Big Bend region. More at home in mid-elevation tropical woodlands but reported to breed sporadically in lower Rio Grande Valley....Recorded late spring to late fall (multiple broods in Mexico." The butterfly['s normal range extends from Mexico through Central America to Brazil. The larval foodplants are passion vines, which do not occur in Colorado.

The most recent northern record for the species in the online database of Butterflies and Moths of North America was on May 8, 2005 in Roosevelt County, New Mexico, by Christopher Rustay. As near as I can tell, this is the first record for Colorado, at least of recent vintage. Please alert me to additional historical records. Thank you. Now, go forth and see what amazing species you can find.

What's in Your Home?

A recent study revealing the surprising diversity of invertebrates in the average American home has been publicized in the last week through articles in a plethora of magazines, newspapers, and online outlets. Among them are The Atlantic, Wired, the News & Observer, Entomology Today, even Science Knocks on YouTube. The question for you, dear reader, is "what's in your home?"

Gall midges like this one (family Cecidomyiidae) are apparently among the most common indoor insects

The actual study, if you want to read it, was published in the journal Peer J, under the title "Arthropods of the great indoors: characterizing diversity inside urban and suburban homes". Matthew A. Bertone, Misha Leong, Keith M. Bayless, Tara L.F. Malow, Robert R. Dunn, and Michelle D. Trautwein are the authors. They did a systematic but gentle job of capturing specimens in 50 homes in and around Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. We should also applaud the homeowners who volunteered for the study.

I think I would be highly embarrassed to have anyone see the condition of my own home, though I do proudly assert that I am not a lousy housekeeper, I am promoting biodiversity! In fact, I have kept track of the arthropods in our Colorado Springs townhouse the last four years, and though I haven't even emptied the light fixtures to see what bugs have died there, or otherwise done a thorough examination, I have found at least 28 species of arthropods.

That total is apparently low on the spectrum revealed by Bertone and his colleagues, who found 32-211 "morphospecies" per home. A morphospecies is a specimen representative of something that is easily differentiated from other organisms, but not identifiable to a true species without much closer examination. Now I really am sheepish. I'll have to look harder.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug from Oregon

Winter is actually a great time for indoor bug-hunting because you have species that are ever-present, but also those that have made their way indoors for the winter, like Multicolored Asian Lady Beetles, Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs, and Western Conifer Seed Bugs. That firewood you brought in might spawn some longhorned beetles and other wood-boring insects, too.

It is encouraging, but not surprising, that the overwhelming majority of species collected in the study are not the pest species you might expect, but at most "nuisance" insects and spiders that pose no threat to people, pets, or property. This is the message that needs to reach the masses: We can coexist. Indeed, we already are.

The Zika Virus

The Zika virus, transmitted by mosquitoes, has captured headlines recently and set off something of a panic. This is technically not a "new" virus, as it was first discovered in the course of researching yellow fever in Africa in 1947. A rhesus monkey, caged near the Zika Forest in Uganda, contracted a fever of unknown origin, later (1952) determined to be caused by what we now call the Zika virus.

Aedes aegypti, one vector of Zika virus

The first human case occurred in Nigeria in 1954. It has remained rare and largely innocuous throughout its distribution in Africa and southeast Asia, until 2007 when an epidemic erupted on Yap Island in Micronesia. Subsequent epidemics in the Polynesia, Easter Island, the Cook Islands, and New Caledonia increased concern, but nothing like events in the last two months.

Two concerns have cropped up that have infectious disease specialists alarmed: Zika has jumped the Pacific Ocean and is now found in many countries in South America, Central America, and a few Caribbean nations. It has therefore been classified as a pandemic; there is also evidence the virus may be linked to birth defects, specifically microcephaly. There is also the possibility that the virus can, rarely, trigger Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a type of autoimmune disease.

What we know for certain is that the virus is not contagious. It cannot be spread from one person to another through casual contact. It is transmitted by mosquitoes in the genus Aedes, and possibly by sexual intercourse. Most people who contract the virus exhibit symptoms typical of the flu, and recover quickly.

Cases of the Zika virus in the U.S. are known from Florida, Illinois, Texas, and Hawaii. All victims had returned from travel overseas to countries known to harbor Zika.

This chain of events prompted the Centers for Disease Control to issue a Level 2 Travel Alert for pregnant women on January 15, 2016. Recommendations are that pregnant women avoid traveling to countries where the Zika virus is known to exist. This includes Puerto Rico.

An explosion of 3,500 microcephaly cases in Brazil between October, 2015 and January, 2016 is certainly cause for alarm; and it is at least suspicious that this coincides with the recent infiltration of Zika from the Old World.

Whether mosquito populations in the Gulf Coast states of the U.S. will become carriers of Zika is open to speculation, but considering the other illnesses vectored by mosquitoes, it is always an excellent idea to practice preventive measures such as wearing pants, long sleeves, and hats when outdoors. Repellents with DEET as the active ingredient can be applied per instructions (follow them to the letter). Emptying reservoirs and containers that trap rainwater is also crucial, as these are breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Sources: Etymologia: Zika virus. Emerg Infect Dis [Internet]. 2014 Jun [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2006.ET2006
"Zika Virus," Wikipedia

New Report on Chagas Disease Causes Storm of Concern

There has been a great increase in concern, and spread of misinformation recently in response to a press release and policy paper earlier this month. The publication advocates for more research into Chagas disease, caused by a parasitic organism, Trypanosoma cruzi, carried by assassin bugs in the subfamily Triatominae. The result in social media especially has been the misidentification of nearly every indoor "bug" or assassin bug as a "kissing bug" carrying Chagas.

Our most common U.S. "kissing bug," Triatoma sanguisuga

I wrote about our U.S. species of Triatoma in an earlier blog post, and that information remains largely correct. The post also includes information about species regularly confused with Triatoma species.

There is no question that it is in the best interest of governments and scientific institutions to devote more resources to treating and preventing tropical parasitic diseases as the climate continues to warm and new disease vectors spread northward; and as parasitic organisms develop resistance to conventional medicines. The elephant in the room, however, is the increasing population of human immigrants to the northern hemisphere in response to economic suffering and political violence or unrest.

Rural poverty continues to be the reason that many parasitic diseases proliferate, and the driving force behind immigration to nations experiencing relative prosperity and economic opportunities not found in the countries from which immigrants originate.

Victims often carry Chagas disease without showing obvious symptoms, serving as a reservoir for the parasite. Pets, especially dogs, and livestock can also carry the parasites responsible for Chagas. This should not make immigrants, legal or otherwise, enemies of native U.S. citizens, but I fear it is only a matter of time before it becomes a political football, just another excuse to "reform" our immigration policy.

Furthermore, our native species of Triatoma are poor vectors of the disease, which is transmitted when the insect defecates while feeding. The victim of the bite then scratches the parasite-infected feces into the bite wound, or may absent-mindedly rub their eye or other mucous membrane. Our kissing bug species are "potty trained" and nearly always poop after they have left their host.

My friend Richard Fagerlund gave a succinct and accurate assessment of the status of kissing bugs in New Mexico for a television news report, but his advice applies to the rest of the southern U.S. as well: There is simply nothing to be concerned about in urban areas, and simple preventive measures in rural areas, such as keeping your property free of wood rats, almost completely eliminates the prospect of encountering them.

Please help me spread the message that there is no need to panic, especially at this time of year. Kissing bugs are late spring and summer insects, only rarely showing up in autumn. If you are finding an insect in your home right now, it is almost certainly not a Triatoma.

A "New" Beetle in Colorado

Exploring South Cheyenne Cañon the morning of May 2, I casually turned over a chunk of solid but rotten wood to find a large rove beetle clinging to it. Since I don't see staphylinids every day, let alone a large one, and because they typically move faster than your average insect, I bottled it up and brought it home to take a few images. Little did I know what would become of this innocent event.

Rove beetle, Tasgius winkleri, about 10-12 mm

By the time I got around to putting the little fellow (it *is* a male, given the dilated front tarsi - expanded "feet") in my casserole dish staging area, he was clearly not in the best of health. Rove beetles, family Staphylinidae, are well-known for secreting foul substances or odors in self-defense, and I wonder if he asphyxiated himself in the close quarters of the pill vial.

Having limited familiarity with rove beetles, I accepted this was probably a native species of Platydracus, which includes many of our larger rove beetles. Just to be safe, I posted a couple of images on the Facebook group "Friends of Coleoptera at the Natural History Museum (Entomology Museum)." The natural history museum is the one in London, England, but the members of the Facebook group are from all over and collectively knowledgeable beyond measure. Not to mention courteous and kind.

Well, in short order I had many "likes" for the images, and a few random comments suggesting identifications. None of them were Platydracus. Agmal Qodri didn't have an answer, but knew someone who might. "What's your opinion, Adam Brunke?," wrote Agmal. Before Adam could chime in, Harald Schillhammer offered that the beetle was "Tasgius winkleri or T. melanarius." Adam Brunke then concluded it to be Tasgius winkleri.

Considering that most identifications of insects, let alone staphylinids which are among the most diverse of all insect families, hinges on minute characters like length and placement of setae (hairs), I was astounded to get a species ID from my images. There it was, though. What was perhaps helpful was the fact that this beetle is actually native to Europe, where of course it would be familiar to many members of the Facebook group.

Alfred Newton filled in the blanks with his comment: "The range of this European species must be expanding - T. winkleri appeared on both east and west coasts of North America about 90 years ago, has spread westward as far as Illinois, but was not known from anywhere near Colorado." Wow.

I did a little digging to find out more about this beetle and learned it was first reported on U.S. soil in New York in 1938; but it was probably present at least as early as 1931. Since then it has been discovered in the states of New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Washington, Oregon, and California, plus the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia.

Before 1987, this species went by the name Tasgius globulifer, which it turned out included the species T. melanarius, too. Such "splitting" of one species into two or more is the result of hard work by taxonomists who are alert enough to recognize character differences overlooked by their predecessors.

You might want to keep an eye out for this beetle in your neck of the woods. It is "synanthropic," meaning that it is seldom, if ever, found far from humans, and seems to thrive in habitat heavily disturbed by us Homo sapiens. So, look under stones and boards in your garden or neighborhood park, in leaf litter, the edges of wetlands, and similar moist niches.

Source: Brunke, A., A. Newton, J. Klimaszewski, C. Majka, and S.A. Marshall. 2011. Staphylinidae of Eastern Canada and Adjacent United States. Key to Subfamilies; Staphylininae: Tribes and Subtribes, and Species of Staphylinina. Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification No. 12.

Filigree Skimmer State Record for Colorado

Earlier this month, on July 3, I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time to make an important observation and documentation of a male Filigree Skimmer, Pseudoleon superbus, in Colorado Springs. This represents the first confirmed state record for the species as well as a significant northern range extension.

There is a vast series of vacant lots up the hill from my home that includes a narrow, deep riparian corridor through the otherwise degraded shortgrass prairie habitat of the hills. The channel carries water dependably throughout the year, and trickles into Sand Creek, a wide, mostly dry riverbed that sometimes runs in very shallow, meandering rivulets (except during storms when the volume is much greater).

The Filigree Skimmer was frequenting the large pond shown in the habitat shot above, repeatedly perching on the rockwork between forays up and down the watercourse. At first I assumed it was probably a Common Whitetail, Plathymis lydia, but something about those wing markings looked a bit off. Noting where it was repeatedly perching, I worked my way into a position where I could get the images shown here, taken with a Canon Powershot SX50. That powerful zoom sure comes in handy at times like this.

The near pristine condition of the specimen makes me wonder if perhaps the species does breed here rather than migrate up from the species' usual range of southern and central Arizona, New Mexico, and western and central Texas. This is essentially a subtropical species found as far south as Costa Rica, though mostly in dry uplands there.

Male specimens have the wings mostly blackish, especially the hind wings. Females have much less black, arranged in an abstract, reticulated pattern. Both genders have the "pinstripes" on the eyes. The total body length varies from 38-45 millimeters, and the length of the hind wing averages 30-35 millimeters.

The preferred habitat for the Filigree Skimmer is a rocky stream or river with a slow or moderate current, usually in an open setting. The little creek where I found it certainly fits the bill. Females lay their eggs by hovering and dipping the tip of their abdomen into the water, usually in the vicinity of algal mats or piles of detritus. There is plenty of both in this location, too.

Bill Maynard, our local authority on Odonata, asked for directions to the spot where I saw the skimmer, and he visited on July 4 but had no luck. Ironically, he did observe several species of damselflies that I had not yet documented for the area. He also got a lovely image of a Gulf Fritillary butterfly, as likely to be seen this far north as the Filigree Skimmer.

My record of the Filigree Skimmer is awaiting confirmation at Odonata Central. I encourage my readers to consult that website to see what species have been recorded in their state or county, and add their own observations as they deem appropriate.

Just because you have "never seen this (insert name of insect or other arthropod here) before in (your) life," and you have "lived here for (insert number of decades or years)," does not mean that it is something rare or exotic or otherwise novel. BUT, sometimes it really is a unique find worthy of note. That is your take-home lesson for today: Be observant and don't assume anything. It helps me to have some knowledge of what should and should not be here in Colorado, but you, too, can make significant contributions to our collective scientific knowledge.

Source: Paulson, Dennis. 2009. Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 535 pp. I highly recommend this reference, well worth the price.

Saturday Night Special: Personal News Update

Those of you who have your own blogs know that sometimes you lack inspiration to make a post, lack images to illustrate a post with, or even just don’t feel like writing. Then there are the times when you are doing other things instead of blogging. This past week I have confronted all of those obstacles. So, instead of an insect or arachnid, I’ll let you in on what I’m working on in real life, apart from the blogosphere:

• Contributing to another field guide. Once again I am collaborating with naturalist Kenn Kaufman and his wife Kimberly, furnishing text about insects and related arthropods for a regional field guide to the upper Midwest (think Chicago as the epicenter). Besides writing, I am also going through my own insect images to see if any are worthy of inclusion, too.
• Preparing a presentation. I have been invited to give a presentation to the Aiken Audubon Society of Colorado Springs at their monthly meeting on Wednesday, April 17, at 7:00 PM, at the Division of Wildlife building located at 4255 Sinton Road. The title is: “Beyond Birds: the Rewards of Bugwatching.”
• Preparing for a workshop. I have agreed to deliver another Advanced Naturalist Workshop for the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History. This one will take place August 23-25, and cover true bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). I look forward to the friendly confines of the Eulett Center, the eager students, and the biodiversity there on the “edge of Appalachia.”
  
  Melanchra adjuncta
• Planning for “Mothapalooza.” I will be at the Eulett Center in June, too, participating in a moth-centered event there, from June 14-16. Many thanks to several people who are making my visit possible, and cost-effective. I actually look forward to learning a lot, as moths are not my strong suit.
• Planning for “Bug Fest” in Bloomington, Indiana. One of my good friends is organizing a weekend event at the Hilltop Garden and Nature Center on the Indiana University campus, Saturday, June 22. I will help lead field walks and provide any other assistance I can. I will spend the week between this event and Mothapalooza there in Indiana.
• Project Noah. I have been anointed the status of “Ranger” on this interactive website whereby people can post “spottings,” in the form of images uploaded from their computers, cameras, or even smartphones. The mobile accessibility is unique, as is the fact that these spottings are from all over the world. Right now I feel little more than useless since all the insect spotting are coming from the southern hemisphere and I don’t recognize any of them! I’ll be more productive at making identifications once spring has sprung north of the Equator.
• Working on *me*. My wife and I purchased a year membership to Planet Fitness and have been going to the gym regularly to improve our physical health. Some days I’m not sure whether I’m in a gym, a tattoo parlor, or a prison (seriously, one guy the other day had an ankle monitor), but I am already feeling the results after only one month. I have no illusions that I’ll miraculously get the body I had in my 30s, but I want to be as healthy as I can be, especially if I want to travel overseas (which I do).
• Birding. Well, when insects are few and far between, I tend to let my attention drift briefly to birds. This is not all bad. The Aiken Audubon Society has some very nice field trips, with delightful people, and usually great food. The promise of food alone is usually enough to get me up early, but I really enjoy the social aspect since most of my time during the week is spent home alone.
• 
  Boning up on fossil insects. Just today I spoke with people at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, and they would like me to teach a one-day seminar on insects of the park, both extinct and extant. The park is perhaps best known for its unique arthropod fossils. They even have a fossil wasp as their logo. We are looking at July for that possible event.

There are other projects and/or part-time jobs that are stirring, but I don’t want to jinx myself. You will hear about them when the time comes, if it ever does. Meanwhile, I’m trying to figure out how to create “Moth Monday” as a feature when Heidi has Sunday and Monday off, thus pleasantly distracting me….

Spider Sunday: Foreign Spider Now in Florida

Surprise, surprise, surprise, yet another exotic invader has recently been discovered in the Sunshine State. When you have pythons, tegu lizards, and other alien animals roaming free and reproducing in the swamps, a tiny arachnid might seem to be no big deal. Still, it is symptomatic of greater problems in protecting our native ecology that extend beyond lax regulation of the pet trade. This particular species, Cithaeron praedonius, is native to the Old World, from western Africa (Gambia), to Greece, Libya, and Malaysia. It is an accidental introduction to Australia and Brazil (Carvalho, et al., 2007). The first report of this species in the U.S. came from Port Richey in Pasco County, Florida, in February, 2011.

© "MrWheeler" via Bugguide.net

The manner in which the Florida record was revealed reflects the importance of citizen scientists and the power of the internet. A member of the Arachnoboards online community posted images of a spider he had found and that he was having trouble identifying. He then enlisted the help of Florida arachnologist G.B. Edwards. The mystery was solved in part when another Arachnoboards member located in Italy suggested the species. Specimens subsequently sent to Edwards allowed him to confirm the identification conclusively (Edwards & Stiles, 2011).

Whether this was an isolated incident of introduction seems to have been answered with a “no,” as another record was reported this last week on Bugguide.net, another influential internet resource for identifying North American insects and other arthropods. The location this time is Winter Springs, a suburb of Orlando, in Seminole County, Florida.

Cithaeron praedonius is a spider that hunts “on foot,” rather than spinning a web and waiting for prey to be intercepted by the silken snare. In fact, this species may be a specialized predator of other spiders. Observations have shown that in the first Florida case, the live specimens in captivity readily fed on native cobweb weavers, as well as juvenile Brown Widow spiders. Given its nomadic nature, perhaps the species has already spread to neighboring counties from the Port Richey location.

© "MrWheeler" via Bugguide.net

The spider is clearly reproducing, as flat, round egg sacs were found at the Pasco County location. Spiders of different ages were also observed. Each spider creates a silken “nest” in which to molt, and perhaps rest when it is not actively hunting. Otherwise, the spider dispenses with silk in its daily life.

These are small spiders, mature females averaging about 5 millimeters in body length, males about 3 millimeters. The compact arrangement of the eyes might fool one into thinking they might be juvenile males of the Southern House Spider, Kukulcania hibernalis. Worse yet, they could be mistaken for young recluse spiders (Loxosceles sp.).

© "MrWheeler" via Bugguide.net

If you have seen Cithaeron praedonius, or any other unfamiliar spider, consider taking clear images and submitting them to Bugguide, or Project Noah, or another community where scientists and the public interact. Securing specimens and preserving them in ethyl alcohol, along with a label noting the date and location of capture (plus the collector’s name), is tremendously important in confirming identifications later.

Our invasive species have many points of origin and many avenues of access to new territories thanks to unregulated (free?) trade, our internationally mobile society, and our fascination with organisms both floral and faunal, from foreign soils. Perhaps we should be more satisfied with the life that lives here already, and how we can better protect it from exotic competition.

Sources: Carvalho, Leonardo S., Alexandre B. Bonaldo, and Antonio D. Brescovit. 2007. “The first record of the family Cithaeronidae (Araneae, Gnaphosoidea) to the new world,” Revista Brasileira de Zoologica 24(2): 512-514.
Edwards, G.B. and Joe T. Stiles. 2011. “The first North American records of the synanthropic spider Cithaeron praedonius O.P.-Cambridge (Araneae: Gnaphosoidea: Cithaeronidae), with notes on its biology,” Insecta Mundi 0187: 1-7.