ארכיון יומן של אוגוסט 2019

אוגוסט 26, 2019

Acmaeodera yuccavora

This past weekend, I decided to take a quick trip to Dog Canyon, just south of Alamogordo. I went specifically for Acmaeodera auritincta, which was seen in the area last year at about this time. I was definitely successful, as I found 10+ individuals on the Dog Canyon Trail. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/31434949
Other than this, the Bup life was surprisingly dull, with the exception of one observation of Acmaeodera yuccavora.

As I was hiking down the trail back towards the visitor centre at Oliver Lee SP, a small insect caught my eye on a small yellow flower. I got a quick, good view of the insect before it flew. I am certain it was Acmaeodera yuccavora.

Appearance: Small Acmaeodera, larger than A. quadrivittatoides, but slightly smaller than A. variegata, both species found in a similar habitat (albeit different times of year). The Bup was black and had four tan stripes across each elytron that didn’t quite reach the fused suture. The end of the Bup was rounded, and very similar in appearance to A. quadrivittatoides in shape. I did not get a good look at the pronotum or underside.

Behaviour: The Bup was on a small flower, which is typical for most Acmaeoderae. Flower species did not match BugGuide’s one species named (Allionia), but this species does not have enough data for us to possibly declare only one adult host.

When I flushed it, however, it flew about 3 metres before landing on the rock surface. This is probably the number one biggest indicator of this species. Knull’s paper says that it will, “frequently alight on paths or other bare areas,” which is not common in Acmaeodera. They will generally, when flushed, fly to another adult host or larval host occasionally, not the ground. After it landed there for about 30 seconds, it flew towards a large rock surface by a dangerous precipice (hence the reason why I couldn’t find it again).

Range: Nearly every databased A. yuccavora is collected in AZ, with a few Mexican records and one NM record in western NM. Knull’s specimens were nearly all found in the Chiricahua Mountains, and subsequent collectors have collected it in other areas around Portal as well. The Mexican record was photographed on iNaturalist, and the NM record posted onto BugGuide. However, the closest record is 250 km away from Alamogordo. That it why this find is so significant for me: it would expand A. yuccavora’s range by a significant amount.

Host: Although the majority of the Asparagus species were Dasylirion, which shewed no sign of being an alternative host, Yucca was found semi-regularly on the trail. When I return, I’ll collect some stalks of the dead Yuccae in hopes to rear some.

Unfortunately, this observation was by eye only, so it really accounts for nothing, but I hope to go out again in a couple of weeks (not next week, I’ll be in Vegas) and try to find this awesome Bup again!

הועלה ב-אוגוסט 26, 2019 03:56 אחה"צ על ידי tuftedparidae tuftedparidae | 0 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

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