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Title: New records of Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) from Wyoming, U.S.A.

Author
item Hesler, Louis
item LOSEY, JOHN - Cornell University
item ALLEE, LESLIE - Cornell University
item SMYTH, REBECCA RICE - Cornell University

Submitted to: The Coleopterists Bulletin
Publication Type: Research Notes
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/20/2013
Publication Date: 3/20/2014
Citation: Hesler, L.S., Losey, J.S., Allee, L.L., Smyth, R. 2014. New records of Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) from Wyoming, U.S.A.. The Coleopterists Bulletin. 68:128-130.

Interpretive Summary: Lists of animal species are maintained for ecological management units (e.g., preserves, parks, and lakes), political units (e.g., counties and states), and various other entities in which specific environmental policy and practices may be applied. However, animal distributions are dynamic, and the fauna associated with a particular area may change due to accidental or intentional introductions of new species, extinctions, and natural geographic range expansions or contractions of species. Thus, periodic field surveys and collections of fauna are necessary to maintain a current species inventory. Accordingly, ongoing curation of new material deposited into the zoological museum collections and the periodic review of these collections is needed for generating accurate, up-to-date species lists. Recently, undetermined lady beetles within the University of Wyoming Insect Museum, Laramie, Wyoming, were reviewed, and this resulted in new records of four species of lady beetles from the state. This article summarizes new records for three species without common names: Scymnus calaveras, Exochomus townsendi, and Hippodamia moesta bowditchi. In addition, a new state record was established for Coccinella septempunctata, also known as the sevenspotted lady beetle, an invasive species that was introduced into eastern North America several years and has subsequently spread westward. Several digital images of the sevenspotted lady beetles from Wyoming that had been submitted to the Lost Ladybug Project (LLP), and these were used to confirm that this non-native species is now distributed throughout Wyoming. The new records of lady beetles presented here support the contention that periodic examination of undetermined material may yield new knowledge about the geographic distribution of beetle species. Furthermore, additional records of C. septempunctata from the LLP demonstrated that it may useful as a reference source for studying the geographic distribution of lady beetles. Further study is needed to determine particular habitat and prey associations of these lady beetles in Wyoming.

Technical Abstract: Faunal distributions are dynamic, and the fauna associated with a particular area may change due to accidental or intentional introductions of new species, extinctions, and natural geographic range expansions or contractions of species. Thus, periodic field surveys and collections of fauna are necessary to maintain a current species inventory. Accordingly, ongoing curation of new material deposited into the zoological collections of museums and the periodic review of these collections is needed for generating accurate, up-to-date faunal lists. Recently, undetermined lady beetles within the University of Wyoming Insect Museum, Laramie, Wyoming, were examined, resulting in new records for four species of lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from Wyoming. This paper summarizes new records for Scymnus (Pullus) calaveras Casey, Exochomus townsendi Casey, Hippodamia moesta bowditchi Johnson, and Coccinella septempunctata L. Moreover, several digital images of C. septempunctata from Wyoming that had been submitted to the Lost Ladybug Project (LLP) were used to confirm that this non-native species is now distributed throughout Wyoming. New records of lady beetles presented here support the contention that periodic examination of undetermined material may yield new knowledge about the geographic distribution of beetle species. Furthermore, additional records of C. septempunctata from the LLP demonstrated the utility of its database as a reference source for studying the geographic distribution of coccinellids. Further study is needed to determine particular habitat and prey associations of these lady beetles in Wyoming.