Circus of the Spineless #10

COTS #10 is up on Science & Sensibility. No, it's not the Carnival of the Sycophants. "Spineless" as in:

... Of the two and a half million animals so far described considerably less than 60,000 fall into the sub-phylum Vertebrata [the spined] - that is, less than three percent of described animals build their bodies in the same way we do. Even that number is a great under-estimation; there are probably at least 10 million arthropods and very few vertebrates not yet known to man. ...

So, fellow gardeners, when you're feeling outnumbered by the beasties in your garden, you are.

Your host got picked up for this issue:

More beetle news from Xris of Flatbush Gardener who reports that the state of New York has decided to change the state insect to one that actually lives in the state of New York.

Even cooler, several of my favorite bloggers are also in this issue, including:

• Bev at Burning Silo steals the show with The surprise behind an Io Moth's forewings, from the water into the air, fireflies in action, eggs under a leaf and the hatchlings, and a strange chimera. She's got the best "bugs", and the most magnificent macrophotography of them.
• A slightly anticlimactic series of photos from Wayne at Niches.
• Owlet Butterflies from Carel's Rigor Vitae.
• Bobtail squid, pop-culture squids and a giant octopus from PZ Myer's Pharyngula.
  
• Drosophila melanogaster body clock gene and daily rhythms in Cnidaria from Coturnix.
  
• Image of carnivorous shrimp captured by a submersible and Washington State deep-water corals from Peter Etnoyer's Deep Sea News.
  

And there's several blogs in COTS #10 new to me which are going on my rolls.

GAO Testimony, June 21, 2006: Invasive Forest Pests

On April 21, 2006, Daniel Bertoni, Acting Director, Natural Resources and Environment, Government Accounting Office (GAO), provided testimony before the House Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health. His testimony follows two recent GAO Reports on this topic:

• April 24, 2006: Invasive Forest Pests: Lessons Learned from Three Recent Infestations May Aid in Managing Future Efforts (previously reported on this blog)
• May 19, 2006: Homeland Security: Management and Coordination Problems Increase the Vulnerability of U.S. Agriculture to Foreign Pests and Disease

It's sort of a good news (little), bad news (more), report.

First, there's some hopeful news regarding Anoplophora glabripennis, the Asian longhorned beetle, or "ALB":

On the basis of the available evidence, it appears that the Asian longhorned beetle will be eradicated in the three states that have infestations, although funding reductions have extended the likely completion date. ...

The "three states that have infestations" are New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. However, ALB has been detected near ports of entry throughout the United States, including Florida, Texas, California and Washington states.

Not so good news on EAB and Sudden Oak Death:

... In contrast, the emerald ash borer and P. ramorum--the pathogen that causes Sudden Oak Death--are likely to continue to infest and damage forest ecosystems in the Midwest and on the West Coast, despite efforts to control them. ...

And some observations on how things got so bad:

... We identified areas of vulnerability that we believe increase the risk of future forest pest infestations. Specifically, we found that despite efforts to expand USDA's forest health monitoring programs, they do not adequately provide for comprehensive monitoring in urban forests or other locations considered at high risk from pest invasions. Monitoring in such areas is important because they are common destination points for internationally traded cargo, which is a frequent pathway for pests. Improvements could help prevent situations such as those experienced with the Asian longhorned beetle, the emerald ash borer, and P. ramorum, in which years of delay in detection allowed them to become established before control programs began. In our report on port inspections, we found that DHS has not used a risk-based staffing model to assign newly hired agricultural specialists to ports of entry. As a result, DHS does not have assurance that staff are assigned to areas of greatest vulnerability. ...

Resources, Links, and References:

• Invasive Forest Pests: Recent Infestations and Continued Vulnerabilities at Ports of Entry Place U.S. Forests at Risk, GAO-06-871T, June 21, 2006. All quotes above are from the Abstract.
• Asian Longhorned Beetle at the University of Vermont is comprehensive and accessible. Their identification page, with comparative photos of ALB and similar and easily confused species, is excellent.

Technorati tags: Anoplophora glabripennis, Asian longhorned beetle

Invasive Plant Profile: Artemisia vulgaris, Common wormwood, Mugwort

Artemisia vulgaris, Mugwort, in the sunny border at Garden #4 in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York. The first photo shows the habit of growth. For scale, the stepping stones are 11" square. The plants in this photo are about two to two-and-a-half feet tall.
The second photo shows an entire plant removed from this area. You can see the horizontal root below and to the right. The plant regenerates if any part of this root remains in the soil.
After taking these photos I removed all the plants.
Photos taken: June 4, 2006.

This photo shows what you get less than 20 days later if you don't get all the roots out!
Photo taken: June 23, 2006

Artemisia Vulgaris, Common wormwood or Mugwort, is a perennial herbaceous (at least in Zone 7a) plant in the Asteraceae (Compositae), the Aster, Daisy or Sunflower family.

The emerging foliage, as seen in the third photo above, looks like Chrysanthemum. The maturing plants, as in the first two photos, remind me of ragweed. The pleasant (to me), pungent scent of the leaves alone identifies it as an Artemisia, a sage. The semi-woody stems and distinctive scent distinguish it from Chrysanthemum or ragweed.

The flowers individually are insigificant. When in bloom, collectively the flowers don't offer much either, forming just a greyness around the tops of the plants, as if they had lint stuck between their leaves. I've seen some listings of more ornamental selections with more prominent flowers, and even one with variegated leaves.

"Wort" is an old suffix for plants traditionally used for medicinal and healing purposes, for example: Lungwort. I don't know what "Mug" identifies that would need healing. It also has culinary uses as a seasoning. It's widely available commercially, sold as an herb. You're welcome to have mine for free, if there's any left after I'm done ripping it out. Artemisias also have toxic properties. Among other applications, A. vulgaris has been used as a natural abortifacient in early pregnancy. Another well-known member of the genus is A. absinthium, Absinthe.

It has escaped cultivation and is reproducing in the wild. Several sources categorize it as invasive. Once established, it can be difficult to eliminate through mechanical means. It's common along roadsides in New York City. The photos from my garden above show the long, rambling root system, and how easily it regrows from any small part of the root left behind. I expect to be pulling this up for years from my garden, until I've exhausted it.

References:

• USDA PLANTS Database: Symbol ARVUV
• Wikipedia: Artemisia vulgaris
  

Technorati tags: Artemisia vulgaris, Mugwort

Carnival of the Green #33

Carnival of the Green #33 is up on Jen's Green Journal, and yours truly is in it:

Flatbush Gardener (Xris) reviews for us the book Eco-friendly Living in New York City and focuses on some of the book's gardening tips for city dwellers.

Some minor quibbles:

• I didn't (yet) review the book. It was reviewed in Science & the City from the New York Academy of Sciences.
• The gardening tips are all things which I do, or would like to do, in my garden with respect to two of the five general tips offered in the book review: reducing water use, and reduce, reuse, recycle. I didn't get them from the book.

That aside, I'm proud to be listed. This is my first carnival. I'm no longer a "virgin."

Links:

• Carnival of the Green is coordinated by City Hippy and Triple Pundit
• Jen's Green Journal
• New York Academy of Sciences, Science & the City
• Green Apple Guide

News, June 26, 2005: Pesticide exposure increases risk of Parkinson's disease

People who have been exposed to pesticides are 70 percent more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than those who haven't, according to a new study. The results suggest that any pesticide exposure, whether occupationally related or not, will increase a person's risk of the disease. This means that using pesticides in the home or garden may have similarly harmful effects as working with the chemicals on a farm or as a pest controller.
... Previous small-scale human studies had suggested a link between pesticides and Parkinson's, but this new study is the first to establish a clear correlation in a large patient population.
- Study Bolsters Link between Pesticides and Parkinson's, Scientific American

Links:

• Annals of Neurology
  

Technorati tags: pesticides, Parkinson's disease

Deceased, June 12, 2006: Sir Peter Henry Berry Otway Smithers

Peter Smithers Dies at 92; Spy With a Green Thumb - New York Times:

Sir Peter Smithers, who saw his work as a lawyer, politician, diplomat, scholar, photographer and spy as distractions from his passion for growing glorious gardens, died on June 8 in Vico Morcote, Switzerland. He was 92.
...
As a spy in World War II, he worked for Ian Fleming, who went on to create the fictional spy James Bond ...
Arguably, though, Sir Peter was to gardening what Bond was to martinis. The Royal Horticulture Society gave him one of its highest awards, the Gold Veitch Memorial Medal. His garden in Switzerland — with 10,000 plants, none a duplicate — won a prize for being the best in that country in 2001. The Financial Times said it was named one of the 500 greatest gardens since Roman times.
...
Peter Henry Berry Otway Smithers was born in Yorkshire on Dec. 9, 1913. He grew up hanging around potting sheds, spending spare change on plants. His nanny was a fervent naturalist who fed him fried blackbird eggs and hedge trimmings.

At 13, he persuaded the Royal Horticultural Society to let him attend the Chelsea Flower Show, the first child to do so, The Guardian said. At his public school, Harrow, he began an index of every plant and seed packet he acquired; it grew to 32,000 entries by his death.
...

- Peter Smithers Dies at 92; Spy With a Green Thumb, New York Times, June 25, 2006 (subscription required)

Links:

• American Clivia Society
• Council of Europe
• New York Times
  
• Royal Horticultural Society
  

Technorati tags: Sir Peter Henry Berry Otway Smithers, Gardening, Ian Fleming, James Bond

Coleomegilla usurps Coccinella as New York State Insect

[Update, 2006.08.15: Corrected the date to 2006 from 2005!]

---

News, June 15, 2006, Albany, NY: The New York State Assembly bill A06247 passed and delivered to the Senate:

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL : Alters terminology of the state insect.

JUSTIFICATION : To change the official state insect from the Nine-spotted lady beetle (Coccinella novemnotata) species of the lady bug, which is no longer found in New York State, to another species of Lady Bug, the Spotted lady bug (Coleomegilla maculata).

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY : New Bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS : None.

EFFECTIVE DATE : Immediately.

Here's how the New York Times reported it today, June 23:

The state's official insect, a nine-spotted ladybug, would no longer fly in that role: it is extinct in New York State. So legislators took a break from bickering over health care spending and property taxes in the waning days of the session and found common ground on the issue of designating a new state insect, making it the pink spotted ladybug instead.
- A Few Things Lawmakers Can Agree On [requires subscription for viewing]

I think the correct term would be "extirpated" in New York State. Regardless, the article goes on to quote Nancy Calhoun, Republican, sponsor of the bill:

... "I know it's not earth-shattering," said the assemblywoman, Nancy Calhoun, who represents parts of Orange and Rockland Counties.

Ms. Calhoun says she was just trying to right a wrong. Lawmakers first adopted the state's official bug in 1989, but the nine-spotted ladybug had already become extinct in the state. Ms. Calhoun was alerted to the error by a reporter a couple of years ago and she submitted a bill to rectify the matter.

"Why do we want to get something like this wrong?" Ms. Calhoun said. "It would be like having a dinosaur as our state reptile." ...

It's an interesting question. In fact, New York State has a state fossil, the Sea Scorpion, which is an extinct relative of the Horseshoe Crab, which is not. So intentionally selecting an extinct state symbol is not out of the question. The comparison is not accurate, however. Dinosaurs were extinct before we got onto the scene; C. novemnotata was once common. A better question is: How did New York State get to have a once-native-but-no-longer-resident state insect?

The back-story can be found in the Fall 2003 issue of Wings, the magazine of the Xerces Society:

Article, BioScience, April 2006: The Economic Value of Insects

The Economic Value of Ecological Services Provided by Insects
Authors: Losey, John E.; Vaughan, Mace
Source: BioScience, Volume 56, Number 4, April 2006, pp. 311-323(13)
Publisher: American Institute of Biological Sciences

Abstract:

In this article we focus on the vital ecological services provided by insects. We restrict our focus to services provided by “wild” insects; we do not include services from domesticated or mass-reared insect species. The four insect services for which we provide value estimates—dung burial, pest control, pollination, and wildlife nutrition—were chosen not because of their importance but because of the availability of data and an algorithm for their estimation. We base our estimations of the value of each service on projections of losses that would accrue if insects were not functioning at their current level.We estimate the annual value of these ecological services provided in the United States to be at least $57 billion, an amount that justifies greater investment in the conservation of these services.

And from the authors' conclusion:

... our findings lead us to espouse three qualitative guidelines. First, cost-free or relatively inexpensive measures are almost certainly justified to maintain and increase current service levels. Examples include volunteer construction of nest boxes for wild pollinators [butterfly houses?] and the inclusion of a diverse variety of native plant species in plantings for bank or soil stabilization and site restoration (Shepherd et al. 2003,Vaughan et al. 2004). Second, actions or investments that are estimated to have an economic return at or slightly below the break-even point, such as the use of less toxic pesticides, are probably justified because of their nontarget benefits. Third, actions that lead to substantial decreases in biodiversity should be avoided because of the high probability of a major disruption in essential services.
...
Once the benefits of insect-provided services are realized, there may be some call for increased funding to conserve rare insects through the Endangered Species Act. Insects are certainly underrepresented and underfunded through this legislation, and increased funding could save many rare insect species from extinction. However, while increasing funds targeted for the conservation of endangered species would help those beneficial insect species that share habitat with listed species, it would not in itself be sufficient to ensure the continuation of the services provided by beneficial insects.

The full text of the article is available in PDF format for free from the BioScience Web site.

Garden Ephemera: Insect (Orthoptera-Tettigoniidae?) on Mugwort

Photo taken: June 4, 2006, Garden #4, Flatbush, Brooklyn

Unknown insect on Artemisia vulgaris, Mugwort, in the sunny border at Garden #4 in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

It was small, the body no more than 1/2 inch long. I think it may be a juvenile form; it doesn't appear to have any wings at all.

The antenna on this little guy are incredible. They look to be three times the length of the body, not including the legs. The hind legs themselves are about 1.5 times the length of the body.

I have no idea what it is. I think it's in the Order Orthoptera, Family Tettigoniidae, which includes grasshoppers, katydids, and the like. It's hard to tell with this image, but the hind tarsi, the rear feet, look like they have only three segments instead of the four which is a key for this family of insects.

Artemisia vulgaris, Mugwort, is an invasive plant. I'll have a profile of it on another day. After I took this and some other pictures, I removed it from the border. It's been almost three weeks, and it's coming back up now, so Ill have to go at it again.

Insect Profile: Apion (Rhopalapion) longirostre, Hollyhock weevil

Apion (Rhopalapion) longirostre, Hollyhock weevil, on, of all things, my hollyhocks in the sunny border at Garden #4 in Flatbush. The upper photo shows a single male, I believe, on a leaf. The lower photo shows a pair in their typical posture, ie: mating. The female has her (even longer) snout buried in the flower bud.
Photos taken: June 4, 2006

The taxonomy of Apion (Rhopalapion) longirostre, common name Hollyhock weevil or (sometimes) Black vine weevil, is confusing. I've seen it listed as being in the Family Brentidae, the straight snout weevils, the Apionidae or Apioninae, and the Curculionidae. Whatever! They are in the order Coleoptera, the beetles.

The genus Apion seem to generally have long snouts. Their antenna are jointed and located halfway along the snout. A. longirostre is distinguished from other Apion species by its orange legs.

Their native range of A. longirostre is in Eurasia, originally limited to southern and southeastern Europe and Asia Minor. It has since spread much further afield there. It was first detected in North America in Georgia in 1914. Within fifty years it had spread across the continent.