Corresponding author: Michael Joseph Skvarla (
Academic editor: Torsten Dikow
This is the fourth in a series of papers detailing the terrestrial arthropods collected during an intensive survey of a site near Steel Creek campground along the Buffalo National River in Arkansas. The survey was conducted over a period of eight and a half months in 2013 using twelve trap types, including Malaise and canopy traps, Lindgren multifunnel traps, and pan traps.
We provide collection records for 38 species of
The Interior Highlands is mountainous region in the central United States. It has remained exposed for the last 270 million years and has historically acted as a refugium during times of inhospitable climate (
Because this paper covers species from a variety of fly families, we provide the following summaries of each family and lower taxon treated.
Little is known about lygistorrhinids. Most specimens are collected using passive traps (i.e., Malaise traps) or by sweep netting vegetation and almost nothing is known about their behavior and biology, including the immature stages (
The sampling protocol was covered in detail by
The following traps were maintained within a 4 ha site at Steel Creek, Buffalo National River, Arkansas (see Geographic coverage for a description of the site): five Malaise traps, twenty-five pan traps (five of each color: blue, purple, red, yellow, white) which were randomly arranged under the Malaise traps (one of each color per Malaise trap); fifteen Lindgren multi-funnel traps (five of each color: black, green, purple); four SLAM (Sea, Land, and Air Malaise) traps with top and bottom collectors placed in the canopy; and seventeen pitfall trap sets. Additionally, ten leaf litter samples were collected for Berlese extraction when traps were serviced.
Trap placement began on 8 March 2013 and all traps were set by 13 March 2013, except Lindgren funnels, which were set on 1 April 2013. Traps set earlier than 13 March were reset on that date in order to standardize trap catch between traps. Traps were serviced approximately every two weeks. The last collection of pitfall traps and pan traps occurred on 6 November 2013; Malaise, SLAM, and Lindgren funnel traps were run for an additional month, with the final collection on 4 December 2013. In total, 1311 samples were collected.
RV and marine antifreeze, which contains both propylene glycol and ethanol, was used as the preservative in all traps as it is non-toxic, inexpensive, and preserves specimens reasonably well (
Samples were coarse-sorted using a Leica MZ16 stereomicroscope illuminated with a Leica KL1500 LCD light source and a Wild M38 stereomicroscope illuminated with an Applied Scientific Devices Corp. Eco-light 20 fiber optic light source. After sorting, specimens were stored individually or by family in 2 mL microtubes in 70% ethanol until they could be pinned or pointed.
All specimens are deposited in the University of Arkansas Arthropod Museum (UAAM).
The survey was conducted within a 4 hectare plot established at Steel Creek along the Buffalo National River in Newton County, Arkansas, centered at approximately N 36°02.269', W 93°20.434'. The site is primarily 80–100 year old mature second-growth Eastern mixed deciduous forest dominated by oak (
36.0367 and 36.0397 Latitude; -93.3917 and -93.3397 Longitude.
Rank | Scientific Name | |
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order |
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Creative Commons CCZero
Steel Creek survey
1
Steel Creek
Darwin Core Archive
Column label | Column description |
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typeStatus | Nomenclatural type applied to the record |
catalogNumber | Unique within-project and within-lab number applied to the record |
recordedBy | Who recorded the record information |
individualCount | The number of specimens contained within the record |
lifeStage | Life stage of the specimens contained within the record |
kingdom | Kingdom name |
phylum | Phylum name |
class | Class name |
order | Order name |
family | Family name |
genus | Genus name |
specificEpithet | Specific epithet |
scientificNameAuthorship | Name of the author of the lowest taxon rank included in the record |
scientificName | Complete scientific name including author and year |
taxonRank | Lowest taxonomic rank of the record |
country | Country in which the record was collected |
countryCode | Two-letter country code |
stateProvince | State in which the record was collected |
county | County in which the record was collected |
municipality | Closest municipality to where the record was collected |
locality | Description of the specific locality where the record was collected |
verbatimElevation | Average elevation of the field site in meters |
verbatimCoordinates | Approximate center point coordinates of the field site in GPS coordinates |
verbatiumLatitude | Approximate center point latitude of the field site in GPS coordinates |
verbatimLongitude | Approximate center point longitude of the field site in GPS coordinate |
decimalLatitude | Approximate center point latitude of the field site in decimal degrees |
decimalLongitude | Approximate center point longitude of the field site in decimal degrees |
georeferenceProtocol | Protocol by which the coordinates were taken |
identifiedBy | Who identified the record |
eventDate | Date or date range the record was collected |
habitat | Description of the habitat |
language | Two-letter abbreviation of the language in which the data and labels are recorded |
institutionCode | Name of the institution where the specimens are deposited |
basisofRecord | The specific nature of the record |
We collected and identified specimens representing 12 families, 27 genera, and 38 species during this study (Table
It is unsurprising that only one of the twenty species of
Previous publications have utilized social media and citizen science websites such as Facebook, Flickr, and Bugguide to discover new species (e.g.,
We thank Chris Haryley, Gayle and Jeanell Strickland, Steve Nanz, Phil Huntley-Franck, and Stephen A. Marshall for giving permission to use their photographs and Lisa Bentley, Patrick Coin, and M.J. Hatfield for posting their photographs of
Female, dorsal
Female, lateral
Male, dorsal
Male, lateral
Two
Cropped detail of figure 2a.
The same two
Detail of figure 2c, clearly showing nectivory.
References used in identification.
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General identification | ||
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Distinctive genus represented by a single species in the Eastern United States, no key necessary. |
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Species collected, including total number of specimens. New state records are indicated by an asterisk (*).
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15 | |
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11 | |
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2 | |
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1 | |
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10 | |
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1 | |
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5 | |
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22 | |
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6 | |
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3 | |
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33 | |
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2 | |
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3 | |
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3 | |
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9 | |
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1 | |
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26 | |
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2 | |
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3 | |
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2 | |
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1 | |
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4 | |
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1 | |
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1 | |
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1 | |
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680 | |
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2 | |
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2 | |
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1 | |
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6 | |
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4 |