Jean K. Krejca

Foraging Range and Habitat Use of Ceuthophilus secretus (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae), a Key Trogloxene in Central Texas Cave Communities

Abstract Cave invertebrate communities are dependent upon exogenous energy sources because their environment generally lacks primary producers. In small caves of central Texas, endemic terrestrial cave invertebrates often rely in part on the energy brought into caves by cave crickets (Ceuthophilus spp.), which forage above ground at night and roost in caves during the daytime. Knowledge of cave cricket foraging range is needed to effectively protect invertebrate communities that include federally endangered species. We marked approximately 2000 C. secretus emerging from Big Red Cave (Coryell County, Texas) with UV bright paint and located 291 previously marked crickets over 17 nights. Crickets foraged up to 105 m from the cave entrance and were present in relatively uniform densities out to 80 m. While 51.1% of the crickets were found within 40 m, 8.1% were found at 80 m or beyond. Relocated crickets were predominantly found in grasses (30.7%), leaf litter (22.4%) and herbaceous vegetation (20.4%) and were found close to ground level (mean = 0.49 cm). Our results show that C. secretus can forage at much greater distances than previously reported. The new data from our study should assist in the development of effective preserve design and management strategies for caves with endangered species in central Texas.

Troglomorphic sculpins of the Cottus carolinae species group in Perry County, Missouri: distribution, external morphology, and conservation status

The existence of cavernicolous sculpin (here allocated to Cottus carolinae, banded sculpin, and referred to as grotto sculpin), in the karst regions of Perry County, Missouri, first came to our attention in 1991. Examination of 35 caves in Missouri, 96 in Illinois, 17 in Tennessee, two in Indiana, and 11 in Arkansas revealed that banded sculpin are common in cave habitats; however, grotto sculpin are limited to two karst areas of Perry County, Missouri, where they are known from only six cave systems. These caves and their streams are extensive and apparently provide a unique habitat compared to other karst systems; this may be a critical factor in the present restricted distribution of the grotto sculpin. Grotto sculpin occupy pools and riffles of cave streams, and occur over a variety of substrates, from sediment to breakdown. Density estimates in Mystery and Running Bull caves were 0.29 and 0.63 individuals m-2, respectively. Grotto sculpin have small eyes (1–6% SL vs. 6–10% SL in epigean samples), significantly reduced pigmentation (including nearly complete loss of dorsal saddles), a reduction in pelvic fin ray number (from 4+4 elements to often 4+3 , or 3+3), and enlarged cephalic lateralis pores (e.g., mandibular pores of cavernicolous samples are 2–3 times those of epigean stream samples). Multivariate analyses of body shape revealed statistically significant separation of epigean and hypogean samples, with eye size highly variable, but smallest in the Running Bull Cave population. We interpret these results as representative of losses associated with long-term cave habitation. Caves of Perry County provide ample habitat for grotto sculpin, but because the caves are located downgradient of the city of Perryville and an intensively farmed landscape, point and non-point source pollution threaten their continued existence. Escape of farm-pond fishes through the extensive sinkhole network in Perry County has increased potential predation pressure on grotto sculpin by channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, and other species normally excluded from cave environments.

Mexican blindcats genus Prietella (Siluriformes: Ictaluridae): an overview of recent explorations

The ictalurid genus Prietella was described from a single locality in northern Mexico (Coahuila) in 1954, and until very recently went largely unstudied. Cave explorers have recently uncovered new localities and a second species much farther to the south (Mexico: Tamaulipas). Our team visited over 50 sites, including all of the previously known sites possible, and explored many new sites, expanding the known range of Prietella and describing their habitat. We identified geological units and mapped caves, identified associated troglobitic invertebrates, estimated population sizes and measured water chemistry parameters. We also comment on laboratory diet, parasites, sensory biology, behavior (such as jaw locking and periods of inactivity), reproduction and systematics based on preliminary genetic data. Prietella phreatophila is listed as endangered, and due to the recent discovery of many more sites (formerly documented from three localities, now known from twelve sites, though some are hydrologically connected) we recommend threatened status, with careful attention to growing threats such as over pumping and contamination of the aquifer it lives in. Should these patterns continue unchecked, re-listing this species as endangered may be called for. Prietella lundbergi was also described from one site but is now known from two, though it is quite rare at both (only five specimens have ever been seen). P. lundbergi was described after the most recent revision of the Mexican endangered species list and should probably be considered as endangered.

Phylogeographic Structure and Color Pattern Variation among Populations of Plethodon albagula on the Edwards Plateau of Central Texas

Abstract Texas populations of slimy salamanders are isolated from other members of the Plethodon glutinosus complex and are currently placed in the species P. albagula with populations from the Ozark Plateau and Ouachita Mountains of Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. We sequenced a portion of the mitochondrial protein-coding gene ND4 for 52 P. albagula from 25 localities in Texas and one locality in Missouri. Bayesian MCMC analysis identified five parapatric lineages of Plethodon in Texas. Several morphologically distinctive populations are phylogenetically embedded within the Texas radiation. Additional studies of the interactions among the lineages identified in this study will be necessary to resolve their taxonomic status.

First Reports of the Invasive Grass-Feeding Leafhopper Balclutha rubrostriata (Melichar) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) in the United States

ABSTRACT: The invasive leafhopper Balclutha rubrostriata (Melichar) was found in abundance in Bexar County, Texas. An arthropod diversity study along highway right-of-way in September and October, 2008 identified B. rubrostriata as the single most abundant species. This is the first peerreviewed published record of this invasive species in the mainland United States. Other records of this species in the U.S. are discussed. Diagnostic characters of the adults are provided and illustrated, and the nymph is described and illustrated for the first time. Genomic DNA was extracted from one adult and one nymph specimen, and the mitochondrial COI gene was sequenced for each and yielded identical sequences, thus confirming the association of the nymph and adult. Sequences are deposited in GenBank for future use in diagnostic or other studies.

A new species of Illacme Cook & Loomis, 1928 from Sequoia National Park, California, with a world catalog of the Siphonorhinidae (Diplopoda, Siphonophorida)

Abstract Members of the family Siphonorhinidae Cook, 1895 are thread-like eyeless millipedes that possess an astounding number of legs, including one individual with 750. Due to their cryptic lifestyle, rarity in natural history collections, and sporadic study over the last century, the family has an unclear phylogenetic placement, and intrafamilial relationships remain unknown. Here we report the discovery of a second species of Illacme, a millipede genus notable for possessing the greatest number of legs of any known animal on the planet. Illacme tobini sp. n. is described from a single male collected in a cave in Sequoia National Park, California, USA. After 90 years since the description of Illacme, the species represents a second of the genus in California. Siphonorhinidae now includes Illacme Cook & Loomis, 1928 (two species, USA), Kleruchus Attems, 1938 (one species, Vietnam), Nematozonium Verhoeff, 1939 (one species, South Africa) and Siphonorhinus Pocock, 1894 (eight species, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Vietnam).

Discovery of Endangered Mexican Blindcat, Prietella phreatophila, in Texas: Implications for International Groundwater Management and Evolution of the Regional Karst Aquifer Biota

Paper presented July 15, 2017 at the annual Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in Austin, Texas, USA (http://conferences.k-state.edu/JMIH-Austin-2017/). The oral presentation of this content mentioned questions about the taxonomy and phylogenetic position of Prietella lundbergi and the only specimens attributed to P. lundbergi apart from the holotype. Since the presentation, we obtained high resolution CT scans of both the holotype and a specimen (TNHC 25767) from Cueva del Nacimiento del Rio Frio, not far north of the type locality. The anatomy revealed in those CT scans suggests that these specimens represent a single species, and that P. lundbergi is only remotely related to Prietella phreatophila, which would be consistent with results of Wilcox, T.P., F.J. Garcia de Leon, Dean A. Hendrickson, and D.M. Hillis. 2004. “Convergence among Cave Catfishes: Long-Branch Attraction and a Bayesian Relative Rates Test.” Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31 (3): 1101–13. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2003.11.006). Thus, further research is in progress by Hendrickson, Lundberg, Luckenbill and Arce that may result in taxonomic revision removing P. lundbergi from Prietella.

First Record of Scapteriscus abbreviatus from Belize (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae)

Mole crickets of the genus Scapteriscus Scudder, 1868 (Orthoptera: Gryllo tal pidae) are important pests, particularly where they occur adventively. Members of the genus are native to South America (Nickle, 2003; Rodríguez and Heads, 2012), though several species have been inadvertently introduced in the Caribbean region and the southeastern United States (Nickle and Castner, 1984) where they have become significant pests of vegetable crops and turf (Walker and Nickle, 1981; Walker and Dong, 1982). In the southeastern United States, S. abbreviatus Scudder, 1869, S. borellii Giglio-Tos, 1894 (known in the literature as S. acletus prior to Nickle, 1992) and S. vicinus Scudder, 1869 were introduced during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, probably transported in the ballast of commercial shipping (Walker and Nickle, 1981). Of these species, S. vicinus and S. abbreviatus are the most significant pests (Walker and Dong, 1982) and cause considerable damage to agricultural crops and turf, with pasture, sod farms, seedbeds, ornamental lawns and golf courses particularly vulnerable (Frank and Parkman, 1999). According to Otte and Perez-Gelabert (2009) five spec ies are known to occur in the Caribbean, namely S. abbreviatus, S. didactylus (Latreille, 1804), S. imitatus Nickle and Castner, 1984, S. variegatus (Bur meister, 1838) and S. vicinus. In Central America, S. didactylus, S. variegatus and S. costaricensis Nickle, 2003 occur in Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica respectively (Rehn, 1903; Nickle, 2003). Of these, S. costaricensis may be the only species native to Central America, though this has yet to be confirmed beyond doubt and the possibility remains that it, too, is an adventive species from South America. Scapteriscus abbreviatus, the short-winged mole cricket, is a medium-sized brachypterous species thought to be native to Uruguay and Brazil (Nickle, 2003). Here, we present the first report of S. abbreviatus from Belize; a single male collected by one of us (JK) after dark on 10-V-2012 along a sandy road on the eastern side of Caye Caulker (17.746850°N, 88.023839°W), a small coral island situated approximately 20 km E of the mainland and 2 km W of the Belize Barrier Reef. The specimen (Figs 1–3) is readily identified as S. abbreviatus based on the small (0.21 mm diameter) circular ocelli, the interocellar distance greater than 4x Volume 123, Number 3, September and October 2013 241