Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Home » Forums » Web Site Problems and Suggestions

Non-north american specimen of north american species?

This is more of a question than a problem or suggestion, but this was the best forum I could think of. I have images of a specimen of Braula coeca from Sicily. This species occurs in North America. It is the bee louse, a cosmopolitan pest of honeybees. It would represent a new family to Bugguide. Should I add it to the guide as it is a new taxon, and the species is found here, or should I not add it to the guide as it was collected in Sicily and not the US and Canada? I couldn't find a guideline on this, but perhaps it has already been discussed.
Contributed by Keith Bayless on 14 April, 2008 - 10:40pm

It has been discussed
Way, way back (I can't find it) we allowed some insect from the Caribbean because it was also found in the US. I submitted a couple of butterflies from Mexico because they also reach the US and deleted them some time later when we had specimens from TX.
I would say, go ahead and submit it with appropriate comments and keep an eye on future submissions so it goes to frass after we get some from here.
… Beatriz Moisset, 15 April, 2008 - 6:57am

 
Small issue
This is a small concern that I have, not being an expert in anything. The US might only have 1 species that looks a certain way, but other regions might have "look-alikes". So if someone posts something pretty distinctive like this http://bugguide.net/node/view/175142/bgimage, it might be safe to assume that the species is the same. But on some other insects it might require an expert from the region of submission to tells us the species is the same as the US species. Not sure that makes sense, or not.
… John R. Maxwell, 15 April, 2008 - 2:12pm

 
Not a problem in this case
Keith is qualified to make the ID. I would agree that extra care should be taken on out-of-area specimens that the ID is solid and that there's no issue of regional variation that might make the specimen different from our local ones. Keith has addressed both concerns already.
… Chuck Entz, 16 April, 2008 - 7:12am

 
However . . .
We have plenty of images of this species of spider from our region. As a matter of fact I could have submitted one from Mexico a year ago but didn't see the point. I think that it should be frassed otherwise we are opening the gates for all kinds of the great number of butterflies and moths from south of the border that are also found here, etc. It would be very nice to see them, but, can we deal with that?
As for the bee louse, on the other hand, I am sure that it came along with the European bee in the last few hundred years and that it is the same species.
… Beatriz Moisset, 16 April, 2008 - 7:26am

 
Yes,
frassed the spider.
… john and jane balaban, 16 April, 2008 - 5:53pm

 
I agree
with Beatriz; photos of NA species not represented on BG should be
allowed, removed when NA specimen photos posted if these are of equal or better quality.
… A.W. Thomas, 15 April, 2008 - 7:05am

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2023 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo