Collecting in the South Fork of the Eel River Mike, Brian and I traveled to Angelo Coast Reserve on the 19th to do some collecting. Our goals were to collect some aquatic insects in the Eel River and look for Scaptomyza species in the surrounding riparian zones. We didn't see any Scaptomyza but we got a great sample of aquatics, including lots of Dicosmoecus, Neophylax and Calineuria. Brian collecting in Dutch Bill Creek This week we made two short field trips to collect aquatic insects. On Tuesday we worked northwest of Sebastapol. Brian and I visited several sites we had collected last fall. Our first stop was Pyrrington Creek on Graton Road, followed by Dutch Bill Creek along the Occidental Highway. We stopped for lunch at Stumptown Brewpub in Guerneville. After lunch we drove north of the Russian River to Austin Creek near the town of Cazadero. Our last stop of the day was Salmon Creek, northwest of the town of Bodega. Thursday we did a half day trip to two streams in Marin County, Lagunitas Creek and Pine Gulch Creek in Bolinas. Thanks to Sarah Hake for allowing us access to Pine Gulch Creek! We collected Neophylax here, as well as three species of Scaptomyza!! Over the weekend we heard that two papers had been accepted. One, lead by Darren Obbard at the University of Edinburgh, examines dating in the Drosophilidae using several Hawaiian calibration points. It will be appearing in Molecular Biology and Evolution. The other is a survey of Wolbachia in endemic Hawaiian insects (see Figure) that will be out in Fly. The paper was coauthored by Gordon Bennett and former undergraduate Norma Pantoja. We were invited to submit a full NSF proposal on the ecology and phylogenetics of the genus Scaptomzya. We're working with Noah Whiteman and Rick Lapoint at the University of Arizona. This work will examine the biogeography and phylogeny of Scaptomyza in Hawaii and throughout the world.
Check for updates on our new project site: http://scaptomyza.drosophilaevolution.com/ |
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April 2018
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