Wildflower strip plantings in intensive agricultural systems have become a widespread tool for promoting pollination services and biological conservation because of their use by wasps and bees. Many of the trap-nesting wasps are important predators of common crop pests, and cavity-nesting bees that utilize trap-nests are important pollinators for native plants and many crops. The impact of wildflower strips on the nesting frequency of trap-nesting wasps or bees within localized areas has not been thoroughly investigated. Trap-nests made of bamboo reeds (Bambusa sp.) were placed adjacent to eight 0.1 ha wildflower plots and paired fallow areas (control plots) to determine if wildflower strips encourage the nesting of wasps and bees. From August 2014 to November 2015, occupied reeds were gathered and adults were collected as they emerged from the trap-nests. Treatment (wildflower or fallow plots) did not impact the number of occupied reeds or species richness of trap-nesting wasps using the occupied reeds. The wasps Pachodynerus erynnis, Euodynerus megaera, Parancistrocerus pedestris, and Isodontia spp. were the most common trap-nesting species collected. Less than 2% of the occupied reeds contained bees, and all were from the genus Megachile. The nesting wasp and bee species demonstrated preferences for reeds with certain inside diameters (IDs). The narrow range of ID preferences exhibited by each bee/wasp may provide opportunities to take advantage of their natural histories for biological control and/or pollination purposes.

The use of human mediated translocations has been an increasing component of many species recovery initiatives, including for numerous imperiled Lepidopteran species. Despite the identified need for this ex situ strategy, few such programs are conducted in a scientifically repeatable way, are executed with a structured decision-making process, are well documented throughout, or are documented only in gray literature. The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations are an important tool for conservation practitioners to help implement comprehensive translocation planning. These generalized guidelines are intended to be applicable to all taxa. Though there is a growing body of literature and supplementary guidelines for many vertebrate classes, other proposed standards fail to capture the specific biology of many invertebrate groups, like Lepidoptera. Here, we present a targeted list of detailed recommendations that are appropriate for Lepidopteran translocation programs to expand on the broad and tested guidelines developed by the IUCN. We assert that the increased standardization and repeatability among Lepidopteran translocations will improve the conservation outcomes.

Monarch butterfly populations have declined by over 80% in the last 20 years. Conservation efforts focus on the creation of milkweed habitats to mitigate this decline. Previous research has found monarchs lay more eggs per milkweed stem in urban gardens than natural habitats and recent work identified specific garden designs that make urban gardens more attractive to monarchs. Increasing plant diversity can reduce specialist insect herbivore colonization via bottom-up (e.g., plant) and top-down (e.g., predation) regulatory factors. Although this is beneficial for pest management efforts, it contradicts conservation efforts. In this study, we explored if adding multiple flowering species to garden-sized milkweed plantings affected monarch oviposition or top-down regulation of larvae. We compared monarch egg abundance, natural enemy abundance and richness, and biological control of monarch larvae in milkweed monocultures and milkweed mixed with four additional wildflower species. We found that monarchs laid 22% more eggs on sentinel milkweed plants in mixed-species plots with no effect of plant diversity on monarch survival. We also found higher natural enemy richness, wasp, and predatory bug abundance in the mixed-species plots and this did not translate to higher biological control rates. Our results provide more evidence that plant selection and habitat design are important for monarch conservation.

Insects are excellent indicator species for documenting changes in ecosystems and biodiversity, and south Florida is a recognized “hotspot” for hundreds of rare and endemic taxa. The capacity of native invertebrate species to adapt to changing ecological factors may be the dynamic that either strengthens their fitness or drives their extirpation or extinction. Variable life strategies may evolve that enable those taxa to persist, in spite of, or in response to, unstable or stochastic features in their changing ecosystems. Florida insects are subject to many extremes: drought, flooding, hurricanes, and high-wind tropical storms, as well as urban threats such as pesticide use and fragmented remnant habitats. The Atala, Eumaeus atala (Poey) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), which was once believed to be extinct, is still considered to be an insect of conservation concern in southeast Florida for those reasons. In this study, environmental chambers were programmed to simulate the widely varying climatic conditions found in southeast Miami, Florida, to understand the ranges in the life history and development of the Atala. Results indicated that pupal and adult male polyphenism and variations in development time are determined by seasonal changes in temperature, humidity, and photoperiod; these factors may indicate stressadaptive responses increasing pupal survival and male mating success. Las especies de insectos son excelentes indicadores para documentar los cambios en los ecosistemas y la biodiversidad, y el sur de la Florida es un “punto clave” reconocido por cientos de taxones raros y endémicos. La capacidad de las especies de invertebrados nativos para adaptarse a los factores ecológicos cambiantes puede ser la dinámica que fortalece su desempeño o dirge su extirpación o extinción. Pueden desarrollarse estrategias de vida variables que permitan a esos taxones persistir a pesar de, o en respuesta a, caracteristicas inestables o estocásticos en sus ecosistemas cambiantes. Los insectos de la Florida están sujetos a muchos extremos: sequía, inundaciones, huracanes y tormentas tropicales de alto viento, así como amenazas urbanas como el uso de pesticidas y los hábitats remanentes fragmentados. El Atala, Eumaeus atala (Poey) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), antes considerado extinto, todavía se considera un insecto de la preocupación de la conservación en el sureste de la Florida por esas razones. Las cámaras ambientales fueron programadas para simular las condiciones climáticas muy variadas que se encuentran en el sureste de Miami, Florida, para comprender las amplias variaciones en la historia de vida y desarrollo de la Atala. Los resultados indicaron que el polifenismo de la pupa y del macho adulto y las variaciones en el tiempo de desarrollo están determinados por cambios estacionales en temperatura, humedad y fotoperiodo; estos factores pueden indicar respuestas adaptativas al estrés aumentando la sobrevivencia de la pupa y el éxito del apareamiento del macho.

Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) is an important crop grown throughout Florida. Currently, most blueberry growers use honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) to provide pollination services for highbush blueberries even though bumble bees (Bombus spp.) have been shown to be more efficient at pollinating blueberries on a per bee basis. In general, contribution of bumble bees to the pollination of commercial highbush blueberries in Florida is unknown. Herein, we determined if managed bumble bees could contribute to highbush blueberry pollination. There were four treatments in this study: two treatments of caged commercial bumble bee (Bombus impatiens Cresson) colonies (low and high weight hives), a treatment excluding all pollinators, and a final treatment which allowed all pollinators (managed and wild pollinators) in the area have access to the plot. All treatments were located within a highbush blueberry field containing two cultivars of blooming plants, ‘Emerald’ and ‘Millennia’, with each cage containing 16 mature blueberry plants. We gathered data on fruit set, berry weight, and number of seeds produced per berry. When pollinators were excluded, fruit set was significantly lower in both cultivars (58%). Berry weight was not significantly different among the treatments, and the number of seeds per berry did not show a clear response. This study emphasizes the importance of bumble bees as an effective pollinator of blueberries and the potential beneficial implications of the addition of bumble bees in commercial blueberry greenhouses or high tunnels.