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Odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) have become popular study organisms for insect-based climate studies, due to the taxon’s strong sensitivity to environmental conditions, and an enthusiastic following by community scientists due to their charismatic appearance and size. Where formal records of this taxon can be limited, public efforts have provided nearly 1,500,000 open-sourced odonate records through online databases, making real-time spatio-temporal monitoring more feasible. While these databases can be extensive, concerns regarding these public endeavors have arisen from a variety of sources: records may be biased by human factors (ex: density, technological access) which may cause erroneous interpretations. Indeed, records of odonates in the east-central US documented in the popular database iNaturalist bear striking patterns corresponding to political boundaries and other human activities. We conducted a ‘ground-truthing’ study using a structured sampling method to examine these patterns in an area where community science reports indicated variable abundance, richness, and diversity which appeared to be linked to observation biases. Our observations were largely consistent with patterns recorded by community scientists, suggesting these databases were indeed capturing representative biological trends and raising further questions about environmental drivers in the observed data gaps.
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This content will become publicly available on July 9, 2026
A Note on Psoloessa texana and Achurum sumichrasti (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Acridinae) from Louisiana
During a 2024 survey in Kisatchie National Forest, Louisiana, Psoloessa texana and Achurum sumichrasti were collected, representing new state records. No prior records of P. texana exist for Louisiana, and while A. sumichrasti has been observed and reported online, no specimens were previously documented. These findings extend the known range of P. texana by ~320 km and suggest a broader distribution for A. sumichrasti. Their presence in xeric savannas may reflect Pleistocene-era disjunctions. With these additions, Louisiana’s documented grasshopper fauna increases to 41 species.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2114071
- PAR ID:
- 10643078
- Publisher / Repository:
- Mississippi Association of Entomologists, Plant Pathologists, and Nematologists.
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Midsouth entomologist
- Volume:
- 18
- ISSN:
- 1936-6019
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1-6
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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