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Creators/Authors contains: "MASONICK, PAUL"

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  1. Silva, Daniel (Ed.)
    The saturniid moth genusAutomerisincludes 145 described species. Their geographic distribution ranges from the eastern half of North America to as far south as Peru.Automeris moths are cryptically colored, with forewings that resemble dead leaves, and conspicuously colored, elaborate eyespots hidden on their hindwings. Despite their charismatic nature, the evolutionary history and relationships withinAutomerisand between closely related genera, remain poorly understood. In this study, we present the most comprehensive phylogeny ofAutomeristo date, including 80 of the 145 described species. We also incorporate two morphologically similar hemileucine genera,PseudautomerisandLeucanella, as well as a morphologically distinct genus,Molippa. We obtained DNA data from both dry-pinned and ethanol-stored museum specimens and conducted Anchored Hybrid Enrichment (AHE) sequencing to assemble a high-quality dataset for phylogenetic analysis. The resulting phylogeny supportsAutomerisas a paraphyletic genus, withLeucanellaandPseudautomerisnested within, with the most recent common ancestor dating back to 21 mya. This study lays the foundation for future research on various aspects ofAutomerisbiology, including geographical distribution patterns, potential drivers of speciation, and ecological adaptations such as antipredator defense mechanisms. 
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  2. The Apiomerus maya species group of the genus Apiomerus Hahn, 1831 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Harpactorinae: Apiomerini), the bee assassins, is revised. Four species that are native to parts of Mexico and Central America are recognized and redescribed: Apiomerus maya Dispons, 1971, A. pipil Dispons, 1971, A. venosus Stål, 1872, and A. immundus Bergroth, 1898. Intraspecific polychromatism and male genital morphology are documented for the group. The taxonomy of two previously recognized species is updated: A. tristis Champion, 1899 syn. nov. is here synonymized with A. venosus and A. guatemalensis Dispons, 1971 syn. nov. with A. pipil. 
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  3. Most megadiverse clades of insects are herbivores, but several large radiations consist almost entirely of predators. Their species numbers make comprehensive direct observations of predator-prey interactions difficult to obtain. Citizen science approaches are increasingly utilized to harvest ecological data for organisms including insects. We use crowdsourced images documenting predator-prey interactions of assassin bugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), a speciose clade of predatory insects, to (1) determine the breakdown of assembled online images by geographic region and reduviid subfamily; (2) evaluate if the accumulated images provide new insights into prey diversity; and (3) assess evidence for taxa that feed on pest species, pollinators, and engage in intraguild predation. Photographs were assembled (n = 832) and resulted in an image database that included representatives of 11 subfamilies; most records belonged to diurnal Harpactorinae and Phymatinae, but some subfamilies with poorly understood prey diversity were also documented. Taxa with substantial image representation of prey (21–242 predation events) showed significant overlap with prey reported in the literature. A high percentage of images for Apiomerus Hahn and Phymata Latreille documented predation events on native and non-native bees; percentages varied widely among species of Zelus Fabricius. Arilus cristatus (Linnaeus) was documented to prey on several pest species, with little evidence for pollinator predation. Potential effects of these natural enemies on pollinators and intraguild predators should be further investigated, providing important insights into mechanisms influencing community structure and ecosystems processes. 
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