Florida Colonies Research Articles

Cold-Water Soft Corals (Cnidaria: Nephtheidae) as Habitat for Juvenile Basket Stars (Echinodermata: Gorgonocephalidae)

Nephtheidae soft corals are a common component of benthic ecosystems in the Northwest (NW) Atlantic and in the Arctic, but little is known about their functional roles. Here we investigated their role as habitat for basket stars (Ophiuroidea). By examining over 4500 soft coral colonies of Drifa glomerata, Duva florida, Gersemia spp., and Pseudodrifa racemosa collected during trawl surveys in the regions of Newfoundland, Labrador and West Baffin Bay, we show that Nephtheidae soft corals are habitat for juvenile Gorgonocephalus sp. basket stars. Juvenile Gorgonocephalus sp. were found on all soft corals species, but Drifa glomerata was the soft coral species with the highest occurrence of associated juvenile basket stars (32%), with a maximum of 111 basket stars found on a single 4.8 cm tall (contracted state) colony. Individual basket star disc diameter did not change with colony height, but it varied with season for individuals found on D. glomerata. On the other hand, colony height was positively related with maximum disc diameter (D. glomerata), and presence and number of basket stars on a colony (D. glomerata and D. florida). One very young ophiuroid was found within one polyp of a D. florida colony collected in July. We also examined bottom trawl survey data from 2011-2017 from Newfoundland to Baffin Bay, and other locations in the Eastern Canadian Arctic and found that for our largest database, 45% of trawl sets that contained basket stars also contained corals, of which 67% were Nephtheidae soft corals. In this study we show that all four Nephtheidae soft coral taxa studied act as habitat for juvenile basket stars, which are conspicuous components of benthic communities in cold-water environments. Soft corals are commonly exposed and vulnerable to bottom fishing gear in the North Atlantic. We urge future studies evaluating the nature of this relationship, the potential role of soft corals as nurseries, and the potential degree of dependency/preference between basket stars and soft corals in relation to other organisms.

Disparities in Spawning Times Between in situ and ex situ Pillar Corals

Contrasts in spawning time between wild and onshore colonies of the pillar coral Dendrogyra cylindrus were conducted by comparing eight years of wild spawning observations with three years of observations on ex situ corals held in outdoor flow-through tanks. Wild colonies exhibited peak spawning 3 nights after the full moon and 90-96 minutes after sunset. Corals held ex situ peaked on night 4 after the full moon, with females continuing to spawn through night 8. Spawning occurred ~50 minutes later than in wild colonies, and the spawning window, particularly for females, was significantly greater. Fragments held ex situ for as few as 10 days exhibited this shift to later spawning, but corals held for greater than one year also exhibited significantly later spawning than those held less than one year. We propose that the wild colonies in Florida exhibit a historic natural spawning cycle. Lunar and solar cues determine date and time, but deviations in full moon from average dates affect time of sperm release. Comparisons with other spawning locations in the Caribbean suggest that sites closer to shore delay spawning until later in the evening. We propose that artificial light is altering the light spectrum that D. cylindrus colonies use to cue spawning time. Colonies held at onshore outdoor facilities, which are subject to high levels of artificial light, also have delayed and expanded spawning windows. The implications of widespread and increasing light pollution on spawning synchrony identify a potential stressor that could inhibit natural reef recovery.

Florida Beekeeping Management Calendar

Climate, plant communities, and timing of floral resources differ significantly across Florida, which means that management of European honey bee colonies in Florida differs as well. This 8-page fact sheet written by James D. Ellis, Mary C. Bammer, and William H. Kern and published by Department of Entomology and Nematology outlines a management calendar created for Florida beekeepers. It is specific to region (north, central, and south Florida) and month and includes recommendations for major management considerations like when to treat for parasites or pathogens and when to feed colonies or harvest honey. This management calendar, while not exhaustive, is a valuable reference or starting point for honey bee colony management in Florida. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in848

Wax Moth Control

The greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella Linnaeus) and lesser wax moth (Achroia grisella Fabricius) are major pests of honey bee colonies in Florida. The best defense against wax moths in living colonies is keeping colonies otherwise strong, free of diseases and pests, and queenright. Controlling wax moths in stored combs and equipment, however, can be more difficult. This 3-page fact sheet written by Cameron J. Jack and Jamie D. Ellis and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Entomology and Nematology details the steps beekeepers can take to control wax moths and keep them from ruining stored honey bee combs and equipment.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/aa141

Using species distribution models to define nesting habitat of the eastern metapopulation of double-crested cormorants.

When organisms with similar phenotypes have conflicting management and conservation initiatives, approaches are needed to differentiate among subpopulations or discrete groups. For example, the eastern metapopulation of the double‐crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) has a migratory phenotype that is culled because they are viewed as a threat to commercial and natural resources, whereas resident birds are targeted for conservation. Understanding the distinct breeding habitats of resident versus migratory cormorants would aid in identification and management decisions. Here, we use species distribution models (SDM: Maxent) of cormorant nesting habitat to examine the eastern P. auritus metapopulation and the predicted breeding sites of its phenotypes. We then estimate the phenotypic identity of breeding colonies of cormorants where management plans are being developed. We transferred SDMs trained on data from resident bird colonies in Florida and migratory bird colonies in Minnesota to South Carolina in an effort to identify the phenotype of breeding cormorants there based on the local landscape characteristics. Nesting habitat characteristics of cormorant colonies in South Carolina more closely resembled those of the Florida phenotype than those of birds of the Minnesota phenotype. The presence of the resident phenotype in summer suggests that migratory and resident cormorants will co‐occur in South Carolina in winter. Thus, there is an opportunity for separate management strategies for the two phenotypes in that state. We found differences in nesting habitat characteristics that could be used to refine management strategies and reduce human conflicts with abundant winter migrants and, at the same time, conserve less common colonies of resident cormorants. The models we use here show potential for advancing the study of geographically overlapping phenotypes with differing conservation and management priorities.

Bottling Hell: Marketing St. Augustine, Florida’s Datil Pepper

Bottling HellMarketing St. Augustine, Florida’s Datil Pepper Anna Hamilton (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Widely accepted folklore connects the Datil pepper’s earliest seeds to the arrival of the Minorcan laborers. Some St. Augustinians recount tales of Minorcan immigrants sewing Datil pepper seeds into articles of clothing before boarding ships to the Florida colony. For nearly one hundred years, these stories have contributed to an assumed history of the Datil. Signs in David Vander Bush’s yard for fresh Datil peppers, Elkton, Florida, 1982, by Merri Belland (collector), State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, floridamemory.com. [End Page 59] Datil peppers sun on five bushes by the pool in Mary Ellen Masters’s backyard next to Faver Dykes State Park—a wild, scrubby preserve in south St. Johns County, Florida. Masters, whose family has lived in the area for nearly six generations, is renowned for her seemingly masochistic love of the spicy, heirloom peppers (a variety of Capsicum chinese similar in heat to the habanero) that are endemic to St. Augustine, Florida. Each year, she cooks 130 gallons of Datil-infused Minor-can clam chowder for the St. Ambrose Catholic Church Fair in Elkton, Florida, garnering her the undisputed title “Queen of Chowder.” “We have wimpy, mild, medium and hot—Minorcan hot,” she says of the chowders she prepares. “The Minorcan hot’s hot. I mean, it’ll make your nose run and your eyes run.”1 Masters is a descendant of St. Augustine’s Minorcan population, a multicultural group of indentured workers brought to Florida in the late 1700s from Minorca, an island off the coast of Spain in the Balearic Sea. Since the time of their arrival in St. Augustine until Florida’s induction into the United States, the Minorcans sustained the city as its backbone population. For Minorcans like Masters, who can trace her lineage back to 1100, the legend of the Datil is a family tale. Widely accepted folklore connects the pepper’s earliest seeds to the arrival of the Minorcan laborers. Some St. Augustinians recount tales of Minorcan immigrants sewing Datil pepper seeds into articles of clothing before boarding ships to the Florida colony. For nearly one hundred years, these stories have contributed to an assumed history of the Datil.2 “I’ve been told my whole life growing up that they came from Minorca,” Masters says of the pepper. “But I think people are deciding that that’s not true.” Her ambivalence is characteristic of the resurgent interest in the Datil pepper’s history and the vague, yet romantic, details of its introduction to Florida. Increasingly, historians, botanists, and curious community members are challenging the lore’s likelihood and positing alternative provenance theories. Some have suggested an African connection to the pepper, while another plausible hypothesis sources the pepper from South America via Caribbean traders.3 Yet Minorcan mythology persists, incubated and proliferated through generations of northeast Floridians. The tenacity of the folklore speaks to its value in a cultural tourism context, where, in St. Augustine, visitors are eager to consume the town’s unique historic resources and profit-driven producers are happy to oblige. Located on the northeast coast of Florida in St. Johns County, St. Augustine owes its title of the “Nation’s Oldest City” to a legacy as the longest continually occupied European settlement in the United States. Juan Ponce de Leon, the first European to sight Floridian soil, is credited as the first St. Augustine tourist with his purported search for a “fountain of youth.” Today, St. Augustine’s tourism industry is bursting: an estimated 2 million tourists visit the city each year, hungry for its Old World charm. And in 2012, visitors to St. Johns County spent [End Page 60] almost $712 million. The tension between conflicting Minorcan folklore and recent scholarship about the Datil pepper sheds light on the complex and subtle inner workings of heritage tourism in St. Augustine. That localized myth has long supplanted historical fact attests to power of exploitation and commercialization on collective memory.4 Click for larger view View full resolution “I’ve been told my whole life growing up that they came from Minorca,” Masters says...

Frank Marotti. Heaven's Soldiers: Free People of Color and the Spanish Legacy in Antebellum Florida.

Frank Marotti's Heaven's Soldiers: Free People of Color and the Spanish Legacy in Antebellum Florida is a multifaceted study of free blacks in a slave society undergoing the transition from Spanish governance to the rule of the United States. During the Spanish period free people of African descent enjoyed legal protections and a modicum of public engagement, especially if they descended from white planter parentage. As Marotti and others have pointed out, when the United States gained control of the Florida colonies and organized them as a territory, many of the formal and informal practices toward free blacks were renegotiated. What Marotti adds to this story is the active role free blacks played in these negotiations; and this contribution is an important one. Few scholars have examined the ways in which notions of rights or even citizenship move out of the confines of legal history to explore the ways people on the street participated in shaping the laws and policies that guided their daily lives.

“My Laborers in Haiti Are Not Slaves”: Proslavery Fictions and a Black Colonization Experiment on the Northern Coast, 1835–1846

“My Laborers in Haiti Are Not Slaves”Proslavery Fictions and a Black Colonization Experiment on the Northern Coast, 1835–1846 Mark J. Fleszar (bio) In early August 1839 the brig America arrived at Puerto Plata on the northern coast of Haiti after two weeks at sea. On board the approximately “100 free colored” passengers, mostly ex-slaves from East Florida, cheered the end of their long journey from slavery to freedom. According to one observer the scene “[was] overwhelming to the feelings of humanity. It was an affecting sight to see so many young, lively, and decent looking people cordially welcomed with every manifestation of pleasure from a joyous community among whom they were to reside.”1 However, benevolent appearances can mislead, disguise, and distort actual circumstances. The arrivals simply exchanged one type of submission for another. They would become indentured laborers as part of a proslavery “colonization experiment” at Cabaret, a space carved out of the lush Haitian landscape through the efforts of Zephaniah Kingsley, a planter and slave owner in eastern Florida.2 Florida’s firm connections to the Greater Caribbean drew the region into the complex and often contradictory changes enveloping the Atlantic World. More stringent laws regarding race and property rights in the American South continued to erode the mastery of longtime Florida residents like the wealthy Kingsley, threatening the legacy of his own mixed-race family in the process. Using strict Haitian laws designed to maximize agricultural output, Kingsley responded by purposefully recreating an ambiguous plantation complex there, managed in his absence by his mixed-race son, and outfitted with “cultivators” drawn from the ranks of black emigrants hoping to improve their situations. Far from this, most black laborers instead encountered misery and disappointment. Most of the emigrants to Cabaret had been Kingsley’s own bondmen, manumitted on the express condition of removing to his Haitian plantation. Once in Haiti, most of the indentured protested working conditions and the terms of their contracts, which promised eventual freedom and, more important, land. From their first days on the island, a number of the emigrants chose [End Page 478] to escape these circumstances, fleeing Cabaret in small numbers from their first days on the island. In due time, they created a vibrant settlement of their own, subsequently (and incorrectly) dubbed “Kinsley’s colony.”3 Kingsley’s peculiar colonization scheme does not fit congruently within the historiography of proslavery ideology, colonization, or black emigration.4 The settlement appears on its face an act of benevolence. Zephaniah Kingsley bankrolled a fledging agricultural colony specifically for his newly freed slaves and to provide for his black mistresses and mixed-race children. And in an era when even the bare mention of Haiti conjured up thoughts of death, disorder, and the end of white mastery, the decision to locate the settlement within the Haitian Republic was nothing short of astonishing. Yet I argue that despite philanthropic pretenses, Kingsley’s colonization experiments were schemes designed to preserve his wealth and power against what he feared were overwhelming forces. They reveal that the world some antebellum slaveholders made was collapsing in the 1830s. In reimagining the geography of his slave empire, Kingsley’s efforts purposefully bound Florida and Haiti intimately while strengthening his mastery. As Florida was situated between the limits of the United States of America and the Caribbean, its relationship with both regions proved problematic historically. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Spain’s precarious hold on its Florida colonies intensified amid international rivalries with Britain and France, mounting concerns over the French and Haitian Revolutions, and the militant policies of their “aggressive and unhappy northern neighbors” in the southeastern United States.5 On November 20, 1790, to bolster its sagging economic situation, the Spanish Crown issued a royal decree that encouraged immigration to La Florida in exchange for land grants. The policy brought a much needed boost in overall population numbers in the ensuing years, chiefly in the roughly five thousand slaves these immigrants introduced into the colony before 1810. Many settlers, including Zephaniah Kingsley, also brought with them extensive personal and economic ties to the Atlantic World and a cutthroat business style marked by an “aggressive and...

Longevity and Size of Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) Colonies in Florida as Guides for an Effective Monitoring Strategy in the Southeastern United States

Abstract Wood Storks (Mycteria americana) breed in colonies widely dispersed across approximately 3,350 km2 within the United States, and effective monitoring of this population presents immediate tradeoffs between coverage, accuracy, and cost. Here, we summarize surveys in Florida 1991-2005 as a first step towards improving existing survey strategies. In order to determine whether counts from aircraft are a suitable technique for quantifying nests, we compared aerial and ground counts at the same eleven colonies in 2004. Across all colonies, aerial counts averaged 8.1% more nests, probably as result of either better visibility or mistakenly including Great Egret (Ardea alba) nests in the count. During the period 1991-2005, statewide totals in Florida ranged from 2,211-6,449 nests, with an apparently increasing trend through time. Annual modal colony size fluctuated from 65-144 nests, with significantly smaller modal size in 2001-2004, suggesting that colony size has decreased over time. Current survey pr...

Results of 50% formic acid fumigation of honey bee hives [Apis mellifera ligustica (hymenoptera: apidae)] to control varroa mites (Acari: Varroidae) in brood combs in florida, U.S.A.

We used the 50% formic acid fumigator to treat 51 honey bee colonies in Florida on April 2, August 16 and October 23, 2006 and January 2, 2007, to control varroa mites. Treatments consisted of 90 to 110 ml of 50% formic acid mixed with 15 ml of Honey-B-Healthy™ essential oil concentrate to prevent queen losses. The fumigator was applied during daylight hours to each hive, screened bottoms were covered, openings taped over, and the entrance reduced to 3/8" by 3 1/2" (0.95 cm x 8.9 cm) and removed the next day after from 17 to 23.3 hours. Average mortality of varroa mites in capped drone cells was 93% (92.8% to 98.8%) (after adjustment for Abbott's correction for control mortality). Capped drone cells in old black comb had the lowest mortalities (66% to 84%): less of the 50% formic acid vapor was able to penetrate the thicker cappings.

Molecular and field analyses of the fortuitous establishment of Lipolexis oregmae (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae) in Jamaica as a natural enemy of the brown citrus aphid

The brown citrus aphid, Toxoptera citricida (Kirkaldy), is a serious pest of citrus because it efficiently transmits citrus tristeza closterovirus (CTV). The invasion of Jamaica's citrus by T. citricida resulted in serious economic losses and the importation and consideration was given to the establishment of Lipolexis oregmae Gahan (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae) in a classical biological control program. Prior to introducing L. oregmae, we conducted a survey to determine the abundance of Lysiphlebus testaceipes Cresson (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae) in T. citricida. A high-fidelity PCR analysis was conducted using Lysiphlebus- and Lipolexis-specific ITS2 rRNA primers on alcohol-preserved brown citrus aphids and the results were positive for both parasitoids. The fortuitous establishment of L. oregmae in Jamaica was surprising, and was confirmed by rearing adults from parasitized aphids and obtaining taxonomic confirmation based on morphology. In addition, its identity was confirmed molecularly by cloning and sequencing 16S, 12S, and COI sequences from the Florida colony of L. oregmae and from Jamaican specimens. The three DNA sequences were 100% identical for specimens from both sources. The phylogenetic analysis using 16S sequences indicated a close relationship of the Florida and Jamaica populations of L. oregmae with L. gracilis. During 2005, an island-wide survey of citrus in six parishes confirmed that both L. testaceipes and L. oregmae commonly parasitize T. citricida, but that L. oregmae was the more widely distributed and abundant parasitoid. The pathway by which L. oregmae might have entered Jamaica is discussed.

Efficacy of strips coated with Metarhizium anisopliae for control of Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) in honey bee colonies in Texas and Florida

Strips coated with conidia of Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschinkoff; Deuteromycetes: Hyphomycetes) to control the parasitic mite, Varroa destructor (Anderson and Trueman) in colonies of honey bees, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) were compared against the miticide, tau-fluvalinate (Apistan) in field trials in Texas and Florida (USA). Apistan and the fungal treatments resulted in successful control of mite populations in both locations. At the end of the 42-day period of the experiment in Texas, the number of mites per bee was reduced by 69-fold in bee hives treated with Apistan and 25-fold in hives treated with the fungus; however mite infestations increased by 1.3-fold in the control bee hives. Similarly, the number of mites in sealed brood was 13-fold and 3.6-fold higher in the control bee hives than in those treated with Apistan and with the fungus, respectively. Like the miticide Apistan, the fungal treatments provided a significant reduction of mite populations at the end of the experimental period. The data from the broodless colonies treated with the fungus indicated that optimum mite control could be achieved when no brood is being produced, or when brood production is low, such as in the early spring or late fall. In established colonies in Florida, honey bee colony development did not increase under either Apistan or fungal treatments at the end of the experimental period, suggesting that other factors (queen health, food source, food availability) play some major role in the growth of bee colonies. Overall, microbial control of Varroa mites with fungal pathogens could be a useful component of an integrated pest management program for the honey bee industry.

Effect of mono- and polygyne social forms on transmission and spread of a microsporidium in fire ant populations

Thelohania solenopsae is a pathogen of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, which debilitates queens and eventually causes the demise of colonies. Reductions of infected field populations signify its potential usefulness as a biological control agent. Thelohania solenopsae can be transmitted by introducing infected brood into a colony. The social forms of the fire ant, that is, monogyny (single queen per colony) or polygyny (multiple queens per colony), are associated with different behaviors, such as territoriality, that affect the degree of intercolony brood transfer. T. solenopsae was found exclusively in polygyne colonies in Florida. Non-synchronous infections of queens and transovarial transmission favor the persistence and probability of detecting infections in polygynous colonies. However, queens or alates with the monogyne genotype can be infected, and infections in monogyne field colonies have been reported from Louisiana and Argentina. Limited independent colony-founding capability and shorter dispersal of alate queens with the polygyne genotype relative to monogyne alates may facilitate the maintenance of infections in local polygynous populations. Demise of infected monogyne colonies can be twice as fast as in polygyne colonies and favors the pathogen’s persistence in polygyne fire ant populations. The social form of the fire ant reflects different physiological and behavioral aspects of the queen and colony that will impact T. solenopsae spread and ultimate usefulness for biological control.

Portable Personal Possessions (Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean, 1500–1800 Volume 2). Kathleen A. Deagan. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 2002. 528 pp., 258 Illustrations, Price Hardcover: 60.00 (cloth).

Portable Personal Possessions (Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean, 1500–1800 Volume 2). Kathleen A. Deagan. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 2002. 528 pp., 258 Illustrations, Price Hardcover: 60.00 (cloth). - Volume 15 Issue 4

Newcastle disease virus in double-crested cormorants in Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi.

In order to understand the epidemiology of Newcastle disease (ND) outbreaks in double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus), a study was conducted on wintering migratory cormorants (P. a. auritus) in Alabama and Mississippi (USA) and non-migratory cormorants (P. a. floridanus) that breed in Florida (USA). Antibodies against ND virus were detected by the hemagglutination-inhibition method in sera from 86 of 183 (47%) migratory cormorants over-wintering in eight roosting sites in Alabama and Mississippi between November, 1997 and April, 1999. Titers ranged from 5 to 40. Antibody prevalences in sera collected from females in early winter (November and December) (26%) and late winter (February and March) (56%) were significantly different (P = 0.0007). None of 45 serum samples from 1- to 7-wk-old nestlings from 11 colonies in Florida during the 1997-98 and 1998-99 breeding seasons was positive. However, antibodies were detected in yolk samples from 98 of 126 (78%) eggs collected in these same colonies. Titers ranged from 4 to 256. The prevalence of antibodies in eggs collected from fresh-water colonies (63% prevalence, n = 30) and salt-water colonies (82% prevalence, n = 96) was significantly different (P = 0.041). ND virus was not isolated from tissues of 18 cormorants and cloacal and tracheal swabs from 202 cormorants collected in Alabama and Mississippi; virus was also not isolated from cloacal and tracheal swabs from 51 nestlings from Florida.

Colony structure and reproduction in the thelytokous parthenogenetic ant Platythyrea punctata (F. Smith) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

An important evolutionary characteristic of the formicine subfamily Ponerinae is the occurrence of various alternative reproductive tactics within single species. In Platythyrea punctata Smith, 1858, queens, gamergates and parthenogenetic workers co-occur in the same species. Morphological queens, both alate and dealate, were present in only 29 percent of the colonies collected in Florida, but absent from colonies collected in Barbados and Puerto Rico. One of the six queens which were dissected (three alate and three dealate) was found to be inseminated but not fertile. Instead, in most queenless colonies, a single uninseminated worker monopolized reproduction by means of thelytokous parthenogenesis, i.e., it produced female offspring from unfertilized eggs. A single mated, reproductive worker (gamergate) was found dominating reproduction in the presence of an inseminated alate queen in one of the Florida colonies. Thelytokous parthenogenesis was examined in artificial groups of virgin laboratory-reared workers, where one worker typically monopolized reproduction despite the presence of several individuals with elongated ovaries. In 16 colonies collected in Florida, a total of 66 individuals differed morphologically from queens and workers. Their thorax morphology varied from a worker-like to an almost queen-like structure. We refer to these individuals as “intercastes” (sensu Peeters, 1991a). The remarkable complexity of reproductive strategies renders P. punctata unique within ants.

Inheritance, Stability, and Lack-of-Fitness Costs of Field-Selected Resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis in Diamondback Moth (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) from Florida

A colony of Plutella xylostella (L.), established from crucifer fields in Florida, was used to investigate resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner subsp. kurstaki . From an initial level of >1,500-fold, resistance fell within 3 generations in the absence of selection to ≈300-fold compared with susceptible larvae. Unlike previous cases of resistance to B. thuringiensis in P. xylostella , resistance in our Florida colony was stable at ≈300-fold without additional selection in the laboratory. High levels of resistance (>1,000-fold) recurred after a single exposure to B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki in the 4th generation. High levels of resistance did not recur after a 2nd selection in the 8th generation. Cage studies and genetic analysis of F1 larvae and backcross progeny. where the resistant parents were characterized by stable levels of resistance, showed that resistance was an incompletely recessive, autosomal trait probably controlled by a single allele that did not confer detectable levels of reduced fitness in the absence of exposure to B. thuringiensis . As one of the few shldies to demonstrate stable resistance to B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki from insects that were collected from the field and not subject to further selection in the laboratory, our results clearly emphasize the need to develop specific resistance management strategies for B. thuringiensis before there is widespread evolution of resistance.

Comparing Aerial Estimates with Ground Counts of Nests in Wood Stork Colonies

Estimates of wood stork (Mycteria americana) nests from fixed-wing aircraft in Florida colonies were calibrated using ground counts to evaluate bias and uncertainty. Inferences were based on linear regressions of log-transformed aerial estimates on log-transformed ground counts. Canopy cover at stork colonies had no effect (P = 0.737) on the relationship between aerial estimates and ground counts. Whereas no difference between ground counts and the expected value of aerial estimates was detected for colonies with a low proportion of other white-plumaged nesting birds (P = 0.241), aerial estimates underestimated (P 109 nests) stork colonies containing a high proportion of other white-plumaged nesting birds. Variability of aerial estimates was large. An approximate 95% confidence interval for the 1993 statewide nesting population, based on the statewide aerial survey, was 3,807-12,653 nests. Recommendations for improving future aerial surveys of colonial waterbirds include incorporating ground counts at selected colonies, training observers in presurvey flights, and replicating counts for each colony.

The Adaptiveness of Worker Demography in the Attine Ant Trachymyrmex Septentrionalis

Castle theory states that worker size distributions in ant colonies have evolved for efficient division of labor and predicts that they should vary with habitat and have an effect on fitness. We tested these predictions in a comparative study of worker size variation and colony fitness in Florida and Long Island populations of Trachymyrmex septentrionalis. Colonies from the two populations were excavated shortly before the time of the mating flights, so that workers and reproductive forms could be censused. We measured worker head widths in each colony and analyzed the resulting size frequency distributions using the mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtoisis, and also principal components derived from these parameters. Size frequency distributions were unimodal and close to normal, with a tendency to negative skewness. Colonies in the Long Island population had both larger workers and greater size variation than those in Florida. Florida colonies followed a growth trajectory in which the mean and standard deviation of worker head width both increased with colony size, whereas in Long Island there was an inverse relationship between the mean and standard deviation that was independent of colony size. Analysis based on the principal components showed that worker size variation significantly affected fitness in both populations, and this was not a secondary effect of colony size. Population differences in colony life history strategies may account for the observed patterns: the Long Island population appears to be adapted for surviving the winter diapause, while the Florida population has experienced different selective pressures, possibly for rapid colony growth. Size variation that has evolved in the context of life history strategies may serve as a preadaptation for division of labor.

Support for Natal Homing in Green Turtles from Mitochondrial DNA Sequences

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences of the control region were obtained for the Costa Rica and Florida colonies of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) to test the hypothesis that gravid females return to their natal beaches to lay their eggs. Analyses of intra- and intergroup variation of these sequences revealed that the two colonies are structured differentially along maternal lineages and that mtDNA diversity is unusually high in the Florida population. The former result supports the hypothesis of natal homing in green turtles. For the latter, two explanations are provided: (1) that the Florida colony is the product of admixture (immigration from multiple sources); or (2) that it is a remnant of a larger, ancestral population. The presence or absence of Florida haplotypes among other western Atlantic populations will provide a critical test of these alternate hypotheses.