Chris Looney

• PhD
• Entomologist at Washington State Department of Agriculture

Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) are vital components of global ecosystems, yet knowledge of their distribution is limited in many regions. Washington state is located in an ecologically diverse part of North America and encompasses habitat types and plant communities known for high bee species richness. To establish a baseline for future studies on bee...

The Enemy Release Hypothesis predicts that introduced species in their new range are freed from natural enemies (e.g., pathogens, parasitoids and predators) that control their populations. Diplolepis rosae (Hymenoptera, Diplolepididae), native to the Western Palearctic, induces readily apparent galls on wild roses ( Rosa spp.) that support a robust...

The northern giant hornet Vespa mandarinia (NGH) is a voracious predator of other insect species, including honey bees. NGH’s native range spans subtropical and temperate regions across much of east and southeast Asia and, in 2019, exotic populations of the species were discovered in North America. Despite this broad range and invasive potential, i...

This paper presents new moth records from Washington State, most of which were collected as bycatch in exotic pest surveys conducted in 2019. Also included are further locality information and older collection dates for two species only recently documented in the state.

Vespa mandarinia Smith 1852 is a semi-specialized predator of other social Hymenoptera and one of the two largest species of Vespa. Several individuals of this predatory wasp were detected in Canada and the United States in 2019, including an entire nest that was located and destroyed on Vancouver Island, Brit-ish Columbia. The Washington State Dep...

The northern giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), was detected for the first time in North America in 2019. Four nests have since been located and removed in northwestern Washington State as part of an extensive survey and eradication program. This recent introduction into North America has prompted new research on the biology an...

The North American sawfly Setabara histrionica (Tenthredinidae: Heterarthrinae) is previously known only from adult collections but has been hypothesized to feed upon trees in the genus Prunus. We discovered a population of leaf-mining sawflies in Washington on Prunus emarginata and identified it as S. histrionica using combined morphological and m...

We report the first known incidence of two parasitoid species of the invasive pest, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae), in the United States (US). The discovery of Ganaspis brasiliensis (Ihering) (Hymenoptera: Figitidae) and Leptopilina japonica (Novković & Kimura) (Hymenoptera: Figitidae) in northwestern Washington State (US)...

Bees provide an important ecosystem service by contributing to the pollination of crop and wild plant species. Multiple bee species, however, are in decline due to factors such as habitat loss and fragmentation, inadequate food availability, improper management practices, climate change, and pressures from pathogens and pests, including exotic spec...

A new species, Diplolepis valtonyci Zhu, Wang & Pujade-Villar sp. nova, is described from Rosa rugosa Thunb. (1784) and R. davurica Pall. (1788) from China using an integrative approach based on molecular and morphological data. Diagnosis, distribution, and biology of the new species are given and illustrated. The phylogenetic relationship between...

The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) was recently detected in western British Columbia, Canada and Washington State, United States. V. mandarinia are an invasion concern due to their ability to kill honey bees and affect humans. Here, we used habitat suitability models and dispersal simulations to assess potential invasive spread of V. mandari...

Invasive species are among the leading threats to global ecosystems due to impacts on native flora and fauna through competition and predation. The lily leaf beetle, Lilioceris lilii Scopoli (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), is an invasive pest of lilies (Lilium spp.) and other genera of Liliaceae (Liliales). A habitat suitability model was created usin...

Gall wasps in the genus Diplolepis Geoffroy are specialized herbivores that induce galls exclusively on roses (Rosa L. spp.). Despite their wide distribution across the Holarctic, little is known about their evolutionary history. Here we present the first phylogenomic tree of global Diplolepis reconstructed using Ultraconserved Elements (UCEs), res...

The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) is the world's largest hornet. It is native to East Asia, but was recently detected in British Columbia, Canada, and Washington State, USA. Vespa mandarinia are an invasion concern due to their potential to negatively affect honey bees and act as a human nuisance pest. Here, we assessed effects of bioclimat...

In 2019, Vespa mandarinia Smith, 1852, was detected at two sites each in British Columbia, Canada, and Washington State, USA. One of the detections led to the location and destruction of an active nest in Nanaimo, BC, raising concerns that the species may be established in the region. The human health danger, ecological risk, and impacts on apiary...

https://idtools.org/id/sawfly/index.php USDA APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine’s Identification Technology Program (ITP) is pleased to announce the release of Sawfly GenUS, Edition 1. Sawflies are a unique group of wasp-like herbivorous insects, many of which are economic pests in North America. While most sawflies generally maintain low popul...

Plant associations are newly recorded for three tenthredinid species in the Pacific Northwest. A single Monardis pulla D.R. Smith, 1969 emerged from a chamber inside a cynipid gall on Rosa nutkana C. Presl. (Rosaceae). This is the first plant association record for M. pulla. Two Aphilodyctium fidum (Cresson, 1880) emerged from a stem and cynipid ga...

Member Symposium: Ethics in Entomology: Considerations for Research and Policy

Rose gall wasps, Diplolepis Geoffroy (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae), induce structurally distinct galls on wild roses (Rosa Linnaeus; Rosaceae), which provide gallers with food and shelter. These galls are attacked by a wide variety of micro-hymenopterans, including Periclistus Förster (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae), which act as inquilines. Both Diplolepis an...

Bombus impatiens, the common eastern bumble bee, is the first bumble bee established outside of its native range in North America. Native to the eastern portion of the continent, the species was imported to British Columbia in the early 2000s for greenhouse pollination and subsequently became established in the wild. Here we report on the continuin...

Global climate change is the greatest environmental challenge of the modern era. The impacts of climate change are increasingly well understood, and have already begun to materialize across diverse ecosystems and organisms. Bumble bees (Bombus) are suspected to be highly sensitive to climate change as they are predominately adapted to temperate and...

Boreidae are a small and intriguing family of insects in the order Mecoptera. Also called snow scorpionfl ies, adults are active in the winter months and thus rarely collected. They are associated with mosses and other bryophytes on which they feed, plants that are prominent components of the biological soil crusts common in shrub-steppe environmen...

Every year, insect surveys are conducted using methods that capture numerous specimens that are not the object of the study. This is true not just of mass-trapping technology (e.g. pitfall traps), but of highly targeted surveys using specific pheromone lures. Bycatch associated with these surveys can be so tremendous that designing survey methods t...

Patterns of genetic structure and diversity are largely mediated by a species’ ecological niche and sensitivity to climate variation. Some species with narrow ecological niches have been found to exhibit increased population differentiation, limited gene flow across populations, and reduced population genetic diversity. In this study, we examine pa...

At least 70 exotic invertebrate pests have been newly detected in Washington State since 1990, based on records from the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) or other published accounts. Most of those species are apparently established. Pests were first detected in multiple ways, including formal surveys by regulatory agencies, acciden...

Aerial traps, using combinations of color and attractive lures, are a critical tool for detecting and managing insect pest populations. Yet, despite improvements in trap efficacy, collection of nontarget species (“bycatch”) plagues many insect pest surveys. Bycatch can influence survey effectiveness by reducing the available space for target specie...

Bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Bombus) are cold-adapted insects, primarily known for their importance in providing ecosystem services to wild and cultivated flowering plants. Recent expeditions into the wilderness regions of the Olympic Mountains of Olympic National Park, USA discovered undocumented populations of two bumble bee species: Bombus...

Examination of museum specimens, unpublished collection data, and field surveys conducted between 2010 and 2014 resulted in records for 22 species of sawflies new to Washington State, seven of which are likely to be pest problems in ornamental landscapes. These data highlight the continued range expansion of exotic species across North America. The...

Cross-disciplinary research (CDR) is a necessary response to many current pressing problems, yet CDR practitioners face diverse research challenges. Communication challenges can limit a CDR team’s ability to collaborate effectively, including differing use of scientific terms among teammates. To illustrate this, we examine the conceptual complexity...

The discovery of Monsoma pulveratum in the Pacific Northwest in 2010 inspired a new look at sawflies in the region. Surveys in 2010-2013, examination of museum specimens from four regional collections, and contact with other biologists interested in Symphyta found 18 species not currently recorded from Washington state. Analysis of the museum data...

The beetle-hunting habits of ground nesting wasps in the genus Cerceris Latreille have been recently exploited as a survey technique for exotic and native Buprestidae, particularly Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (the emerald ash-borer). While such methods have been developed for the wide-ranging eastern Cerceris fumipennis Say, the survey potential...

In this paper we report on ground beetles (coleoptera: Carabidae) collected from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and Hanford National Monument (together the Hanford Site), which is located in south-central Washington State. The Site is a relatively undisturbed relict of the shrub-steppe habitat present throughout much of the western Columbia Basin...

Abstract Bumble bees, Bombus Latreille (Hymenoptera: Apidae:), are dominant pollinators in the northern hemisphere, providing important pollination services for commercial crops and innumerable wild plants. Nationwide declines in several bumble bee species and habitat losses in multiple ecosystems have raised concerns about conservation of this imp...

The northern scorpion, Paruroctonus boreus (Girard 1854) is recorded from big sage climax, sand dune, cheatgrass dominated, and partially disturbed big sage habitats on the Hanford Nuclear Site, located in southcentral Washington State. Based on a pitfall trapping survey, the species was most commonly encountered in partially disturbed big sage hab...

The Palouse Prairie of eastern Washington State and adjacent northern Idaho is an endangered ecosystem. Like other arable North American grasslands, the prairie was mostly converted to agriculture in the late 1800s, and native habitat is today highly fragmented within a matrix of production agriculture. Government and conservation groups are beginn...

From 1998 to 2003, beetles and crickets infected with hairworms were collected from 4 localities within the Hanford Nuclear Site and the Hanford Reach National Monument, located in a shrub-steppe region of Washington State along the Columbia River. Infected hosts comprised 6 species of carabid beetles within 5 genera and 2 camel crickets within 1 g...

This poster summarizes exotic pest introductions tracked by the Washington State Department of Agriculture over the past 20 years, categorizing detections into three groups targeted survey detections, non-target discoveries, and submissions from private citizens. Over 50 species during the 20 years have been recorded. Twenty new records (36%) origi...

Native plants that persist in agricultural landscapes can be important for conserving and re-connecting fragmented biological communities, particularly to arthropods that live in and on them. However, their value as habitat may depend upon landscape context, which can differently impact species among trophic levels. We examined the communities of g...

The parasitic wasp Mymaromella pala Huber and Gibson (Hymenoptera: Mymarommatidae) was collected at 4 sites within a canyon reach of the Kootenai River in Lincoln County, Montana. This minute species has only recently been described, but it appears to have a large distribution throughout the United States and to be associated with upland and ripari...

The European earwig, Forficula auricularia L., was surveyed using pitfall traps at 3 sites at the Hanford Reach National Monument in south central Washington State. Pitfall traps were collected weekly from April 2002 through April 2003. The earwig was consistently taken during all months of the year at a disturbed, weedy site along the Columbia Riv...

The parasitic wasp Mymaromella pala Huber and Gibson (Hymenoptera: Mymarommatidae) was collected at 4 sites within a canyon reach of the Kootenai River in Lincoln County, Montana. This minute species has only recently been described, but it appears to have a large distribution throughout the United States and to be associated with upland and ripari...

1. The bunchgrass prairies of the Palouse region in eastern Washington state and adjacent Idaho have been mostly converted to agriculture in the past century. Prairie habitat currently exists only on small remnants scattered across the landscape. 2. The invertebrate fauna of these habitat remnants is poorly known, both in terms of species diversity...

"The Palouse region of southeastern Washington State and an adjacent portion of northern Idaho is a working landscape dominated by agricultural production, with less than 1% of the original bunchgrass prairie remaining. Government agencies and conservation groups have begun efforts to conserve Palouse prairie remnants, but they lack critical inform...

Cononotus lanchesteri Van Dyke is recorded from the Hanford Nuclear Site (Benton County), Washington State. Eight specimens were collected in pitfall traps during a 16 month survey of an extensive sand dune area, primarily in the spring. Notes on habitat are presented.

Pitfall traps were used to sample ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from adjacent climax big sagebrush and disturbed cheatgrass dominated communities at the Hanford Site, which is located in southcentral Washington. Although the number of species captured was the same (S=15) in each plant community, the composition and abundance of species wer...

A new species of flightless beetle (Scarabaeidae), Stenotothorax woodleyi Gordon, is described from the Hanford Nuclear Site located in south central Washington State. Stenotothorax is a former subgenus of Aphodius. Stenotothorax woodleyi is separated from the related species S. washtucna (Robinson). Notes on habitat and phenology are presented.

It is well established that the invertebrate community in cropland under conservation-tillage (consT) is often enriched relative to the community under conventional-tillage (CT) systems. The question posed in this research is whether consT contributes to the maintenance of regional biodiversity and to the conservation of prairie-inhabiting species...

The bunchgrass prairies of the Palouse region in eastern Washington state and adjacent Idaho were almost completely converted to agriculture in the past century. Today, prairie habitat exists only on small remnants scattered across the landscape. The invertebrate fauna of these habitat remnants is poorly known, both in terms of species diversity an...

Patapius spinosus (Rossi) was found in several locations in Benton and Whitman Counties, Washington State. Adults were found from late January through late October with mating pairs and immatures being found only in the fall of the year. The bug was associated with cobblestone and basalt that was being used as roadgrade stabilization or in piles of...

To assess whether discord exists between nuclear- and chloroplast-based phylogenetic trees within the Boykinia group (Saxifragaceae), we compared topologies obtained from analyses of ITS sequences with those acquired earlier via analyses of cpDNA restriction sites and matK sequences. We found manual alignment of sequences in the Boykinia group to b...