Omus submetallicus and Omus cazieri adventure

[w1]

Could use some data. Very excited. [e-mail]. Have some time off. Been looking forward to this for years.

[w1]

Will trade a few specimens for data. Also hunting for Asilids.

[politula]

Well, for O. cazieri look S of Ashland on the Ashland Loop Road. I've seen them under rocks along the road and caught them at night walking on the road. Beware! Both times I've walked the Loop Rd at night I caught someone trying to break in to my car. You will probably find Scaphinotus
rugiceps there.

As for O. submetallicus, apparently you have to be right up in Warthan Canyon. If you are down where the canyon opens up at hwy 198 you will find Omus californicus.

[w1]

Thank you! Let you know my results. Got my traps ready. Will gladly send you some of my specimens. Much appreciated. Have things pretty well mapped out. Wanted to do this for years.

[politula]

If you send me a private message I may be able to help more.

[w1]

Is there a BugMan52 around? Dennis?

[w1]

Well thanks to logging got blocked from checking my traps no cazieri for me this year. Did find a spot in Shasta cty Ca for Omus. Anyone have an idea which subspecies this could be? Also caught a few C.w.pseudosenilis and C.t.inyo on my way back home. Got my bioquip order. This season has started nicely even after my frustration in Ashland.

[bugman52]

Mar 4, 2013 11:59:46 GMT -8 w1 said:

Is there a BugMan52 around? Dennis?

I just got back on the forum. I've been very busy lately.

I went over to Warthan Canyon this spring to get DNA from both Omus submetallicus and O. californicus lecontei. The whole canyon along Hwy 198 was torn up by feral pigs. I did manage find a single specimen of O. submetallicus, but pitfalling would have been a worthless endeavor. I'm hoping the ranchers will take care it and this is not going to be a perennial problem. When we did the research on the status of O. submetallicus everything looked good for its future. Now....not so much.

The two species in the canyon occupy similar, overlapping habitats. O. submetallicus is primarily found in the canyon on clay soils (Oak Woodland and Pinus sabiniana). When the canyon narrows and you get into the dense poison oak you're in O. c. lecontei habitat (up to the border with Monterey County). 

[bugman52]

May 16, 2013 6:35:01 GMT -8 w1 said:

Well thanks to logging got blocked from checking my traps no cazieri for me this year. Did find a spot in Shasta cty Ca for Omus. Anyone have an idea which subspecies this could be? Also caught a few C.w.pseudosenilis and C.t.inyo on my way back home. Got my bioquip order. This season has started nicely even after my frustration in Ashland.

The species described from the Shasta City area was Omus ambiguus. I was there at the end of May, but should have spent more time in preparation reviewing the maps beforehand. I had only figured I had time for O. angustocylindricus and O. intermediopronotalis, and couple of sites to the south. So I didn't have any luck in the brief stop around Shasta City.

[bugman52]

I just wanted to clarify that I am using the old names prior to Cazier's and Leffler's works. I am gathering DNA from those old species to try and get a better understanding of what the true level of speciation is. Cazier lumped most everything in the mid to high Sierra Nevada and northern California into Omus californicus californicus (along with coastal California). He did recognize O. c. angustocylindricus as a separate subspecies. Also at the lower elevations (below 900 meters) of the central Sierra Nevada he recognized O. c. intermedius. Unfortunately Leffler reversed the elevations of the species in the Sierra Nevada, placing O. c. californicus below O. c. intermedius. Its my opinion that there are more taxa than Cazier's simplified concept.