North American Tenebrionidae identification and classification virtual workshop

May 17-19, 2021

Organizers: M. Andrew Johnston, Kojun Kanda,

Instructors: Patrice Bouchard, Marcin J. Kaminski, Paloma Mas-Peinado, Aaron D. Smith, Warren E. Steiner, Jr.

Course assistants: Rolf Aalbu, Jason T. Botz, Ryan Lumen, Amelia Smith, Erich Speissburgher, Chris C. Wirth

About the Workshop

This workshop will provide a general overview of Tenebrionidae morphology and identification, focusing on North American taxa.

This course will consist of interactive virtual lectures (using Zoom) covering internal and external morphology of Tenebrionidae, a systematic overview of tenebrionid tribes and noteworthy taxa, and special topics (e.g., larval morphology, pestiferous species, overview of global diversity).

We will also host virtual labs where students can either share images or live-stream specimens and work through identification keys with the instructors.

The workshop immediately precedes the two day International Tenebrionoidea Symposium 6, which is free to attend but must be registered for separately from this workshop.

RegisTRATION

Registration is free and open through May 1 through Eventbrite:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/138879344859

The workshop is coordinated to take place during the week leading up to the International Tenebrionoidea Symposium 6 which is a virtual event with free registration. Registration for the workshop and ITS6 are separate and must be registered for individually.

Target Audience

All are welcome to register for this event.

However, the course is being designed for attendees with a general entomology background in mind. Previous experience with Coleoptera morphology is strongly recommended. Attendees are encouraged to have access to specimens and a microscope during the workshop to gain the most from it - though that is not required.

Course Schedule

This schedule is tentative. Each day will likely be 5-6 hours (with breaks) starting at noon EDT

May 17: Welcome; Intro to Tenebrionidae; “Tenebrionoid” subfamilies basic techniques tools and techniques for tenebrionid identification

Topic 1: Introduction to Tenebrionidae
1. What is a Tenebrionidae
2. Major character sets used in Tenebrionidae classification
3. Current subfamilial classification and characters

*For the following subfamily-focused sections, we will systematically cover tribal diversity, focusing on identification and biology of Nearctic taxa.

Topic 2: Tenebrionoid subfamilies
1. Tenebrioninae
2. Blaptinae
3. Alleculinae
4. Diaperinae/Nilioninae
5. Stenochiinae

Lab 1: Hands-on morphology and key introduction
1. Live dissection and morphology demonstration by instructors
2. Introduction to the keys and characters used in American Beetles
3. Question and answer time

May 18: “Lagrioid” and “Pimelioid” subfamilies

Topic 3: Pimelioid subfamilies
1. Pimeliinae
2. Khutiagininae
3. Zolodininae

Topic 4: Lagrioid subfamilies
1. Lagriinae
2. Phrenapatinae

Lab 2: “Office hours” style open lab (2.5 hours)
1. Picture/webcam IDs by instructors for attendee submitted photos
2. Question and answer time
3. Work through keys, and delve into difficult groups

May 19: Special topics

Topic 5: Brief introduction to global diversity
1. Afrotropical fauna
2. Palearctic fauna
3. Neotropical fauna
4. Australasian fauna
5. Indo-Malayan and Oceania fauna

Topic 6: Larvae and pupae

Topic 7: Commonly intercepted and pest species in US/Canada

Lab 3: General “Office hours” style open lab (2 hours)
1. In depth examination of larval characters with physical specimens
2. Work through specific common pest species

Course Material

Materials will be distributed to all attendees via links to google drive folders and possibly through a Slack workspace for discussion and interaction during and following the workshop.

Code of conduct

For this workshop we are adopting the Coleopterists Society Ethics statement here: https://www.coleopsoc.org/society-info/ethics-statement/

Which follows the Entomological Society of America's Code of Conduct for events here: https://www.entsoc.org/conduct

All organizers, instructors, and attendees are expected to adhere by these standards.

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