Survey of Insect Species Associated with Dog Parks in College Station, Texas

Authors

  • Autumn Eilers

Abstract

For a span of 4 weeks between March and April of 2015, insect traps were set up in 3 different parks identified as “canine stations” or “dog parks” by the City of College Station Parks and Recreation Department. The aim of this study was to survey and collect all insect species in the area, and then evaluate them by level of veterinary importance. Homemade traps were filled with brown sugar, water, and yeast; the insects were collected and sugar yeast mixture refilled 3 times a week.   10 species were collected, of the orders Diptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and Hymenoptera. The most dominant insect collected was the Drosophila spp. at 141 of the 175 specimens. No species were found that pose a direct threat toward canines or their outdoor areas. It is important to understand that these findings could have been due to the safety of the area or the use of inefficient traps. A survey of the different insects collected were recorded for the three locations in the specific region.

 

References

"Bug Guide." Bug Guide.Net. Iowa State University, 2003-2015. Web. 01 May 2015.

"U.S. Climate Data." U.S. Climate Data. Your Weather Service, 2015. Web. 01 May 2015.

Arnett, Ross H. American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico. 2nd ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC, 2000. Print.

Blackshaw, R. P., and C. Coll. "Economically Important Leatherjackets of Grassland and Cereals: Biology, Impact and Control." Integrated Pest Management Reviews 4.2 (1999): 145-62. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

Brown, Heidi E et al. "Key Factors Influencing Canine Heartworm, Dirofilaria Immitis, in the United States.† Parasites & Vectors 5 (2012): 245. PMC. Web. 29 Apr 2015.

Choi, Sarah, Katie Poulter, Amber Ramirez, & Zeb Thomas. "A Survey of Mosquito Populations in the Bryan-College Station Area." Instars: A Journal of Undergraduate Entomological Research [Online], 1.1 (2014): n. pag. Web. 30 Apr. 2015

Min, K., T. Flatt, I. Kulaots, and M. Tatar. "Counting Calories in Drosophila Diet Restriction." Experimental Gerontology 42.3 (2007): 247-51. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

Min, Kyung-Jin, and Marc Tatar. "Drosophila Diet Restriction in Practice: Do Flies Consume Fewer Nutrients?" Mechanisms of Ageing and Development 127.1 (2006): 93-96. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

Park, Thomas. "Observations on the General Biology of the Flour Beetle, Tribolium Confusum." The Quarterly Review of Biology 9.1 (1934): 36. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

Pierce AM, Borden JH and Ochlschlager AC. "Olfactory response to beetle produced volatiles and host food attractants by Oryzaephilus surinmensis and O. mercator.† Canadian Journal of Zoology 59 (1981): 1980—1990.

Downloads

Published

2016-02-12