Post by L Roebuck on May 5, 2006 13:00:11 GMT -5
Cave bug called new species
By NEIL HORNER
News Reporter
May 05 2006
Craig Wagnell was actually trying to take a picture of something very, very old when he accidentally snapped a shot of something he believes is completely new.
The Port Alberni caver thinks he has discovered a new species of insect inside a cave in the karst formations above Sproat Lake — and one of the top experts in the field believes he’s right. Wagnell, who heads up the Central Island Caving Club, says he found the insect, a unique form of two-pronged bristletail cave insect called campodeid diplurans in 2004, but only now is revealing its existence after receiving strong support for his contention that he is on to something entirely new.
The cave, the exact location of which he’s keeping under wraps, is a treasure trove of fossils that literally stick out of the walls, with the soft limestone worn away around them.
“They were perfect shells extruded out of the rock,” he says. “I was taking pictures of some of the ammonites and I noticed a little white bug running across my field.”
The creature was nothing more than a minor annoyance until Wagnell blew up his photos on his computer and realized he had never seen anything quite like it in his over 20 years of caving experience. After searching on the Internet and networking with various experts, he got in touch with Dr. Lynn Ferguson, who is professor emeritus of Biology and Earth Sciences at Virginia’s Longwood University.
He sent a photo of the creature to Dr. Ferguson, who expressed keen interest in the find and urged him to capture a live specimen.
“He told me to use blue cheese in live traps, because diplurans eat organic matter that washes into the caves,” Wagnell says. “None of my traps worked, but while I was checking I looked to the side and noticed another white thing running around.”
Wagnell was able to collect a total of six specimens, which he carefully prepared and sent to Virginia.
The response was even more encouraging.
“After mounting the specimens on microscope slides and examining them, I determined that Mr. Wagnell had discovered a previously undescribed new species of dipluran, belonging to the genus Haplocampa,” Dr. Ferguson says.
“It is probably safe to consider the species as a troglobite, or true cavernicole, an animal adapted to live only in caves.”
Currently, he says, there are two species of Haplocampa known on Vancouver Island, although others can be found in Banff National Park in Alberta, which Ferguson says served as a refuge for small arthropods during the last glacial period.
Species of Haplocampa also exist in caves and lava tubes in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and northern California.
Ferguson calls Wagnell’s discovery significant.
“Mister Wagnell’s discovery is an important new addition to our knowledge of the cave fauna of North America,” he says.
Vancouver Island Report
By NEIL HORNER
News Reporter
May 05 2006
Craig Wagnell was actually trying to take a picture of something very, very old when he accidentally snapped a shot of something he believes is completely new.
The Port Alberni caver thinks he has discovered a new species of insect inside a cave in the karst formations above Sproat Lake — and one of the top experts in the field believes he’s right. Wagnell, who heads up the Central Island Caving Club, says he found the insect, a unique form of two-pronged bristletail cave insect called campodeid diplurans in 2004, but only now is revealing its existence after receiving strong support for his contention that he is on to something entirely new.
The cave, the exact location of which he’s keeping under wraps, is a treasure trove of fossils that literally stick out of the walls, with the soft limestone worn away around them.
“They were perfect shells extruded out of the rock,” he says. “I was taking pictures of some of the ammonites and I noticed a little white bug running across my field.”
The creature was nothing more than a minor annoyance until Wagnell blew up his photos on his computer and realized he had never seen anything quite like it in his over 20 years of caving experience. After searching on the Internet and networking with various experts, he got in touch with Dr. Lynn Ferguson, who is professor emeritus of Biology and Earth Sciences at Virginia’s Longwood University.
He sent a photo of the creature to Dr. Ferguson, who expressed keen interest in the find and urged him to capture a live specimen.
“He told me to use blue cheese in live traps, because diplurans eat organic matter that washes into the caves,” Wagnell says. “None of my traps worked, but while I was checking I looked to the side and noticed another white thing running around.”
Wagnell was able to collect a total of six specimens, which he carefully prepared and sent to Virginia.
The response was even more encouraging.
“After mounting the specimens on microscope slides and examining them, I determined that Mr. Wagnell had discovered a previously undescribed new species of dipluran, belonging to the genus Haplocampa,” Dr. Ferguson says.
“It is probably safe to consider the species as a troglobite, or true cavernicole, an animal adapted to live only in caves.”
Currently, he says, there are two species of Haplocampa known on Vancouver Island, although others can be found in Banff National Park in Alberta, which Ferguson says served as a refuge for small arthropods during the last glacial period.
Species of Haplocampa also exist in caves and lava tubes in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and northern California.
Ferguson calls Wagnell’s discovery significant.
“Mister Wagnell’s discovery is an important new addition to our knowledge of the cave fauna of North America,” he says.
Vancouver Island Report