Draft Checklist of the Nonmarine Arthropods of Alaska
A draft checklist to the nonmarine arthropods of Alaska is in preparation. This is a collaborative effort with data and time coming from many sources (see below) which is being managed by the Curator of Insects at the University of Alaska Museum, Derek Sikes. (Note that the Lepidoptera is less complete than other groups because a separate checklist effort for that order is in preparation by Clifford Ferris, James Kruse, and Kenelm Philip.)
If having access to this draft would be helpful to your work, we would be happy to provide you a working / draft copy under the following conditions:
- The list is not to be distributed to third parties outside of your immediate working group (please encourage others who would like copies to contact us directly)
- Any errors (and there are many- this is a draft list), additions or suggestions for improvement that you are aware of will be communicated to either Derek Sikes or Matthew Bowser.
- If you have a collection and/or database of Alaskan records that are not already in the list and would like to donate the information, or partner with us in preparing the list, please contact Derek Sikes.
- ****The list is not to be used directly for publication/citation*****. That is, if you wish to publish information on certain species known from Alaska do not cite the list; instead, use the included references to cite the sources of information for each name. Example: If you wish to cite stonefly records please cite Stewart, K.W., Oswood, M.W. 2006. The Stoneflies (Plecoptera) of Alaska and Western Canada. The Caddis Press, Columbus, Ohio. iii-325pp., which is indicated as the primary source of all the stonefly records in the list. Some records in the list have no published source, that is, they are new records for the state. Some of these will be published by others who are actively working on the group, so for such records it is CRITICAL that you contact the authors of the list who will contact, if necessary, others who are working on that group. In such cases it is likely that you will be asked to refrain from publishing or using records of this nature in any report or similar communication. It would be highly unethical to publish first records for a group someone else is working on.
Major collaborators to date include:
- The USDA Alaska Forest Service personnel who supplied their working 'BigBug' list of Alaskan arthropods.
- The USDA Agricultural Research Service in Alaska who have supplied many records via donation of specimens to UAM.
- The USFWS National Wildlife Refuges at Kanuti, Peninsula, Kenai, Maritime (Aleutians), Arctic, who have supplied many records via donation of specimens to UAM.
- Dominique Collet who has supplied records via donation of specimens to UAM.
- Kenelm Philip who has supplied records via donations of specimens to UAM and data from his Alaska Lepidoptera Survey database.
- Brandi Fleshman who has supplied spider records via donation of specimens to UAM and is currently working on the spider checklist for Alaska.
To obtain a copy of the list email Derek Sikes (dssikes 'at' alaska.edu) with your request.