Dear colleagues,

Plans for the International Congress of Acarology are progressing well. Registrations are being received, thank you, and the program is taking shape. Some people have asked questions about the program, which we can attempt to answer.

1.  Authors may submit papers for inclusion in symposia if they choose to do so. However, it is important to remember that the organisation of the symposia is at the discretion of the conveners of each symposium. The symposium topics are as announced in the registration form. People wishing
to take part in symposia should contact the symposium convenors directly for further details.

2. Authors may also contribute papers in any area of acarology, outside the symposium system. These papers will be grouped into congress sessions covering related areas of interest wherever possible. These papers do not need to be in the areas identified as symposium topics. Further instructions for preparation of these papers are in the registration form under the heading "Contributed papers".

3. Authors may also offer posters in any area of acarology. They do not need to be related to the symposium topics.

4. All papers will be refereed, including both symposium papers and contributed papers. Refereeing will take place during and after the Congress.

5. All accepted papers will be published in the Proceedings, both symposium papers and contributed papers. People who present posters may also have supporting papers published if they choose to do so. These will be refereed.

6. The international fax number of the Congress secretariat is Country code 61, area code 2, number 6257 3256.

We look forward to seeing you all in July.

Bruce Halliday

For information on the 10th International Congress of Acarology, July 1998, go to

http://www.uq.oz.au/entomology/mite.conf.htmlÄ
 

or e-mail acarology@acts.ccmail.compuserve.com

=======================================================
Dr. R. B. Halliday
CSIRO Division of Entomology
GPO Box 1700
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia

Email bruceh@ento.csiro.au

Telephone (02) 6246 4085   International 61-2-6246 4085
Fax (02) 6246 4000   International 61-2-6246 4000
http://www.ento.csiro.au/research/natres/natres.html

Can somebody please give me the mailing address for the British Museum of Natural History?

Thanks,

Dac

D. A. Crossley, Jr.
Institute of Ecology
Ecology Annex
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia 30602-2360

I can't understand why a person will take a year to write a novel, when they could buy one for a few dollars --  Fred Allen
 

Dear colleagues!

Who are working  now  on  the problem of morfology of the mouth parts and  internal  anatomy  of mites of  the  family Ereynetidae? Many thanks for your attention and kind courtesy.

      Normal contact address:
      Igor V. Badanin
      Department of  Acarology,  Schmalhausen  Institute  of
      Zoology, B.Khmelnitski Str., 15, SU-252601 Kiev-30,
      Ukraine.

Dear Entomologists/Acarologists,I have collected an adult tick specimen(male) on goat (Sardinia, Italy). According to previous description, reported in the literature it could be identified as à ÃHaemaphysalys sulcata.Ä Ä Nevertheless, the very long coxa IV spurs are quite different from  those I have seen in other male specimens of this species. The spur are strong curved (like hook), direct laterally. Is this variation frequently observed in other areas of its geographical  distribution? Unfortunately, I have little experience on à ÃHaemaphysalisÄ Ä genus. Could be the specimen  a different species? Could someone to help me in finding  a recent description ofà à Haemaphysalys sulcataÄ Ä? Many thanks for your help. Michele Maroli
 

Dr Michele Maroli
Istituto Superiore di SanitÀ! À
Department of Parasitology
Viale Regina Elena, 299 - 00161 - Rome, Italy
Tel ++39 6 49902302 - Fax ++39 6 49387065
e-mail: maroli@pop3.iss.it

I was advised recently that Carl A. Bader (Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel) deceased at the end of october 1997

Michel BERTRAND
UniversitÀ) À MONTPELLIER 3
Route de Mende
ZOOGEOGRAPHIE
F-34199 MONTPELLIER CEDEX 5
FRANCE

Dear Colleagues:

You have probably noticed that the abuse of our list by internet junk mail distributors has been stoped.  This was due to a change in our system software. During troubled times, most members of the list have stayed with us and I thank you for your patience.  I hope our list will stay clean and will remain a useful forum for us.

For friends of mine, please note that my former official address

International Institute of Entomology, CAB International, 56 Queen's Gate, London SW7 5JR, UK

should NOT be used in the future.  Since January 1998, the International Institute of Entomology, along with other CABI institutes (e.g.International Institute of Biological Control),  has been incorporated into a single unit named CABI BIOSCIENCE.  Within this new structure, I now work
for BioNET-INTERNATIONAL (based at Egham, Surrey) and the Environment sector of CABI BIOSCIENCE (based at Silwood Park, Ascot).

For work related to mites, I am still based in the Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, London.  Please direct all your future mails to me at this address (see below).

Best wishes,

Zhi-Qiang Zhang
 

********************************************************************************
Dr. Zhi-Qiang Zhang
c/o Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
E-mail:z.zhang@nhm.ac.uk; Phone:44-171-938-9535; Fax:44-171-938-9309
Http://www.nhm.ac.uk/acarology
*******************************************************************************

Hi there!

I am seeking information about mites associated with termite nests(references, researchers, anything)

Cheers

Marcio
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              Marcio R. Pie
         Departamento de Zoologia
    Universidade Estadual de Campinas
   C.P. 6109 Campinas - SP   13083-970
         piecio@obelix.unicamp.br

Temporary adress
Laboratoire d'Ethologie et Psychologie Animale
UMR C.N.R.S. N05550
Universite' Paul Sabatier
118, route de Narbonne
F - 31062 Toulouse Cedex

Tel: +33 (0)5 61 55 88 71
Fax: +33 (0)5 61 55 61 54

I just started to work with Hypoaspis miles and am interested in establishing a lab colony, instead of ordering the mites everytime I need them.  Does anybody have advise on rearing them or know of a published methodology for rearing.

Thanks,
Scott Ludwig

****************************************************************************
Scott Ludwig
Department of Entomology
College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences
Griffin Campus
1109 Experiment Street
Griffin, Georgia 30223 USA
sludwig@bugs.ent.uga.edu

Dear Zhi-Qiang,

I hope you will allow me to get support from the acarology list, by e-mailing the following call for support for the Bishop Museum. The Museum will even be worst off if we lose another $800,000 already allocated to us.  We need all the help we can get from our colleagues.

Much aloha,

Sabina

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sabina F. Swift, Ph.D.           VOICE: (808)847-8217
Collection Manager, Arachnida, Insect Ectoparasites
Bishop Museum                    FAX: (808)847-8252
Department of Natural Sciences   E-MAIL: swift@bishop.bishop.hawaii.org
1525 Bernice St.
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817 USA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 24 Feb 1998 13:51:54 -1000
From: Robert H. Cowie <rhcowie@bishop.bishop.hawaii.org>
To: Multiple recipients of list TAXACOM <TAXACOM@cmsa.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: Bishop Museum - loss of State funding

Please read the following important message about budget cuts at Bishop Museum. If you have ever borrowed specimens from Bishop Museum, used its collections or its online data resources, interacted with its staff, or if you simply value its continued existence as a research institution, PLEASE write to the people listed in the message.

The State funding, which we may soon lose entirely, constitutes an enormous portion of our day to day operating costs. The rest of our overall budget is mostly tied to grants, contracts and so on. Cutting the State funding will lead to significant job losses, perhaps as many as 25% of the staff.

We need your support.

Thank you very much.

Robert Cowie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LOSS OF STATE SUPPORT TO BISHOP MUSEUMÄ
 Ä
8 February 1998

Dear Friend:

I am writing to request that you write a letter of support to the Governor and Legislature of the State of Hawaii to continue funding to the Bishop Museum.  Although Bishop Museum is a private non-profit institution governed by a self-perpetuating board of directors, we were designated in 1988 by the Hawaii State Legislature as the State Museum of Natural and Cultural History.  This designation brought regular state funding to Bishop Museum.

In 1992 this amounted to ca. $2.5 million (16% of our total revenues). During the past several years our current governor, Benjamin Cayetano, has steadily decreased support to the Museum because of a state fiscal crisis. During this current fiscal year we are due to receive $805,000.  This represents a decrease of 67% since 1992.  And now the state budget director is reportedly threatening to withhold that funding beginning 1 July 1998.

This could have devastating consequences on our ability to get grants and obtain other support that have allowed us to maintain research and collection activities despite a yearly loss of $1.7 million in state funding since 1992.  The $805,000 that has been appropriated by the legislature for FY 1999 is absolutely essential to the continuation of those activities.

Those of you from other museums will immediately recognize that our current level of funding from the State of Hawaii is low compared to most other large, free-standing museums.  This is a source of considerable frustration to us, given the importance of our collections and associated activities to the citizens of Hawai'i.  The absence of predictable state funding was one of the major reasons for passage in 1988 of Act 398 (see Appendix 1) which designated us as the State Museum.  Although it now appears that the Cayetano administration will not succeed in recent efforts to remove funding  provisions from Act 398, the Governor could still withhold all but one dollar of our FY 1999 appropriation of $805,000 and still meet the provisions of that legislation.  Your testimony is essential if we are to receive this current support and eventually increase the level of support in the future.

We have listed in Appendix 2 some of the important reasons why state support is important to our research programs.

You can help us by writing or emailing a letter of support to the governor highlighting the importance of our collections (23+ million items) and associated research activities.  Your voice in this matter is essential in showing the State that curtailing of funding to us will result is serious cutbacks or possible discontinuation of our services to you. It is important to take a constructive approach and to indicate that you understand that the State is trying to solve a serious fiscal crisis, but that withdrawing support from Bishop Museum is a short-term solution that simply does not make long-term economic sense.  Our ability to identify agricultural and other pest species, provide expert guidance to resource management agencies, and assist State agencies in innumerable other ways all have a strong economic basis.  In addition, even though the State funding we currently receive is relatively small, it provides a crucial match to obtaining out of state grants and other support that increases the investment of this funding many fold.

It is also important to mention ways in which our research or collections have allowed you to advance science and society. To those of you who have provided significant donations to us, it might prove useful to indicate the importance of the Museum and its programs that led you to support us.

Please feel free to circulate this request to anyone whom you feel would also be interested in helping.  For additional details about Bishop Museum please point your browser to Ã
 Ãhttp://www.bishop. hawaii. org.  Ä
 Ä

Additional details on our Hawaii Biological Survey program are available at: Ã
 Ãhttp://www.bishop. hawaii.org/ bishop/HBS/Ä
 Ä

and information on geology is located at: Ã
 Ãhttp://www.bishop.hawaii.org/bishop/geology/Ä
 Ä

Please address letters to those listed below and include your postal address in all e-mail correspondence:

Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano
Executive Chambers
Hawaii State Capitol
Honolulu, HI 96813
Phone: (808) 586-0034
Fax: (808) 586-0006
E-mail: gov@gov.state.hi.us

Please also send copies of your letters directly to the leadership of the Senate and House, and to the co-chairs of the Ways and Means Committee of the State Senate and the chair and vice-chair of the Finance Committee of the State House of Representatives. Or, you send a copy of your letter to Tracie Mackenzie, Department of Natural Sciences, Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96817, phone (808) 847-8204, Fax (808) 847-8252,

e-mail: tracie@bishop.bishop.hawaii.org

and we will copy and forward.
Contact details are:

The Honorable Norman Mizuguchi,
President
Hawaii State Senate
State Capitol
415 Beretania Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Phone (808) 586-6870
Fax (808) 586-6819
[No e-mail address]

The Honorable Rosalyn Baker, Co-Chair
Ways and Means Committee
Hawaii State Senate
State Capitol
415 Beretania Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Phone (808) 586-6070
Fax (808) 586-6070
Email: senbaker@capitol.hawaii.gov

The Honorable Carol Fukunaga, Co-Chair
Ways and Means Committee
Hawaii State Senate
State Capitol
415 Beretania Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Phone (808) 586-6890
Fax (808) 586-6899
E-mail1: senfukunaga@capitol.hawaii.gov
E-mail2: senfukunaga@aloha.net

The Honorable Joseph M. Souki
Speaker of the House
Hawaii State House of Representatives
State Capitol
415 Beretania Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Phone (808) 586-6100
Fax (808) 586-6101
E-mail: repsouki@capitol.hawaii.gov

The Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say, Chair
Finance Committee
Hawaii State House of Representatives
State Capitol
415 Beretania Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Phone (808) 586-6200
Fax (808) 586-6201
E-mail: repsay@capitol.hawaii.gov

The Honorable Bertha C. Kawakami, Vice-Chair
Finance Committee
Hawaii State House of Representatives
State Capitol
415 Beretania Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Phone (808) 586-6280
Fax (808) 586-6281
E-mail: repkawakami@capitol.hawaii.gov
 

Please also send a copy to:

Dr. Allen Allison
Vice President, Research
Bishop Museum
1525 Bernice Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817
Phone (808) 848-4145
Fax (808) 847-8252
E-mail: allison@hawaii.edu

Thank you!

Allen Allison, Vice President for Research
 

*******************************************************************************

APPENDIX 1 -

Major statements included in Act 398 which was passed by the Hawaii State Legislature in 1988 and signed into law that same year:

The legislature finds that Bishop Museum has been the primary repository of Hawaiian and Pacific region artifacts in the State and Territory since 1921, and for ninety-seven years has made its reputation as a world-renowned scientific and cultural institution.

The legislature also finds that Bishop Museum continues to serve all of the people of Hawaii, from school children to adults, and from tourists and other visitors to our island to scholars throughout the world, who all benefit from the outstanding collections, research, exhibits and educational programs.

The legislature also recognizes that the Bishop Museum, throughout its many years of service, has established critical areas of expertise and references of lasting value to Hawaii and its people through:

1.      Its gathering, preserving, storing and sharing of the tangible evidence of Hawaii's natural and cultural history;
2.     Its staff, who annually contribute hundreds of hours of expertise and support to over fifty state government agencies, departments, and affiliated organizations; and without whom many basic questions concerning Hawaii's people, plants, animals could not be answered with efficiency and confidence;
3.      Its library, which serves as one of the three main Pacific libraries in the world, with more than 90,000 items, half of which are considered rare; a photographic collection of more than half a million images; and the only geographic center in the world devoted exclusively to the Pacific;
4. Its press, which is the oldest continuing publisher of scholarly books west of the Mississippi having published over 1,200 titles, including classics such as AHawaii: A Pictorial History@; and Mary Kawena Pukui's AHawaiian Proverbs and Poetic Sayings@;

The legislature also recognizes that the Bishop Museum has served Ade facto@ for nearly a century as Hawaii's state museum without benefit of regular predictable support from state sources to assist in the preservation of its irreplaceable collections, to staff research programs, and to plan and present its exhibits and educational programs

*******************************************************************************

APPENDIX 2 -

IMPORTANCE OF MUSEUM RESEARCH AND RESEARCHERS TO THE STATE OF HAWAI`I

Bishop Museum research - the quest for new knowledge in cultural and natural history - is a vital investment in the future of the economy and environment of our state.  Through research, we come to understand our world and learn to preserve and manage our cultural and natural resources.  If we neglect our natural resources, tourism will decline, our best and brightest people will leave the State and we will be in an even worse economic calamity than we are today.  Bishop Museum research is an important element in preventing this tragedy.

!In 1992 Bishop Museum was designated by the state as the Hawaii Biological Survey (HBS) and charged with the task of developing a complete inventory of our plants and animals. This important Museum program, which has been highly acclaimed by the scientific community, is supported largely by federal grants and national foundations.  As a result of Museum leadership, Hawai'i is the only state in the union with a comprehensive biological survey (all organisms, terrestrial, freshwater and marine), and the only state with an accurate, constantly updated list of the plants, animals, and microorganisms within its boundaries.  This information is crucial to a wide range of activities including environmental management, outdoor recreation, and the development of biotechnology.  A testament to the usefulness of HBS to the community is that the HBS website received over 170,000 hits by users of its databases, endangered species information, and educational information during 1997.

!Museum researchers provide a significant financial return on the state's investment. During 1997 alone they brought in to the State of Hawaii's economy 6.2 times their salaries in national and international funding, obtaining a total of $2.2 million in grants (17 funded out of 18 applications submitted).  This places us at the top of museums nationally. Much of this funding is awarded through intensely competitive national and international granting programs.  The State's annual appropriation to us, which demonstrates a local commitment and provides a financial match to many of these grants, is absolutely essential for obtaining and continuing this out-of-state support.

!State agencies have local access to world-class experts at Bishop Museum who provide identification and other scientific services that are essential to the interpretation of cultural sites, control of alien organisms including agricultural and household pests, and to the preservation of Hawaii's endangered species.  In many cases state agencies would not be able to do their jobs without Museum help.  For example, our quick response and scientific detective work in 1995 was crucial to preventing the establishment of sand flies in Hawai`i.  The establishment of these beach-dwelling biting insects in Hawai'i would have had a devastating effect on our multi-billion dollar tourist industry.

!Bishop Museum is an important reason that Hawai`i is seen as a world leader in efforts to combine research findings with information management, and to translate this into useful products and services for the public and to support environmental management and the preservation of important natural and cultural sites.  Such attention attracts money and expertise to our state. In 1978, then Museum anthropologist Dr. Adrianne Kaeppler's research on the Cook Voyage artifacts established a template for research on pre-contact Hawaiian material culture, created inventories of such artifacts in the world's museums, and forged an exciting exhibit here in Hawai'i.-And if for example, you are bitten or stung by an unknown small critter, your can refer to an extremely popular book entitled AWhat bit me?@ co-authored by Gordon Nishida of our Hawaii Biological Survey, which has received high acclaim from the public.

!Museum researchers answer more than 2,000 inquiries each year.  In many cases our staff are the only people in the state with the knowledge and experience to answer such inquiries.  A high percentage of these inquiries originate with or are referred to us by Hawaiian as well as other state agencies. In one well-publicized case, Museum entomologist Dr. Al Samuelson was contacted by New York state officials to help them identify a non-North American beetle that was ravaging many of their street trees. Why was Bishop Museum called upon? Because we are nationally and internationally renowned as having the most comprehensive collections of Pacific and Asian insects of any museum in the world. We were able to accurately identify the beetle and now specific control measures can be implemented to eradicate it.

!Museum researchers serve on at least 25 state committees dealing with agriculture, plant quarantine, and other important state regulatory functions.  The museum probably has a higher percentage of its staff serving on state committees than any other research organization in the state. This attests to the importance of our specialized knowledge and expertise in assisting the state to meet its regulatory responsibilities.

!Museum researchers are important mentors to Hawaii's school children. They also constitute, through unpaid honorary appointments, a significant fraction of the University of Hawaii's graduate faculty in the cultural and natural sciences.  This relationship helps attract students and funding to Hawai'i and contributes to the growing reputation of the University of Hawaii for excellence in teaching and research.  Museum research expertise is also essential to the development of the Museum's exhibits and education programs that serve the local community and attract visitors to Hawai'i.

!With continued state support the role of Bishop Museum research will grow to meet the needs of the future.  One mutually beneficial way to support reasonable growth in state support would be to integrate selected state functions into museum programs for more efficient, economical and effective service.  Identification and monitoring of agricultural and other alien pests, survey and monitoring of endangered species as well as sensitive cultural sites, the development of information systems for determining environmental management priorities, or providing environmental education programs are just a few of the ways that Bishop Museum research could directly serve the state and reduce overall costs in the future.

*********************************************************************************
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - © © © © © © © © © © © © © © ©  © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © ©
Robert H. Cowie, Ph.D.
Department of Natural Sciences
Bishop Museum
1525 Bernice Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817-0916
USA
Phone:  (808) 848 4118
Fax:    (808) 847 8252
Web:    http://www.bishop.hawaii.org/bishop/HBS/cowie.html
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - © © © © © © © © © © © © © © ©  © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © ©
Views expressed in this message are not necessarily those of Bishop Museum.
 

I am beginning to survey populations of predators that attack the weed biological control agent Tlintearius (gorse spider mite).  Is anyone familiar with predators, specifically predatory mites (phytoseiids), associated with this spider mite?  Any assistance with identification and ways to sample for these organisms will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Paul.
--
Paul D. Pratt
Dept. of Entomology
Cordley Hall 2046
Corvallis, OR. 97331
(541) 737-5524

"Bugs are not going to inherit the earth. They own it now.
So we might as well make peace with the landlord."--T. Eisner (1989)