The great Mediterranean indoors.

[urbpan]

My last "More Urban Species" post begs a bit of illumination.

The pseudoscorpion, looking as it does like a tropical or desert animal, seems an unlikely candidate for New England residence. And it might be, were it not for the constant temperate to tropical conditions found inside buildings in our region. Indeed, warm enclosed spaces, heated and humidity controlled to human preferences, provide habitat for a long list of animals that would perish in the unforgiving cold of say, today, outdoors in Boston. It is only because the pseudoscorpion (being so small and secretive) is less often seen that the others are accepted as normal.

The great indoors of North America and in fact everywhere else, harbors a vast array of creatures that originally came from elsewhere, because the conditions inside are close enough to the conditions out of doors in their native ranges. Add to that the veritable feast of waste, and of prey grazing on that waste, and the list of creatures from the Mediterranean, Subtropics, and Tropics becomes quite impressive. International trade of objects, plants, and foodstuffs guarantees a broad distribution of this fauna.  Areas just around buildings comprise another kind of habitat, and I've included a few outdoor urban species from the warm Old World too.

Here's a truncated list, based on what little I know; please correct me if you know I am mistaken (entomologists, I'm hinting in your direction). Note how often the word "house" modifies the common name.

House Pseudoscorpion Chelifer cancroides Probably from the Mediterranean.
Indian Meal Moth Plodia interpunctella Tempting to say India, but they could be from anywhere warm where grain is stored.
Sawtooth Grain Beetle Oryzaephilus surinamensis The Scientific name suggests Indonesia, but that just means they were in Indonesia (in rice) by the 18th century, when Linnaeus described them. Once again, could be from anywhere warm where grain is stored.
Little House Fly  Fannia canicularis Old World tropics.  Probably spread alongside poultry agriculture.
House Sparrow Passer domesticus  Mediterranean.  Followed agriculture to Northern Europe.  Helped along across oceans by deliberate human action.
House Mouse  Mus musculus.  Central Asia? The Middle East? Someplace with lots of caves and not much water.
Garden centipede  Lithobius forficatus  Probably the Mediterranean.
House centipede  Scutigera coleoptrata.  The Mediterranean.
Pill Bug  Armadillidium vulgare.  The Mediterranean.
Silverfish  Lepisma saccharina.  Probably the Mediterranean.
American Cockroach  Periplaneta americana.  Tropical Africa.  As far as I know, all of the pest cockroach species are native to the Old World Tropics.
House Fly  Musca domestica.  Probably tropical Africa.  I suspect the same is true of the stable fly, although the literature surrounding these two very similar looking species is confused.  If someone knows for sure, I'd love to find out.
Almost forgot these deliberate introductions:
European starling  Sturnus vulagaris.  From the Mediterranean, but cold doesn't seem to stop their progress in world domination.
Rock pigeon  Columba livia.  From the Mediterranean.  The wild type isn't doing so well, but the feral/semi-domestic/urban type continues to be ubiquitous.
Honey Bee.   Apis mellifera.  From the Middle East or India.  Domesicated long enough for distinct regional varieties to be developed (Including "Africanized" bees from, you know, Brazil).  These insects are important enough for commercial agriculture that people mistakenly believe that their disappearance has something to do with nature.
And don't forget:
Norway rats are from Asia some place, and Black Rats are from coastal, tropical Asia.

Most urban slugs are from the Old World, but I haven't figured out which if any are Mediterranean or Tropical.  Probably the greenhouse slug is.  Likewise I didn't include urban soil fauna that's European in origin, but may be temperate species from northern Europe, like the European ground beetle, the European earwig, the devil's coach horse, and the shiny woodlouse.

Comments

[sin-agua.livejournal.com]

This is a really interesting list - thanks for posting it.

Btw, to what do YOU attribute the alleged drop in honeybee populations? How does their relation to commercial agriculture negate the possibility that their disappearance is related to "nature"? I was confused by your comment. Are you saying you feel the disappearance is not real, or that it's not a "natural" occurrence, but rather man-made, or...?\

eta: I'm still astounded to learn that before Europeans arrived, there were no earthworms in North America. I guess I'd thought that they lived wherever there was dirt.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Earthworms were present in some parts of North America, but were gone from those places covered by glaciers during the last ice age (including all of New England).

My bee comment is mild snark. When honeybee collapse disorder was the news story of the week, I fielded a lot of "nature" questions about it, which kind of irked me. The collapse, as far as I can tell, affects mainly those large scale bee colonies which travel on trucks from field to field during the growing season. These bees are under a variety of stresses, including lack of consistent territory, having to sleep on a moving truck, and being exposed to lots and lots of pesticides.

Native pollinators are not collapsing. Not that it isn't a serious problem, it's just not a problem that has much to do with nature. It's analogous to the imminent extinction of the Cavendish banana. It's a big problem, but it's an agricultural problem.

[sin-agua.livejournal.com]

"gone from those places covered by glaciers"

Ah, okay now that does make more sense to me. Thanks for helping me with my dumb. ;)

Also that's really interesting about the bees - I had not realized they traveled on trucks! Again, this does make more sense.

And now I'm off to learn more about Cavendish bananas....

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

what's the current reckoning on "introducted species" as percent of critters found in the USA? i seem to recall it was something like 1/3? it was a lot.

and don't forget those earth worm eaters... the LONG flatheads? mmm.

and snails!

and ... a host more...

#

Right you are sir.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

How could I forget our beloved landchovy?

[temeres.livejournal.com]

Lithobius forficatus is widespread in Britain (well north of the Mediterranean) and, as far as I know, indigenous. Likewise a number of other species you describe as Mediterranean are - again, as far as I know - indigenous to the UK, such as the Starling and the Rock Pigeon. There is a Mediterranean species of Starling, the Spotless Starling S unicolor, but vulgaris is spread right across Europe into Siberia.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I was unsure about the garden centipede; I'll give you that one.

The European starling and pigeon were (as far I my readings have indicated) originally restricted to Southern Europe but spread to Northern Europe Great Britain with the Roman Empire and the resulting larger scale agriculture.

I recently learned that the European Rabbit also had a very limited range originally and was also deliberately introduced to Great Britain and other Northern European places.

[temeres.livejournal.com]

It might be worth distinguishing between introduction per se - species deliberately or inadvertently carried to a new home - and human-assisted range expansion, in which the species carry themselves. The Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto, for example, underwent a massive pan-European range expansion in the first half of the 20th Century, reaching the UK in about 1954, but it was never to my knowledge introduced to anywhere - it took itself. (Though it's now apparently established in the US, where it is presumably introduced.)

That the Rock Pigeon might be an introduction I can buy, since it's long been a domesticated species and was apparently very popular with the monks who settled on the Scottish and Irish coasts in the early medieval period. The Starling, however, is not a domesticated species. I can quite believe that it exploited the spread of agriculture to extend its range, but that doesn't make it introduced (in Europe, that is. Deliberate introduction to the Americas and elsewhere is reliably documented).

The Wild Rabbit is generally reckoned to have reached Britain courtesy of the Normans. I've also heard it suggested that hares aren't native to Britain either but that seems to be a minority view.

As for centipedes, even if forficatus was an accidental introduction (by Romans, Normans, possibly even the Danes), how would we know? There are, apparently, some 20+ species of Lithobius in Britain. At least some of them must be native.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

The distinction between introduction and assisted range expansion is a tricky one. They're both caused by human activity, but I suppose range expansion tends to be more gradual. Similar causes, similar results.

Why is it important to make the distinction?

[weofodthignen]

I think it's historically interesting--as with the introduction of rabbits by first the Romans, then the Knights Templar. Also, as with the European honeybee, you get into issues of whether the species is able to survive without humans, or would have managed to without human assistance.

--As I understand it, CCD is affecting all beekeepers right down to the single-hive hobbyist. Part of the problem is that it tends to come on very suddenly, so a hive may be about to collapse but one often can't tell. There are areas where it's affected more hives, but some of that may be reporting and some of it may be a greater concentration of bees in those areas, increasing risk of transmission of whatever it is. Or weather, if that's a factor. Which brings us back to the question of whether honeybees could survive in the US on their own.

M

[gemfyre.livejournal.com]

Indian Meal Moths

The bane of my kitchen. Especially as I have a heap of baking gear. They even get into sealed containers the buggers!

[elainetyger.livejournal.com]

I don't see how they can get into sealed containers if the containers are made of hard plastic, glass, or metal. They may come in with the product.

One time inspecting a store with hundreds of pounds of spices in plastic boxes in the basement, my boss and I found several boxes completely inundated with beetles. It turned out that there were 3 small round holes in each of 2 handles on each box.

I see moths get into sealed paper sacks such as with flour or, less commonly, pet foods on neglected retail shelves. Besides those insects that chew holes through the paper, it looks as though the moths might eat the glue holding the flaps down and then scoot under the flaps.

[wirrrn.livejournal.com]

Any invasive Australian species in the US of A? The Australian Cockroach, perhaps?

Pseudoscorpions are so cute. Love the way they hitch rides on other arthropods *g*

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I am planning an entry on the Australian cockroach, but I haven't done any research on it yet. :)

[temeres.livejournal.com]

Pseudoscorpions are so cute. Love the way they hitch rides on other arthropods *g*

Something I didn't know about until I inadvertently photographed it.