posted September 20, 2004 11:52 PM         

One problem with extinction, no matter what causes it, can be summed up by biologist Heather Proctor: "…With the extinction of a bird, or a mammal or a plant, you aren't just necessarily wiping out just one, single species. We're also allowing all these unsung dependent species to be wiped out as well." That means missing insects and plants that rely on a particular species for life. She says, "What we wanted to learn was, if the host goes extinct, how many other species will go with it."

Her team calculated that extinction of the 6,279 plants listed as threatened or endangered would also result in the loss of 4,672 species of beetles and 136 types of butterflies. Loss of the 1,194 threatened birds could also mean the disappearance of 342 species of lice and 193 types of mites. If the 114 endangered primates were to go extinct, there could also be the loss of 20 types of nematodes, 12 lice and nine fungi that depend on the primates.

The problem isn’t only with insects disappearing—it’s that they’re appearing in strange places as well. Lately, Inuit (Eskimos) living in the Arctic have noticed yellowjackets buzzing around for the first time. "I didn't know what that was at the time I saw it," says Ikalukjuaq. "It didn't look scary to me, but I'll know better next time I see one." There is no word for them in the Inuit language.

Ikalukjuaq took a picture of the wasp, which was sent to scientists at the Nunavut Research Institute, who mailed it to entymologist Brian Brown in Los Angeles. He says, "I think it's pretty interesting and it's part of the reason why we need to continue our surveillance of insects in the north and various other types of animals to find out what's happening with our world.

Perhaps this has happened already?

Gia