Sampling programs to establish baseline ecosystem information (e.g., species abundance and diversity) often fail to consider the potential influence of sampling techniques on results. Research on sampling economically important insects has demonstrated the possible influences of trap color and trap placement on results, but few data have been collected from natural environments. Consequently, we examined the effects of color (yellow and blue) and placement (exposed and shaded by plants) of sticky traps on insect captures and diversity estimates from a Nebraska inland salt marsh community. We identified 1913 specimens from 67 insect families collected during five trapping dates in July 1996. More Cicindelidae were collected on exposed traps, and more Staphylinidae, Dolichopodidae, Cicadellidae, and Thripidae were collected on shaded traps. More Dolichopodidae were collected on yellow traps, while more Syrphidae and Thripidae were collected on blue. Shannon and alpha diversity measures were significantly higher for shaded traps than exposed traps, but were not affected by trap color. Our results highlight the importance of characterizing sampling techniques when establishing diversity estimates. These data provide the first complete accounting of community‐level insect response to colored sticky traps and provide new information for color preference of non‐economic insect species.

Plant tolerance to pest injury is an ideal component of integrated pest management (IPM) programs, because it places no selection pressure on pest populations, but tolerance is little understood and its use in pest management is limited. In field experiments in 1994, 1995, and 1996, we characterized tolerance to defoliation in ‘Clark’ soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] isolines differing in leaf morphology: 3‐ and 5‐leaflet, narrow and wide leaflet. Sequential defoliation was imposed manually at the R2 stage (full flowering), based on an insect consumption model. In 1994 and 1996, with ample rainfall, all isolines expressed yield compensation or overcompensation for defoliation as high as 75%, due to compensatory regrowth and delayed leaf senescence; in 1995, however, when rainfall was marginal, defoliation caused significant yield reduction. Equal amounts of leaf tissue removed resulted in different leaf area indices (LAIs). Wide‐leaflet isolines had higher LAI than narrow‐leaflet isolines, but the narrow‐leaflet isolines, particularly Clark‐3N, had greater light interception capacity for a given LAI level and had a higher light extinction coefficient in 1995. This shows that light was available to leaves in the lower canopy in the narrow‐leaflet isoline. Both low and high defoliation treatments caused significant yield reductions in all isolines, except that low defoliation did not significantly affect the yield of Clark‐3N in 1995. The narrow‐leaflet isolines apparently tolerated defoliation better than the wide‐leaflet isolines because the narrow‐leaflet isolines had greater light interception and maintained equal or better yields, despite similar defoliation. In addition to LAI, both canopy light interception and light extinction coefficient are important criteria for selecting cultivars tolerant to defoliation.

Summary 1. Adult tiger beetles of the genus Cicindela often co‐occur within a habitat but larvae do not. Larvae are sedentary and form usually permanent burrows at the site of oviposition where they require 1–3 years for development. 2. To test niche partitioning based on ovipositional preference, the behaviour of two sympatric salt marsh tiger beetles, Cicindela circumpicta and C. togata (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae), were examined. 3. In laboratory studies, female C. circumpicta and C. togata distinguished between experimental salinities, with the former preferring 4 parts per thousand (ppt) and the latter preferring 12 ppt. In the field, C. circumpicta larvae were associated with lower salinities (1–3 ppt) and vegetation along the edges of salt flats while C. togata larvae were found on open salt flats often near halophytes (average salinity = 7.8 ppt). 4. In the field, females chose sites for oviposition in response to shade but not vertical landmarks. In a direct test, 53 of 56 new larval burrows occurred in shaded treatments, three in nonshaded controls. 5. Compared with nonshaded controls, shade increased survival of eggs that were collected in the laboratory and placed in the field. For C. circumpicta eggs, 78% placed in shaded treatments hatched, while significantly fewer (22%) hatched in exposed treatments. For C. togata, 43% of eggs placed in the shade hatched, while no eggs placed in exposed treatments hatched. 6. These results support the hypothesis of niche partitioning between C. circumpicta and C. togata based on ovipositional choice and resulting larval habitat.

In 2010 and 2011, field collections were undertaken to determine the geographic range of the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (L.), in Nebraska In addition, tick identifications from submissions by the general public dating to 1911 were examined. Consistent lone star tick identifications from extreme southeast Nebraska began in 1987. Specimens have been identified from 27 counties, making lone star ticks the second most frequently and second most widely reported tick in the state after Dermacentor variabilis (Say). Surveys conducted in 70 sites in 43 counties yielded 2,169 ticks of which 1,035 were lone star ticks. Lone star ticks were more frequent in the southeast portion of the state and ticks were found in nine counties from which there were no known submissions. Life stage peaks observed during the surveys corresponded with those observed from submissions. Other ticks, incidental to the study, were also collected. Woody plant expansion into the tallgrass prairie, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virgianianus L.) and wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo L.) population growth, and the increased frequency of milder winters may be facilitating lone star tick occurrence in the region. Further studies will assess lone star tick establishment and disease pathogen prevalence in the state.

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