The Great Exchange

Invertebrates in lecture today, so here's a find from last summer:

Anacalonia conica, Zion, Lake Co, IL 8/22/2013

This is Anacalonia conica, a planthopper in the family Anacalonidae. They're native to the eastern US, where they live by sucking the sap of plants. (1)

So what is this one?

Codling Moth (Cydia pomonella), Zion, Lake Co, IL 6/27/2012

This is a Codling Moth (Cydia pomonella), a European moth whose larvae feed on apples. (2)

What do they have in common? They're both introduced species!

Wait, wait, you may be thinking -- the hopper's native, right? Right -- it wasn't introduced here. Rather, it was introduced into Italy in recent years. (3) We tend to think of introduced species as coming from Europe to the Americas -- feral pigs, cheat grass, House Sparrows. But the great exchange across the Atlantic (and now around the world) goes both ways. Here are a couple more species that came from Europe:

European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris),
 National Aviary, Pittsburgh, PA 3/28/2012

Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum), Sedge Meadow FP, Lake Co, IL 8/5/2006

And here's a couple that went over to Europe.

Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis),
Lyons Woods FP, Lake Co, IL 11/7/2012

Grass-leaved Goldenrod (Soldago graminifolia),
Illinios Beach SP, Lake Co, IL 10/2/2011

Historians will tell you that crops, cultures, and people crossed back and forth quite a bit, often in surprising ways. (The quintessential American meal, Thanksgiving dinner, includes foods from North America (turkey, pumpkins, cranberries), South America (potatoes, sweet potatoes), and Eurasia (wheat for breads and pies, sugar), while Irish potatoes, Italian marinara sauce, and Thai hot peppers all started off as New World crops.) What shouldn't be surprising, but somehow still seems to be, is that we took a bunch of not so wanted critters with us.

(1) http://bugguide.net/node/view/15671

(2) http://bugguide.net/node/view/67544

(3) D'Urso, V., & Uliana, M. (2006). Acanalonia conica (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, Acanaloniidae), a Nearctic species recently introduced in Europe. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift, 53(1), 103-107.