TRIATOMINE RESEARCH

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS

Triatomines are a group of insects (also known as vampire bugs, assassin bugs, cone-nose bugs and kissing bugs) that can transmit a dangerous parasite (Trypanosoma cruzi) that causes Chagas disease. Researchers from UNLV came out to the Mystery Ranch, armed with white sheets, UV lights and trapping gear and have been able to study to study triatomines including Paratriatoma hirsuta, a species of triatomine that was reported historically in CA and NV but has been largely unstudied in recent decades. Laboratory analysis at UNLV is underway and researchers will continue to visit the area for this study through 2024.

DESERT THRASHER MONITORING

GREAT BASIN BIRD OBSERVATORY

In 2023 the Great Basin Bird Observatory began conducting surveys for thrashers in the newly designated Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in southern Nevada. This monument not only protects one of the most culturally significant landscapes in the entire Mojave Desert but it is biologically significant and appears to be a critically important stronghold for desert thrashers. Within Nevada, lands within the Monument accounted for 95% of Bendire’s Thrasher and 70% of LeConte’s Thrasher observations in the 2017-2018 range wide survey effort.

GBBO researchers are collecting geographically concentrated data inside the Monument boundary to quantify the density, distribution, habitat use, and fecundity of both thrasher species, using the survey methodology developed and tested by the DTWG. These data will provide an indication of the role that disturbances of various types play in thrasher occurrence and population growth.