Harnessing open science practices to teach ecology and evolutionary biology using interactive tutorials.

Open science skills are increasingly important for a career in ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB) as efforts to make data and analyses publicly available continue to become more commonplace. While learning core concepts in EEB, students are also expected to gain skills in conducting open science to prepare for future careers. Core open science skills like programming, data sharing, and practices that promote reproducibility can be taught to undergraduate students alongside core concepts in EEB. Yet, these skills are not always taught in biology undergraduate programs, and a major challenge in developing open science skills and learning EEB concepts simultaneously is the high cognitive load associated with learning multiple disparate concepts at the same time. One solution is to provide students with easily digestible, scaffolded, pre-formatted code in the form of vignettes and interactive tutorials. Here, we present six open source teaching tutorials for undergraduate students in EEB. These tutorials teach fundamental ecological concepts, data literacy, programming (using R software), and analysis skills using publicly available datasets while introducing students to open science concepts and tools. Spanning a variety of EEB topics and skill levels, these tutorials serve as examples and resources for educators to integrate open science tools, programming, and data literacy into teaching EEB at the undergraduate level.

Taxogenomic analyses of Starmerella gilliamiae f.a, sp. nov. and Starmerella monicapupoae f.a., sp. nov., two novel species isolated from plant substrates and insects.

Four yeast isolates collected from flowers from different ecosystems in Brazil, one from fruit of Nothofagus alpina in Argentina, three from flowers of Neltuma chilensis in Chile and one obtained from the proventriculus of a female bumblebee in Canada were demonstred, by analysis of the sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and D1/D2 domains of the large subunit rRNA gene, to represent two novel species of the genus Starmerella. These species are described here as Starmerella gilliamiae f.a, sp. nov. (CBS 16166T; Mycobank MB 851206) and Starmerella monicapupoae f.a., sp. nov. (PYCC 8997T; Mycobank MB 851207). The results of a phylogenomic analysis using 1037 single-copy orthogroups indicated that S. gilliamiae is a member of a subclade that contains Starmerella opuntiae, Starmerella aceti and Starmerella apicola. The results also indicated that S. monicapupoae is phylogenetically related to Starmerella riodocensis. The two isolates of S. monicapupoae were obtained from flowers in Brazil and were probably vectored by insects that visit these substrates. Starmerella gilliamiae has a wide geographical distribution having been isolated in flowers from Brazil and Chile, fruit from Argentina and a bumblebee from Canada.

Range expansion of Bombus (Pyrobombus) bimaculatus Cresson in Canada (Hymenoptera, Apidae).

Background: The two-spotted bumble bee, Bombusbimaculatus Cresson, 1863 (Hymenoptera, Apidae), is a common species in central North America, with few published records of this species in Canada west of Ontario or east of Quebec. New information: Based on recently collected specimens from Saskatchewan and confirmed records posted to iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org/) in the past 10 years (i.e. since 2013), we provide evidence that this species has only recently expanded its range in Canada, westwards into the Prairies Ecozone (Manitoba, Saskatchewan) and east into the Maritime Provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island).

First records of the Common Eastern Bumble Bee, Bombus impatiens Cresson (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Apinae, Bombini) from the Prairies Ecozone in Canada.

BACKGROUND: In Canada, the Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens Cresson) is native to southern Ontario and Quebec, but since being developed as a managed commercial pollinator, it has been exported to several other provinces for use in greenhouse and field crop settings. This has enabled this species to become established outside its natural range and it is now established in eastern Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island) and British Columbia. To date, the species has not been detected via field capture in the prairie provinces. NEW INFORMATION: Here we report on recent captures of B. impatiens workers and males from south-eastern Alberta and suggest that these specimens escaped from nearby commercial greenhouses. The risk that the presence and looming establishment of this species has on native bumble bees in the Canadian prairies is discussed.