16S 



Invertebrates — Our Livtiig Resmirces 



For further information: 



Tim L. McCabe 



New York State Museum 



The State Education Department 



University of the State of New ^'olk 



Albany, NY 12230 



McCabe, T.L. 1985. An annotated list of pine bush caddis 



(Insecia: Trichoptera). Skeneetada 3:17-18. 

 McCabe, T.L.. and J. P. Huether. 1985[1986]. An annotated 



list of pine bush Cerambycidae (Insecta: Coleoptera). 



Skeneetada 3:19-23. 

 McCabe, T., A. Meyer, C. Weber, and L. Higgins. 1943. 



Albany pine bush project 1991-1992 entomological 



report. Submitted to the Eastern New York Chapter of 



The Nature Conservancy. 1 1 1 pp. 

 Meyer. A.M., and T.L. McCabe. 1993. Albany pnie bush 



project. Karner blue butterfly report. The Nature 



Conservancy. Unpublished report. 



Schweitzer, D.F 1988. Supplement to 1988 Karner blue 

 population studies: the Crossgates Mall population. A 

 consultant's report to the City of Albany, NY. 

 Unpublished report. 5 pp. 



Schweitzer. D.F 1990. The 1990 status of selected Karner 

 blue remnants in Saratoga and Albany counties. New 

 York, with a discussion of monitoring methods. New 

 York Department of Environmental Conservation, 

 Endangered Species Unit. 



Lepidoptera 

 Inventories in 

 the 



Continental 

 United States 



by 



Jerry A. Powell 



University of California, 



Berkeley 



Essig Museum of Entomology 



Lepidopteia (butterflies and moths) make tip 

 about 13% of the described and named 

 90.000 insect species of North America ( 1 1 ,500 

 named) and are among the better known large 

 orders, although no complete inventory of 

 Lepidoptera species exists for any state, county, 

 or locality in North America, 



The rationale for local or regional inventory 

 of insects is related to their importance in biodi- 

 versity. Insects make up 75% of all described 

 animals, and in natural communities their 

 species outnumber those of all other higher 

 organisms combined. Thus interrelationships 

 between insects and other organisms fomi the 

 most prevalent and comprehensive elements of 

 the fabric of biological communities, 



Lepidoptera are the major group of plant- 

 feeding insects, and local inventories of 

 Lepidoptera can help indicate the stability and 

 diversity of plant communities. When we have 

 several reasonably complete local inventories of 

 Lepidoptera in different regions of the country, 

 we will be able to make predictions about over- 

 all insect — and therefore biological — diversity, 

 and about relationships between plant and 

 insect species richness on a local or regional 

 basis. Such knowledge will lead to more effi- 

 cient methods of assessing the health and loss of 

 biological diversity. 



Once a baseline inventory is done, monitor- 

 ing of changes in species richness and abun- 

 dance to assess the ecological health of the 

 community can be carried out. Inventory of a 

 diverse group of insects such as the Lepidoptera 

 must involve various approaches and collecting 

 procedures. This article summarizes the status 

 of local and state inventories of Lepidoptera and 

 suggests a model for planning comparable fau- 

 nal inventories of major insect groups, 



Lepidoptera Surveys 



To gather information on the status of cur- 

 rent inventories, I mailed a one-page question- 

 naire to 25 lepidopterists thought to be develop- 

 ing local or state lists. Nearly all responded, and 

 several are conducting more than one census. 

 Early in 1993 I published a request for informa- 

 tion on inventories in the News of The 



Lepidopterists' Society, which is distributed to 

 about 1,000 members in North America. The 

 responses were fewer than I had expected; there 

 may be many more inventories in progress than 

 those reported to me. For completed local and 

 state lists, I searched the literature, but the 

 results are likely to be incomplete because such 

 lists are lengthy and often are published in 

 obscure literature not well referenced by 

 abstracting services, 



A thorough local inventory must depend 

 upon diverse methods: daytime searches for 

 butterflies and diurnal moths, nighttime collec- 

 tions of moths attracted to ultraviolet (UV) or 

 mercury vapor lights, and rearing caterpillars 

 (larvae) to the adult stage. In some regions a 

 fourth approach, "sugaring," the attraction of 

 moths to sweet, fermenting bait, is effective for 

 many species not readily attracted to lights. 

 Generating an inventory for a large group of 

 insects such as Lepidoptera is difficult because 

 the season that each species can be found may 

 be short; species abundance varies widely from 

 year to year; several techniques and specialists" 

 experience are needed to complete a thorough 

 census; and, beginning early in the survey, indi- 

 viduals of vagrant species are encountered, 



A major problem in compiling an inventory 

 is the identification of species. This is easily 

 accomplished for butterflies (6% of the 

 Lepidoptera), and there are hundreds of local 

 and state lists (Field et al. 1974). Identifications 

 are accessible for the larger moths (macrolepi- 

 doptera), including inchworm moths 

 (Geometridae). giant silkworm moths 

 (Satumiidae). hawk moths (Sphingidae), owlet 

 moths (Noctuidae). and related families. 

 However, for many so-called "microlepi- 

 doptera" (primitive suborders, leaf miner and 

 leaf roller moths, etc.), 10%-90% of the local 

 species in some families are undescribed. As a 

 result, most state and local lists have dealt only 

 with macrolepidoptera or have treated the 

 microlepidoptera species only cursorily. 



Inventories and Trends 



There are published Lepidoptera lists or sur- 

 veys in progress from at least 30 states, and 



