166 



Imcncbnih-s — Our Liviiii; Ktsinirct's 



The Changing 

 Insect Fauna 

 of Albany's 

 Pine Barrens 



by 

 Tim L. McCabe 



New York Slate Museum 



Table. Insect species hisloncally 

 recorded from the Albany pine 

 barrens but now extirpated (modi- 

 fied after McCabe et al. 1493). 



Sand plains and similar inland sand deposits 

 aic desertlike islands in a sea of moist land. 

 Because of rapid drainage of rainwater, sand 

 plains are modern-day refugia that represent 

 drier conditions that have existed off and on 

 during the past 10.000 years. Drainage makes 

 for drier soils that mimic prairie conditions and 

 consequently harbor prairie relicts; thus these 

 communities suppoil a specialized flora and 

 fauna. Sand barrens abound with rare or endem- 

 ic forms, many of which are endangered. 



The Albany pine barrens is a sand plains 

 community and one of a relatively few scrub- 

 oak (Quercus ilicifolia). pitch-pine {Piniis rigi- 

 da) communities. Around the turn of the centu- 

 ry, the Albany pine barrens was the site of inten- 

 sive collecting by museum entomologists. 

 Consequently, it has a historically well-docu- 

 mented and diverse in.sect fauna, making it pos- 

 sible to compare the fauna after a century of 

 transition. Today, the region is heavily urban- 

 ized, and only 15.3 km- (6 mi-) of the original 

 104 km- (40 mi-) of natural barrens remain. As 

 this habitat has been lost. 31 species of butter- 

 flies, moths, and skippers (Lepidoptera) have 

 become locally e.xtinct during the last century 

 (McCabe el al. 1993). The past two decades 

 have witnessed the most rapid change to the 



Albany pine banens as well as the most dra- 

 matic decline of its resident insects. 



Insect Surveys and Data 

 Collection 



A general survey of all insect species includ- 

 ed collections made using malaise traps, light 

 traps, and netting. Because pine barren commu- 

 nities require regular disturbance regimes (e.g.. 

 fire) to maintain the unique open habitats that 

 characterize them, we evaluated insects in areas 

 that had been recently burned. Postbum sites of 

 I. .5. 12. and .30 years of age were sampled. I 

 gathered published records from numerous 

 sources and. through comparison with recent 

 catalogs and museum holdings, I attempted to 

 identify those species that have a restricted dis- 

 tribution or at least are unusual for New York 

 State (McCabe et al. 1993). The population of 

 the Kamer blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa 

 s(iiiuielis) was the focus of an intensive moni- 

 toring program using a visual transect method 

 (Higgins et al. 1991; McCabe et al. 1993; 

 Meyer and McCabe 1993). Better known and 

 easily identified groups have also been evaluat- 

 ed (McCabe and Huether 1985 [1986]; McCabe 

 1985; McCabe et al. 1993; McCabe and C. 

 Weber, unpublished data). 



Changes in Species Composition 



The group for which I am able to make the 

 most reliable comparisons is the Lepidoptera. 

 particularly the owlet moths (Noctuidae). 

 Unfortunately. I began investigations too late 

 ( 1980) to witness the extirpation of many of the 

 species historically recorded from Albany's 

 pine barrens (Table). Of the 31 species of 

 Lepidoptera extirpated from the pine barrens, 5 

 are partial to wetland habitats, which have suf- 

 fered severely in the pine baiTcns; a skipper 

 {Poanes viator), a sphinx {Darapsa versicolor). 

 and three owlets (Agroperina lutosa. Eugraphe 

 subrosea. and Argyrostrotis quadrifiliaris). Two 

 owlet species {Xylena cineritia and Acronicta 

 lanceolaria) are known to cycle in and out of an 

 area in unpredictable patterns; thus their recent 

 absence is thought temporary. Most of the 

 remaining species now have distributions to the 

 south (owlets: Catocala pretiosa. Pyreferra 

 ceromatica. and Xyloty'pe capax: flannel moth: 

 Megalopyge crispata: giant silkworm moths: 

 Citheronia sepulchralis and C. imperialis) or to 

 the north (owlets: Xestia (Anomogyna) badicol- 

 lis. Lithophane georgii. L. lepida. L. semiusta. 

 L thaxteri. Platypolia anceps, and Xylena tho- 

 racica: geometer: Brephos infans: sphinx: 

 Hemaris gracilis). Many of these species are 



