Butterfly Diversity of Rondonia, Brazil
Description coming soon.
Richness and Phenology of a Moth Community in North-central Florida
McGuire Center collections managers, George T. Austin and Andrei Sourakov, have been analyzing richness and phenology (seasonality) of moths fauna in North-central Florida since January 2005. About 1100 species were collected from a single locality outside Paynes Prairie near Gainesville, Florida during a twelve-month period. Many additional species have been collected in 2006. Sampling, databasing, and analyzing of nearly 14,000 specimens allowed determine seasonal fluctuations in species richness and relative abundance. Interesting patterns have been discovered and await publication.
Butterflies of Ecuador
This work at present involves two components: field work in Ecuador to continue improving our knowledge of Ecuador butterfly distribution, diversity and ecology, and taxonomic study to provide a more stable long-term classification for Ecuador's species.
The current objectives are: 1) Conclude inventorying all important collections containing Ecuadorian butterfly material; 2) Make new collections from the most poorly known areas of the country, concentrating on areas that are particuarly rich in endemic taxa, and on rare and/or more inconspicuous taxa often overlooked in historical surveys; 3) Identify and classify all taxa known from Ecuador, and name all undescribed taxa, including those from other Andean areas if the taxonomic context is appropriate; 4) Build up extensive collections of dried and alcohol-preserved material in both Ecuador and the USA, promoting the development of a more comprehensive Ecuadorian national butterfly collection; 5) Promote understanding and appreciation of entomology and conservation in Ecuador through continuing to train research assistants and undergraduate students in techniques for butterfly collection and identification; and 6) Make results widely available on the internet as well as through traditional publication of papers in scientific journals.
Learn more at: www.butterfliesofecuador.com.
Mexican Butterflies
With over 1800 species of butterflies reported from the country, Mexico is one of the ten most butterfly-rich nations on Earth. This vast diversity is a product of Mexico's complex geography, climate, and varied botanical communities, and includes a high degree of endemicity; approximately 15% of Mexico's butterfly species are endemic to the country. For over three decades, researchers currently at the McGuire Center have been studying the Mexican butterfly fauna, in collaboration with researchers at Mexico's National Autonomous University, in Mexico City, and El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, in Chetumal, Quintana Roo. This research has resulted in the discovery and description of various new species of butterflies, the compilation and publication of various state and regional lists, and has contributed a tremendous amount of new distributional information for many taxa through an ambitious databasing project.
Future planned fieldwork is scheduled for 2007-2009 in poorly known regions of Mexico, with a special focus on various endemic, undescribed species of Hesperiidae.
For more information on Mexican butterflies, visit: www.mariposasmexicanas.com.
Tropical Andean Butterfly Diversity Project
The Tropical Andean Butterfly Diversity Project is an international collaboration among scientists, institutions and organizations involved in research on the butterflies of the tropical Andean region. It is a three year project funded by the United Kingdom's Darwin Initiative. The project's goals are to establish a foundation for future research on butterflies in the region. The project will provide resources, such as specimen databases, species lists and images, conduct training courses for students in Andean countries, and develop and publish a strategy for butterfly research and conservation in the tropical Andean region.
Learn more at: www.andeanbutterflies.org.
Taiwan Lepidoptera Survey
This project is on-going since 1980, with numerous survey trips to investigate the Lepidoptera biodiversity of the island of Taiwan that have taken place in more than 20 years of research. Large collections continue to be made and studied, and two dozen specialists on various families are working on family treatments, under project direction of J. B. Heppner. Publications by the Association for Tropical Lepidoptera thus far include the basic Lepidoptera of Taiwan catalog (1992), listing over 3976 species of moths and butterflies known for Taiwan, and the first faunal synopsis (2007), illustrating in color about half of the species. Future series books will treat all the species in more detail.
Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera
The biodiversity summary project of the Association for Tropical Lepidoptera for the New World tropics, from the Mexican-USA border southwards, began in 1980. Under project director, J. B. Heppner, there have been completed thus far catalog parts for micro-moths, the smaller macro-moths (except Geometridae), and the butterflies (edited by Gerardo Lamas). Future catalogs will treat the remaining groups. Color synopses of the fauna of Neotropical moths and butterflies will be published as the numerous specialist authors complete their studies.
Lepidoptera of Chile
This biodiversity project will catalog and treat the moths and butterflies of Chile, a region with a limited fauna but totally restricted and isolated from the Amazonian tropical fauna. A. O. Angulo and J. Heppner are principal investigators of this project.
Lepidopterorum Catalogus
Since 1911, the Lepidopterorum Catalogus has been the premier catalog series for Lepidoptera of the world. Beginning in 1989 the series was renewed by the Association for Tropical Lepidoptera, with the completion of the world catalog for Noctuidae, with updated format and publication scheme. Since then, several other families have been completed, including the recent catalogs for Scythrididae (2007) and Andesianidae (2007). Several specialist authors are working on other catalogs. The series, edited by John Heppner, now gives full citations to published names for each family, plus notes on known hostplants, figures published, distribution of each species, a bibliography of all papers on the family, and figures of representative species.
Classification of Lepidoptera
Since 1998, John Heppner has been working on revised treatment of all families of Lepidoptera, with the publication of the first part of the classification. Additional parts are in progress. Coordinated book contracts include one for a "Manual of Lepidoptera" and for "American Lepidoptera", both treatments at the family level.
Preliminary Survey of the Macrolepidopteran Moth Diversity of Big Cypress National Preserve
The primary objective of this study is to survey major moth families in four of the seven habitat types in Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY). The objectives of this project are to identify which moths species occur in each designated habitat type, establish a voucher and frozen tissue collection of the moths obtained during the survey, and develop an on-line searchable website. The website will illustrate diversity in the preserve with images of the moths and of their respective habitats. A synoptic moth collection will also be created and exhibited at BYCY visitor's center. This work will allow comparing moth diversity at BYCY with this in other areas in Florida. It will also allow to evaluate efficiency of our small-scale survey techniques compared to more labor-intensive surveys of moths conducted elsewhere. Principal investigator: Jennifer Zaspel.
Research Projects - Conservation
Research Projects - Ecology and Evolution