HOW TO MAKE REGIONAL LISTS OF BUTTERFLIES - Yale University

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VOLUME 33, NUMBER 4 221FIG. 2. Distribution of collecting intensity by counties in Pennsylvania. Countieswith no shading have 20 or fewer records each; those with light shading have between20-60 records each; and those with dark shading 60 records or more each.and this total is not likely to be much increased in the future: perhapsby no more than about 10.Special MattersWherever you may be, you can help other lepidopterists. Perhapsa taxonomist revising a group needs material or information from yourstate; or a geneticist may want to find a colony of a particular speciesin your area, or someone working on Monarch migration might needlocal dates of immigration or emigration. For all such people the specialknowledge you have acquired could be of great value. And donot forget reciprocity: his (or her) special knowledge may be of particularvalue to you someday as well.Be aware of research that already has been done and that is relevantto your area, and make an effort to extend the results. One frequentproblem is the nature of the boundary between two wide-rangingsubspecies. If that boundary passes through your state, and the materialyou have acquired is adequate, you are uniquely situated to addprecision to what is known.You may discover new problems. No general rule applies here.Keep an inquiring mind, and be alert for things that "don't fit." Perhapsyou know of a local population with a different flight period than
222 JOURNAL <strong>OF</strong> THE LEPIDOPTERISTS' SOCIETYthe species has elsewhere, or with a higher-than-usual frequency ofsome dimorphic form. Or you might have noticed a persistent andanomalous absence of some species from areas where it should befound. A new species turning up in your area might represent a rangeexpansion, something we know little about.The GoalThe objective in preparing a state list is the accurate record of conditionsin a particular place-your state-at a particular time or times,and in as much detail as you are capable of.Accuracy is vital. Rumored occurrences and sight records are admissibleonly if they are clearly so reported. Misidentifications, ideally,should never occur. Some few are bound to, but make everyeffort to eliminate them completely: submit doubtful specimens to aspecialist; record any uncertain identifications as such. Be meticulouswith specimen data, and ultracareful in recording the information.Data on brood numbers and timing, on larval foodplants, and otherattributes, should be clearly identified as to geographic source. If youhave no local data it is proper and even wise to copy from the literature(because it will provide clues for future users of your list), butyou should clearly indicate that the information was not locally obtained.Be aware of old records not recently duplicated; of species commonnow but not mentioned by "the old boys." Such things may seemunimportant but could fit in with data from other areas to demonstratea pattern. A recent instance of this began with the account of Nathalisiole by Kimball (1965). He remarked on the absence of early recordsfrom the state and concluded that it might have established itself inFlorida relatively recently. I became interested, checked two largemuseum collections and other early literature and concluded that ioleindeed previously was absent from Florida, that it reached the statein 1913 or shortly before, and spread north from its probable originallandfall in the Keys (Clench, 1976).MiscellaneousA state list may invite a zoogeographic or ecological analysis, orother derivative study. If your interests lie in these directions, somuch the better: a list can only be improved by such work. But these"extras" are not necessary. What is necessary is a careful, accuratecompilation of reliable information. If you provide this, then your listwill be a valued and respected contribution to our science, useful andused for a long time to come.
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