[ncsc-moths] moth diversity

From: "J. Merrill Lynch" <jmerrilllynch@xxxxxxxxx>
To: ncsc-moths@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, tn-moths@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2010 15:01:37 -0400
Moth'ers,

Congrats to the TN moth'ers who have been tabulating their moth sightings by
observer/county for this season (2010)--they are up to almost 400 species
and counting.  I'm sure they will hit 600+ spp by the end of the season at
the rate they are going.  Which raises the question just how many moth
species are there in each state.  Unfortunately, there are not many states
that have definitive, long-term species lists that have good coverage across
all of the physiographic regions.  A good reference that I use here in the
NC mountains is Covell's 1999 publication, The Butterflies and Moths of
Kentucky:  An Annotated Checklist (available from the KY State Nature
Preserves Commission).  This is the most comprehensive, complete list of
moth species for any state that I'm aware of, based on Dr. Covell's and
other's long-term records for that state.  The checklist lists 2,388 species
(including butterflies) which according to Dr. Covell, represents probably
about 85% of the actual total for Kentucky.  Subtracting the 146 species of
butterflies in the list gives a grand total 2,242 species of moths.  So, for
Kentucky the total moth list is probably somewhere in the range of 2,600
species.  I suspect that Tennessee, which shares most of the same
physiographic regions with Kentucky, has a similar number.  North Carolina's
total is probably in the same ballpark, possibly even higher given the
state's range of habitats from spruce-fir forest in the Appalachians to salt
marshes, pocosins, longleaf pine savannahs, and other habitats in the
coastal plain.

I know of at least one individual, Parker Backstrom in Chatham County, who
has compiled an impressive list of over 600 species in just a few years of
intensive work.  I've heard of others in the eastern US who also have
recorded over 600 species from their yards.  So, the sky's the limit in
terms of the species that one can record in a small area, given enough
time.  Personally, I started doing intensive mothing in my yard (running
lights with sheets, almost nightly) in the first week of June 2009 and 13
months later (July 2010), I've conservatively recorded just over 400
species.  And I'm still finding plenty of new species.  A great hobby and
I'm glad to see more and more people catching the fever.

-- 
J. Merrill Lynch
Echo Valley Farm
Watauga County, NC
Elevation:  3,400 feet
[ncsc-moths] moth diversity

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