[TN-Butterflies] Re: caution about location of rare butterflies
- From: Stephen Johnson <swj4818@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: tn-butterflies@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:44:29 -0400
I concur with the comments of both Stephen Stedman and Allan Trently.
Since late last year I've been geotagging photos that I take of butterflies.
For those not familiar with geotagging please refer to the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/swj4818/PolkCountyTN21March2009#
Note the small map to the right under the "Photo Locations" heading with the
red stick-pin markers. These markers correspond to the locations that the
butterflies were photographed. You also have the option to view, by
following links under the map, a more comprehensive map, or view the photos
in Google Earth. Futhermore, if you click on a photo, the map to the right
shows the location of that individual photo. Finally, when viewing a single
photo, if you click on "more info" under "Photo information" in the upper
right you can see the Latitude and Longitude of the location the photo was
taken. Disclaimer. The Google Maps Satellite option or Google Earth may
return disappointing results when trying to zoom in too close in many areas
in Southeast Tennessee.
In certain cases, I will not tag the photo with location information because
a) the photo was taken on private property or b) I consider the butterfly to
fall into the "rare" category. Obviously a) is a cut and dry, whereas b)
could be subjective, in some cases.
I suggest that the court/committee rank Tennessee butterflies according to
rarness using the Class system originally developed by Benton Basham and
later adopted by the American Birding Association (ABA). Please see this
link for further details:
http://www.billietaylor.com/birder/birdclas.html
One note on the above link. I'm proposing using the Benton Basham
methodology of Class as opposed to the current ABA Code system. I believe
the above linked article succinctly **points out the pitfalls of the system
currently in use by ABA.
This ranking system would assist in giving some guidelines for when to
divulge location information. Additionally, it could be of help to new and
veteran butterfliers in their quests to locate and identify species seen in
the state of Tennessee.
Stephen Johnson
Apison, TN
On Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 3:41 PM, Allan Trently <ajtcorax@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> It would be good to put together a list of rare butterflies so we know
> which to use discretion on posting specific location on. Some may be rare
> only because they haven't been documented enough in TN such as the Phaon
> crescent a few years ago and the cobweb skipper as of last year. Some rare
> species are rare because they are strays from outside their range or at the
> edge of their range in TN. Others are rare due to having a rare host plant
> or other habitat requirements and so on. For something as rare as the
> Mitchell's satyr it may not be desireable to even put down the county on a
> TN-butterflies report.
>
> Looks like a job for a butterfly court/committee!
>
> Allan Trently ajtcorax@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:39:15 -0500
> From: SStedman@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [TN-Butterflies] caution about location of rare butterflies
> To: TN-Butterflies@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
> Earlier I neglected to pass along a word of caution that Rita Venable
> recommended should anyone find a Frosted Elfin in TN this year, but it
> applies equally to other rare butterflies found in the state, especially if
> found at sites that are accessible to the public at large. Rita’s
> recommendation is not to publicly state the specific location of really
> rare butterflies, including mention on public email listservs. The reason
> for this word of caution is to prevent the collection of individuals of
> really rare species for other than scientific purposes (I think some
> butterfliers would want to prevent the collection of such individuals even
> for that reason, but I do not subscribe to that view). Robert Michael Pyle
> has some cogent remarks to make on this subject in his *Handbook for
> Butterfly Watchers* in case you want his view on the subject.
>
>
>
> So if you find a Frosted Elfin or other similarly rare species in TN, it
> would perhaps be best to refrain from stating the specific site of such
> finds but instead to refer only to the county when sending out word via
> TN-Butterflies; if someone wants to visit the site to view and to photograph
> the butterfly, that person can contact the person who found the butterfly
> and who sent out the message in the first place. The finder can then decide
> if the requester is properly motivated to find the butterfly (and this will
> be a judgment call by that person). In any such case where I am involved
> because the record may be a county record at BAMONA, I will leave it up to
> the finder to reveal the site of the find; I will not do so publicly without
> permission of the finder.
>
>
>
> The conservation of TN butterflies ought to be an important concern for all
> who enjoy this natural resource. Truly rare butterflies may not have a
> sufficiently large population to allow for the taking of any individuals
> from the population for any but the most stringent scientific reasons, so we
> should all practice self-discipline in such cases until we know with great
> certainty that removal of individuals from a population is not harmful.
> Perhaps we need a butterfly court/committee to render such judgments?
> Someone needs to speak on behalf of the butterflies in such matters.
>
>
>
> This topic is bound to elicit responses from many who have a stake in the
> butterfly resource. I feel confident we can all deal with it civilly when
> discussing it on TN-Butterflies.
>
>
>
> Steve Stedman
>
> Cookeville, Putnam County
>
>
>
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