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DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE & SCIENCE OF NATURE DENVER MUSEUM NUMBER 2, OCTOBER 23, 2015 WWW.DMNS.ORG/SCIENCE/MUSEUM-PUBLICATIONS Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports (Print) ISSN 2374-7730 2001 Colorado Boulevard Denver, CO 80205 Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports (Online) ISSN 2374-7749 The Denver Museum of Nature & Science inspires curiosity and excites minds of all ages through REPORTS scientific discovery and the presentation and • NUMBER 2 • OCTOBER 23, 2015 23, • NUMBER 2 OCTOBER preservation of the world’s unique treasures. Cover photo: Female fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea) laying eggs on narrow leaf cottonwood (Populus angustifolia). Photo: Shannon Murphy. The Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports (ISSN Frank Krell, PhD, Editor and Production 2374-7730 [print], ISSN 2374-7749 [online]) is an open- access, non peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing papers about DMNS research, collections, or other Program and Abstracts Museum related topics, generally authored or co-authored by Museum staff or associates. Peer review will only be 26th Annual Meeting arranged on request of the authors. of the High Country Lepidopterists The journal is available online at www.dmns.org/Science/ October 23 and 24, 2015 Museum-Publications free of charge. Paper copies are University of Denver exchanged via the DMNS Library exchange program ([email protected]) or are available for purchase from our print-on-demand publisher Lulu (www.lulu.com). Shannon M. Murphy (Ed.) DMNS owns the copyright of the works published in the Reports, which are published under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license. For commercial use of published material contact the Alfred M. Bailey Library & Archives at [email protected]. WWW.DMNS.ORG/SCIENCE/MUSEUM-PUBLICATIONS DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS NUMBER 2, OCTOBER 23, 2015 Program and Abstracts 26th Annual Meeting of the High Country Lepidopterists October 23 and 24, 2015, University of Denver Edited by CONTENTS Shannon M. Murphy1 Program 2 Abstracts 3 Morris, J.A. & Murphy, S.M.: A New Community Garden on the University of Denver Campus 6 The 65th Annual Meeting of The Lepidopterists’ Society, July 6-10, 2016, at Florissant, Colorado 9 26 Years High Country Lepidopterists’ Meetings 10 1Department of Biological Sciences University of Denver 2050 E. Iliff Avenue Denver, Colorado 80208, U.S.A. [email protected] Murphy 26th Annual Meeting, High Country Lepidopterists PROGRAM Friday, October 23, 5:30–9:00 pm Potluck dinner at the house of Jan Chu, 964 Ravenwood Road, Boulder CO 80303 (north of Baseline Lake, off Baseline Road) Saturday, October 24 11:30am–12:30pm: Lunch (Olin Hall Atrium) 12:30pm–2:25pm: Contributed Talks (Olin Hall, Room 105) 12:30pm–12:35pm: Shannon Murphy: Welcome and Introduction 12:35pm–12:55pm: Elizabeth Barnes & Shannon Murphy: Competition and Community Interactions of Two Web Building Caterpillars: Western Tent Caterpillar (Malacosoma californicum) and Fall Webworm (Hyphantria cunea) 12:55pm–1:10pm: Jan Chu: Evolution of a Once Biologically Diverse Trail 1:10pm–1:30pm: Kylee Grenis & Shannon Murphy: Impact of Ecological Light Pollution on Species Interactions 1:30pm–1:50pm: Todd Gilligan & Donald Wright: Eucosma Hübner of the Contiguous United States and Canada (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae: Eucosmini) 1:50pm–2:10pm: Laurel Cepero & Shannon Murphy: Effects of Fire-Generated Disturbance on Lepidopteran Herbivores 2:10pm–2:25pm: David Bettman: The DMNS Entomology Collection: Present and Future 2:25pm–2:45pm: Break (Olin Hall Atrium) 2:45pm–4:25pm: Contributed Talks (Olin Hall, Room 105) 2:45pm–3:05pm: Shannon Murphy & Katrina Loewy: Trade-offs in Host Choice of an Herbivorous Insect Based on Parasitism and Larval Performance 3:05pm–3:25pm: Scott Ellis: Colorado Front Range Distribution Trends (1980s–2015) in Garita Skipperling (Oarisma garita) Based on Review and Analysis of Annual Count Results 3:25pm–3:45pm: Mayra Vidal & Shannon Murphy: Variation of Host Plant Use by the Two Types of Fall Webworm (Hyphantria cunea, Erebidae) 3:45pm–4:05pm: Paul Opler & Evi Buckner Opler: Butterfly Use and Pollination of Colorado’s Eriogonum Species 4:05pm–4:25pm: Todd Gilligan & David Bettman: 65th Annual Meeting of The Lepidopterists’ Society 4:25pm–4:55pm: Business Meeting (Olin Hall, Room 105)) 5:00pm: Dinner at a local restaurant 2 DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS | No. 2, October 23, 2015 DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS | No. 2, October 23, 2015 3 Murphy 26th Annual Meeting, High Country Lepidopterists ABSTRACTS current state of the collection (with emphasis on the Lepidoptera) and plans for its future. Supported by NSF Competition and Community Interactions grants DBI-1203367 and EF-1207146. of Two Web Building Caterpillars: Western Tent Caterpillar (Malacosoma californicum) and Fall Webworm (Hyphantria cunea) Effects of Fire-Generated Disturbance on Lepidopteran Herbivores Elizabeth Barnes & Shannon Murphy Department of Biological Sciences, University of Laurel Cepero & Shannon Murphy Denver, Olin Hall 102, 2190 E. Iliff Avenue, Denver, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Colorado 80208; [email protected] Denver, Olin Hall 102, 2190 E. Iliff Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80208; [email protected] Competition is one of the fundamental structuring forces in many communities, yet its role has historically been Climate change models project an increase in controversial in herbivorous insects. We study host-plant fire severity and an increase in the area burned in the mediated competition between two herbivorous insects: United States through the year 2100, likely altering western tent caterpillars (Malacosoma californicum) community structures and processes and generating and fall webworms (Hyphantria cunea). Tent caterpil- heterogeneity across burned areas. How fires affect lars feed on chokecherry early in the spring and fall plant communities is well studied, but the effects on webworms feed on the same plant species in the late higher trophic levels are relatively ignored. Because summer and both species construct highly visible webs/ higher trophic level organisms, such as insects and tents on their host-plants. We studied the effects of com- their natural enemies, play important roles in struc- petition at three different levels within the same study turing early successional communities, it is important system: interspecific competition between tent caterpil- to study fire effects from a multi-trophic perspective. lars and fall webworm, intraspecific competition among We are studying how fire may affect interactions of tent caterpillars, and the season-long effects of tent Lepidoptera with their host plants. caterpillars on arthropod community on chokecherry. Evolution of a Once Biologically Diverse Trail The DMNS Entomology Collection: Present and Future Janet Chu 964 Ravenwood Road, Boulder, Colorado 80303; David Bettman [email protected] Department of Zoology, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, Colorado Anne U. White is a three mile long narrow wooded Foot- 80205; [email protected] hill canyon trail in Boulder County. A divided jet stream caused about 18 inches of rain to fall in three days during In September 2014, the DMNS Entomology collection was September, 2013. This torrent destroyed a biologically moved into the museum’s new state-of-the-art collections diverse treasure. Anne U. White provided habitat for 85 facility. However, not all of the collections storage infra- species of butterflies that were observed over a seven structure was in place at that time, so the reorganization year period. An average of 40 species per year had been of the collection had to be delayed. That reorganization identified. Now the trail is nonexistent and the plants are has now been completed, and this talk summarizes the scrubbed from the remaining boulder strewn creek bed. 2 DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS | No. 2, October 23, 2015 DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS | No. 2, October 23, 2015 3 Murphy 26th Annual Meeting, High Country Lepidopterists Access was permitted for a single day in August. During Eucosma Hübner of the Contiguous that day in 2014, 17 species were noted and in 2015, only United States and Canada (Lepidoptera: 10 were seen. This event is a dramatic example providing Tortricidae: Eucosmini) a rudimentary beginning for succession studies. Todd Gilligan* & Donald J. Wright *Colorado State University, BSPM, 1177 Campus Colorado Front Range Distribution Trends Delivery, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523; (1980s–2015) in Garita Skipperling [email protected] (Oarisma garita) Based on Review and Analysis of Annual Count Results Eucosma Hübner is one of the largest genera in the Tortricidae, with more than 230 described species. It Scott Ellis achieves its greatest species richness in the Nearctic, where 2055 Bonner Spring Ranch Road, Laporte, Colorado members of the genus can be found in nearly every habitat, 80535 from the dunes of the Gulf Coast to the barren summits of the Rocky Mountains. Here we detail the first com- The garita skipperling (Oarisma garita) is a widely prehensive treatment of North American Eucosma to be distributed, usually abundant grass-feeding skipper that published in more than 90 years. We provide an overview occurs at low to moderate elevations within the plains/ of the genus and the 133 species present in the contigu- foothills