Database of Irish Lepidoptera. 1 - Macrohabitats, Microsites and Traits of Noctuidae and Butterflies
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Database of Irish Lepidoptera. 1 - Macrohabitats, microsites and traits of Noctuidae and butterflies Irish Wildlife Manuals No. 35 Database of Irish Lepidoptera. 1 - Macrohabitats, microsites and traits of Noctuidae and butterflies Ken G.M. Bond and Tom Gittings Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science University College Cork Citation: Bond, K.G.M. and Gittings, T. (2008) Database of Irish Lepidoptera. 1 - Macrohabitats, microsites and traits of Noctuidae and butterflies. Irish Wildlife Manual s, No. 35. National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dublin, Ireland. Cover photo: Merveille du Jour ( Dichonia aprilina ) © Veronica French Irish Wildlife Manuals Series Editors: F. Marnell & N. Kingston © National Parks and Wildlife Service 2008 ISSN 1393 – 6670 Database of Irish Lepidoptera ____________________________ CONTENTS CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................................................1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................2 The concept of the database.....................................................................................................................2 The structure of the database...................................................................................................................2 Uses of the database ..................................................................................................................................2 Irish Lepidoptera........................................................................................................................................ 3 The selection of lepidopteran groups for databasing .........................................................................4 MACROHABITATS PREFERENCES OF IRISH LEPIDOPTERA .............................................................................8 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 8 Summary table ...........................................................................................................................................8 Macrohabitat classification .................................................................................................................... 12 MICROSITE PREFERENCES OF IRISH LEPIDOPTERA ...................................................................................... 24 Larval Activity Zone Summary table ................................................................................................... 24 Larval Activity Zone Explanations ....................................................................................................... 27 Hibernation / Overwintering Zone....................................................................................................... 31 Soil / Water Conditions........................................................................................................................... 33 Oviposition Site .......................................................................................................................................34 TRAITS OF IRISH LEPIDOPTERA .................................................................................................................... 35 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 35 Summary table ......................................................................................................................................... 35 Lepidoptera trait definitions.................................................................................................................. 38 SPECIES ACCOUNTS OF IRISH BUTTERFLIES (R HOPALOCERA )................................................................... 42 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 42 Species Accounts...................................................................................................................................... 45 SPECIES ACCOUNTS OF IRISH NOCTUIDAE .................................................................................................. 89 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 89 Species Accounts...................................................................................................................................... 91 BIBLIOGRAPHY & R ELEVANT LITERATURE ................................................................................................ 314 Database of Irish Lepidoptera ____________________________ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The preparation of this database was funded by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Martin Speight provided the inspiration for the development of this database, through the example of the Syrph The Net database. We are grateful to Martin for his encouragement, his comments on drafts of the database, and for securing funding for our work. We also wish to thank Mark Wilson (Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, UCC) who was involved in the initial development of the concept of this database, Angus Tyner (MothsIreland) and Alan Myers (Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, UCC) who provided information used in the preparation of the species accounts, and Veronica French (Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, UCC) for providing the cover photograph. We are grateful to Ferdia Marnell (National Parks and Wildlife Service) for his help in getting this database published as an Irish Wildlife Manual and to John O'Halloran (Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, UCC) for his help with the management of this project . 1 Database of Irish Lepidoptera ____________________________ INTRODUCTION The concept of the database Invertebrates are a major component of Irish biodiversity. There are many thousands of species, compared to fewer than 1000 native vascular plant species and fewer than 500 native vertebrate species. Species lists of invertebrates have the potential to be important tools in biodiversity assessments, ranging from assessments of the nature conservation importance of particular sites to large-scale studies across many sites. However, the majority of invertebrate species are poorly known and information is not readily accessible, causing difficulties in the interpretation of the ecological significance of patterns of species occurrence. The purpose of this database is to provide information on the habitat preferences and life history of Irish butterflies and moths in a standardised format, which can be used to interpret species lists. This database is based on a model developed in databases of European hoverflies (Diptera, Syphidae; updated annually, most recent version Speight et al. , 2008) and gastropod molluscs (Falkner et al. , 2001). Similar databases are in preparation for snail-killing flies (Diptera, Sciomyzidae) and spiders (Aranae). The hoverfly database (Syrph The Net) has been highlighted as a model for invertebrate assessments in the European Strategy for the conservation of invertebrates (Haslett, 2007). The structure of the database This database contains species accounts of all resident Irish butterflies and Noctuid moths describing their habitat preferences, traits and status as well as three spreadsheets in which the macrohabitat and microsite preferences and traits of each species are coded. We have developed macrohabitat, microsite and trait classifications for this purpose and definitions of each macrohabitat, microsite and trait category are included. The coding is based on information from both published and unpublished sources: published sources are referred to in the species accounts while the unpublished information is largely the personal knowledge of the senior author. The spreadsheets use a four-point coding system (0-3) that represents the degree of association with each habitat or trait. Uses of the database The database provides a tool that can be used to interrogate the macrohabitat and microsite preferences and traits of Irish Noctuid moths and butterflies. This can be used to identify species with particular habitat preferences and/or traits in order to interpret the results of ecological research (see, for example, Ouin et al. , 2006 and Gittings et al. , 2007 for examples of this approach using the Syrph The Net database). There is no single correct method of using the database but there are some methods that have been developed specifically for use with these types of databases. One of the principal uses of the database is in site biodiversity assessments. The database can be used to predict the expected fauna of a site based on the macrohabitats present. The actual fauna can then be compared to the predicted fauna. A site with a high representation of the predicted fauna can be considered to have a high biodiversity maintenance function for that fauna and to 2 Database of Irish