SPRING 2020

FVERMONiT CEeNTER FOlR ECdOSTUDIE S | NUniting Peopole and Scitence feor Consersvation

Case of the Missing Coccinellidae Searching for answers about Vermont’s lost Lady Beetles

| BY EMILY ANDERSON

hen I think of childhood, lady beetles Woften come to mind. Visiting my mother’s office on sunny, warm afternoons, I watched as beetles in brilliant shades of red and orange scurried along window sills and up my outstretched finger. Believing that they were good luck, I would scoop them into my palm and watch as they took flight for a more secure location. I am not alone in my youthful fascina- tion with these multicolored insects. After all, how many children’s stories feature IN THIS ISSUE friendly ladybugs? What I did not realize until becoming involved with VCE’s new State of VTBees | page 3 Vermont Lady Beetle Atlas is that these The Cuban Bicknell's Thrush stories depict only a fraction of existing lady Puzzle | page 6 beetle species. What many readers may not realize is that the classic “red-with-black- New Vernal Pool Atlas | page 9 spots” beetles often shown are not the only Species Spotlight | page 12 ones that call Vermont home. Three-banded The status of our state’s lady beetle spe- Lady Beetle † (continued on page 10) © DENIS DOUCET

VTECOSTUDIES.ORG FIELD NOTES VCE VIEW

Spring 2020 • Volume 13, No. 1

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Chris Rimmer (DOI) issued a memo reinterpreting the ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR law to apply only to direct and purposeful Susan Hindinger harm or death. Under DOI’s decision, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS entities that kill or harm birds through Karen Bourque chemical contamination or oil spills, for CONSERVATION BIOLOGISTS example, will no longer be liable. The Steve Faccio current administration has now proposed Eric Hanson to legally encase that position in an Jason Hill Kent McFarland administrative rule. Effectively, killing birds will OUTREACH NATURALIST Sara Zahendra become legal if done unintentionally. R A

V Billions of birds, not to mention the BUSINESS MANAGER I D

L ecological services and recreational Mistie Boule A Z

S

I benefits they provide, are at stake.

DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR D

A wet and bedraggled biologist with a hard- Y

E Thankfully, conservation activists at both

Sarah Carline L earned Bicknell’s Thrush banded in Cuba. © the federal and state level are stepping SOFTWARE DEVELOPER Jason Loomis up to try to fill the conservation gap. ontinental bird populations are Nationally, H.R. 5552—the Migratory Bird DATA TECHNICIAN under assault. Scientific evidence Nathaniel Sharp C Protection Act—is under consideration. leaves not a shred of doubt: nearly 30% This bipartisan bill would amend the ECO AMERICORPS MEMBERS of North America’s birds—some 3 billion MBTA to reestablish that, contrary to the Emily Anderson, Kevin Tolan individuals in all—have disappeared in administration’s reinterpretation, the BOARD OF DIRECTORS the past 50 years. Causes are varied and law prohibits incidental take. In line with Peter Brooke, Chair complex, but they include habitat loss and Celia Chen, Nan Cochran other states, Vermont has introduced Bill Hayes, Bob Holley degradation, intensification of industrial H.683, “an act relating to prohibiting Jared Keyes, Stephanie McCaull agriculture, and global climate change. incidental take of migratory birds.” VCE Chris Rimmer, William Schmidt Until recently, U.S. citizens could partner Audubon Vermont is working TUCK/REVERS NONPROFIT trust in the century-old Migratory hard to ensure passage of this far- BOARD FELLOW Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) to help sighted law, with broad support from the Charlie Carey counterbalance this avian conservation statewide bird conservation community. DESIGN crisis. Since 1918, this bedrock law has As a conservation science Wendy McMillan outlawed the hunting, killing, capturing, organization, VCE generally lets our The Vermont Center for or collecting of migratory birds—and their Ecostudies (VCE) is a nonprofit science do the talking. We do not wade organization whose mission is eggs or nests—without a permit. From into policy issues often, or lightly. In to advance the conservation of loons to longspurs, terns to tanagers, the this case, the science is clear, and the wildlife across the Americas MBTA protects migratory birds, and the conservation impacts indisputably through research, monitoring, and citizen engagement. With myriad values—recreational, ecological, damaging. We must all make our voices a reach extending from Canada economic, and spiritual—by which they heard. VCE has submitted comments to and northern New England enrich our lives. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service opposing through the Caribbean and South America, our work That landmark piece of legislation the proposed MBTA rule change. We unites people and science for is now under siege. For decades, courts implore each of you to take your own conservation. have interpreted the MBTA as applying action for birds, by (1) urging Congress Field Notes is VCE’s to “incidental takes”—the unintentional to support H.R.5552 (https://www. biannual newsletter and is harm or death of a bird that is the direct contactingcongress.org), and (2) urging free to our constituents. and foreseeable result of a person or Vermont’s legislators (https://legislature. VERMONT CENTER entity’s actions. Over the past 50 years, vermont.gov/people/all/2020/House) to FOR ECOSTUDIES this legal interpretation has compelled PO Box 420 support H.683. Birds that we all cherish, Norwich, VT 05055 industry to use best practices, whether and that VCE seeks to conserve, with your (802) 649-1431 covering oil waste pits or spacing electrical support—from Bicknell’s Thrushes to power lines to avoid electrocution, that Bobolinks, Whip-poor-wills to Northern have prevented countless avian deaths. Waterthrushes—hang in the balance. The Printed on recycled paper In late 2017, the Department of Interior time to act is now. FN Field Notes is made possible by a generous gift from vtecostudies.org Jeff and Terry Marshall. † Common Eastern Bumble Bee

Cuckoo Carder Bee (Stelis permacu- lata) was collected in August 2007 by VTBees collaborator, Leif Richardson. This particular specimen was collect- ed in Cornwall Swamp, and had been sitting in a box—unidentified—until this fall! Of course, there were many other surprises in 2019, and we’re certain many more are yet to come. Over the next two summers, we will focus our efforts in southern Vermont. With at least two addition-

Y al field seasons ahead, we expect to D R

A further expand the statewide species H

R list while tailoring our fieldwork to E C

N produce data with meaningful conser- E P S vation outcomes. Core to our success © State of Vermont’s Bees will be exciting collaborations with regional partners, including Green An update from the off-season Mountain National Forest and Merck Forest and Farmland Center. These | BY SPENCER HARDY partnerships will increase the impact he Vermont Wild Bee Survey (VTBees) of our work by providing landowners Tteam was busy as… well, bees in 2019. From with bee data that would otherwise be the mouth of the Winooski River to the summit prohibitively expensive and impracti- of Mount Mansfield, we and our citizen scien- cal for them to collect independently. tists collected roughly 9,000 bee specimens and Even though we added dozens located an additional 20,000+ records going back of species to the state list in 2019, as far as the 1930s. Many of the historic speci- there are certainly species out there mens came from regional university museum that have so far avoided our nets. For collections, including several thousand from the example, we’ll make a concerted effort Zadock Thompson Zoological Collections at the this spring to find two genera that University of Vermont. Combined, these records have been collected in neighboring form the most comprehensive data set ever states. The genus Mellita contains assembled on Vermont’s bees, elevating our state three rare species in the Northeast, from one of the East’s most data-deficient regions all of which are pollen specialists, to one of the richest! including one that requires Deerberry Collecting specimens is only the first step in (Vaccinium stamineum) which occurs the VTBees research protocol. Each new speci- DISTRIBUTION OF sporadically in southern Vermont. VERMONT'S BEE RECORDS men must be washed (and blow-dried), identified, The Southeastern Blueberry Bee Black dots indicate records from cataloged, and prepared for long-term storage. the Global Biodiversity Infor- (Habropoda laboriosa) is another Vac- This spring, we’ll complete identification of the re- mation Facility, which includes cinium specialist that likely reaches maining ~2,000 undetermined specimens, at which research grade iNaturalist the northern extreme of its range in point the first-ever checklist of Vermont’s bees will observations and data from southern Vermont. If last season was the Vermont Bumblebee Atlas. be ready for publication. This list will be regionally Red dots are 2019 records from any guide, some of our most intrigu- significant, documenting substantial range expan- VTBees. ing VTBees finds in 2020 will be made sions and the continued existence of several very by camera-toting citizen scientists rare species. A 2012 published study analyzed all 770 species of bees known from who post bee photos on iNaturalist. eastern North America, and found only 37 species that had not been documented Who knows, that little bee in your gar- between 1990 and 2010. Amazingly, two of these 37 species were unearthed by VT- den could be a first state record! Learn Bees. One, the Canadian Cellophane-cuckoo Bee (Epeolus canadensis) was caught more at http://val.vtecostudies.org/ this summer by VCE’s Nathaniel Sharp in Colchester. The other, Sixteen-spotted projects/vtbees FN

vtecostudies.org SPRING 2020 | 3 N E R R A L

Many species, C C M including Eastern Y S

Wood-Pewee, whose S I R

populations have C

& declined in Vermont O G

by 35% over the last 25 A E R

years, may benefit from

Is Bird-friendly Maple Y

bird-friendly maple D N A management. Sweet for Birds? ©

ou’ve likely heard of techniques focus on maximizing Y“bird-friendly” coffee, sap production. This fre- but how about bird- quently results in park-like, friendly maple? Forests closed-canopy monocultures that produce maple syrup of mature sugar maple with lit- VCE partners with Audubon can be managed in very tle to no understory. This lack Vermont and UVM to test different ways—some of of plant diversity and habitat which may provide better hab- forest management guide- structure may reduce the forest’s itat for birds than others. In a new value for birds and other wildlife, and, lines for maple producers partnership with Audubon Vermont as any gardener knows, monocultures and the University of Vermont, VCE is | BY STEVE FACCIO tend to be more susceptible and less spearheading a two-year study that will resilient to disease and pests. test whether the management recom- To address these issues, Audubon mendations of Audubon Vermont’s Vermont’s Steve Hagenbuch, in part- Bird-friendly Maple Project produce nership with the Vermont Department measurable benefits for birds compared of Forests, Parks, and Recreation and to a more traditional approach of sugar- the Vermont Maple Sugar Maker’s bush management. Association, initiated the Bird-friendly Traditional sugarbush management Maple Project to promote sugarbush

4 | SPRING 2020 vtecostudies.org

CITIZEN SCIENCE OPPORTUNITIES

in ways that degrade habitat for birds (and biodiversity in general), while neg- The question our atively impacting ecosystem services

R

two-year study aims delivered by working forests. E G N Audubon’s Bird-friendly Maple I to answer is this: D N Project works with participating maple I H

Do these N producers to sustainably manage their A S U S management forests for birds and sap. In exchange, © they receive promotional materials that guidelines actually You don’t need a result in measurable allow them to uniquely market their syrup as “bird-friendly.” Specifically, background in science to benefits to the bird Audubon’s management guidelines be a Citizen Scientist! community compared recommend increasing the diversity of From backyards and bogs to to traditionally canopy tree species and forest structure mountains and meadows, you'll by ensuring a range of age classes from find many ways to get involved managed sugar seedlings to large trees. This, in turn, and make a real contribution to wildlife conservation. If bushes or unmanaged encourages forest regeneration, creates you'd rather not muck around forests? a variety of complex forest layers, and a swamp or hike to a summit, promotes long-term health, resiliency, you can still volunteer for VCE— and sustainability of the sugarbush. even from the comfort of home. management practices that strive to im- The question our two-year study

N We hope you'll join us!

E prove forest habitat value, native plant aims to answer is this: Do these man- R R

A diversity, and long-term productivity. agement guidelines actually result in L

C iNaturalist Vermont C As Hagenbuch points out, “The future measurable benefits to the bird commu- M

Y

S of Vermont’s forest health, bird popula- nity compared to traditionally managed Volunteers share observations of all S I

R tions, and maple sugaring industry are sugarbushes or unmanaged forests? Vermont biodiversity in this digital C

&

project of the Vermont Atlas of Life.

O tightly linked—the same northern hard- Beginning this summer, we will G

A www.inaturalist.org/projects/

E wood forests that supply nearly one-half address that question by quantifying R

vermont-atlas-of-life Y of our nation’s maple syrup each year birds and their invertebrate prey in D N A also support some of the highest diversi- three different forest treatments: 1) © ties and abundances of breeding birds in sugarbush stands that meet Audubon’s Mountain Birdwatch the continental United States.” criteria, 2) sugarbush stands managed Moreover, results from VCE’s Forest as maple monocultures, and 3) Each June, volunteers hit the trails to complete bird survey routes on Bird Monitoring Project revealed that unmanaged forest stands. Additionally, 123 mountain ridgelines across many of these birds, including Canada our study will be part of a larger project the Northeast. Warbler, Veery, and Eastern Wood- by University of Vermont professors vtecostudies.org/projects/ Pewee, have experienced population Brendan Fisher, Tony D’Amato, and mountains/mountain-birdwatch declines in Vermont forests over the Rachelle Gould, who will not only last 25 years. Stressors associated with investigate how the intensity of maple climate change, forest fragmentation, sugar production affects biodiversity, Vernal Pool Monitoring invasive species, and incompatible but will assess its impact on ecosystem In April, May, and September each forest management practices are con- services (such as carbon sequestration year, volunteers visit and collect data tributing threats to forest birds. These and resistance to invasive species) to monitor “adopted” vernal pools same factors also threaten the sustain- while investigating the socio-economic following protocols and using using VCE-provided equipment. ability of maple sugaring at a time when outcomes of maple production at the industry is expanding rapidly. Since different scales. Ultimately, we hope vtecostudies.org/projects/forests/ vernal-pool-conservation 2015, maple production in Vermont the results will help improve Audubon’s has increased by 40%, and this steady sugarbush management guidelines and growth is predicted to continue for the advance biodiversity conservation in To learn more about the Vermont foreseeable future. As a consequence, Vermont’s working forest landscape. Atlas of Life and its projects, visit more and more forestland is being man- Stay tuned for updates on this sweet vtecostudies.org/volunteer aged for maple production—potentially project! FN

vtecostudies.org SPRING 2020 | 5 Z E

Chris Rimmer D N

conducts a point E M

count on Pico Toldo. . A

Piecing © Together January 28, 2020 2:50 am. guzzle highly sweetened coffee and bolt a few Icrackers. Five of us—Cuban biologists Freddy Santana and Alan Mendez, field technician Yunier the Puzzle R E

Caignet (aka Fis), our park guide Camelo, and I—set M M R

off in a silent procession under fiercely starry skies, S I R

Studying the headlamps our only light, plodding boot steps and H C enigmatic “tinking” tree frogs the only sounds. We need to cover © Bicknell's Thrush 12 kilometers before dawn, the witching hour of Bicknell’s Thrush. in Cuba Day three of our weeklong field survey of El Toldo, a wilderness high-eleva- tion plateau deep inside eastern Cuba’s 71,000-hectare Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, has begun. Today’s target is Pico Toldo, the Park’s highest summit | BY CHRIS RIMMER at nearly 1,200 m. Camelo expresses doubt that we’ll find a navigable trail up the peak’s steep slopes of dense “cloud charrascal” forest. Undaunted (we’re armed with machetes, after all), we hike on. Conversation is scant, but hopes high for our first encounter with Bicknell’s Thrush. After two days of unrewarded surveys in patches of broadleaf “pluvisilva” forest embedded within the boundless Cuban pines, we feel our luck will turn. If VCE has learned anything in 28 years of studying Bicknell’s Thrush, it’s that predictable outcomes don’t exist with this bird. We think we have our quarry figured out, and, suddenly, we don’t. I was back in Cuba for a fourth consecutive winter because Bicknell’s Thrush had thrown us a curveball the previous February.

6 | SPRING 2020 vtecostudies.org

Following our unforgettable expedition glimmer of dawn appears. Twenty min- to the remote cloud forests of Sierra utes later, we arrive at the base of Pico Maestra’s Bayamesa National Park, Toldo, headlamps now off. As feared, no which yielded several thrushes, we had trail ascends the impenetrable bamboo surveyed an expanse of high-elevation charrascal understory to the summit, broadleaf-pine forest in central Hum- so Camelo and Fis gamely set off with boldt. Descending from the highlands, machetes to create one. At 6:20, Freddy, no Bicknell’s Thrushes under our Alan and I begin point counts along the These three weeks, belt, we were shocked to stumble on a old mining road we’ve just hiked. Habitat and, in fact, the past vocalizing bird in disturbed, secondary looks promising, as it has elsewhere forest at 650 m elevation, near the tiny in El Toldo, but Bicknell’s Thrush are four winters leave us hamlet of Riito. We netted and banded nowhere to be found. Three signature with an inescapable the bird—a yearling. Was this an outlier, endemics dominate the airwaves: Cuban but unsurprising a naïve youngster, perhaps unable to Trogons, Cuban Todies, and Cuban conclusion: secure a territory in prime habitat, who Solitaires. Trail cutting proves too had settled for the best he or she could arduous for our comrades, so we climb Bicknell’s Thrush find? The plot thickened when, two only halfway up Pico Toldo. No thrushes is a cloud forest weeks later, my Cuban colleagues re- there either. specialist on Cuba. turned to confirm this bird’s continued Over the next four days, we learn a presence, then found three additional great deal about where Bicknell’s Thrush thrushes nearby! are not, which is anywhere on the El Tol- Our thinking about Bicknell’s do plateau, or, apparently, inside Hum- Thrush distribution and habitat se- boldt National Park. We backpack out lection in Cuba had been turned on its of the park, reunite with Nicasio’s team, head, necessitating a 2020 follow-up and move to wet lowland karst forest in field trip. We needed to not only care- Carso de Baire, where a quick 24-hour fully investigate the situation at Riito, survey also comes up empty. Needing Z E

D but more exhaustively survey an array to hear at least one Bicknell’s Thrush N E of “non-traditional” habitats. So, now, in 2020, we end our expedition at Pico M

. A in late January, while my team scours Botella, Sierra Maestra’s only road-ac- © pluvisilva and charrascal forests on cessible tract of cloud forest. There we the El Toldo plateau, Cuban colleague find a handful of our quarry, managing to Nicasio Viña is leading a team back in net and band two birds. Riito. However, we soon learn that four These three weeks, and, in fact, days of concerted point counts and the past four winters leave us with an

R playbacks there revealed no thrushes inescapable but unsurprising conclu- E

M anywhere. How to explain this ab- sion: Bicknell’s Thrush is a cloud forest M R

S sence, after the presence of four birds specialist on Cuba. That is somewhat I R

H in 2019? We’ll never know for sure, but disappointing, as we’d hoped to discov- C

© we can surmise that these may have er populations overwintering in other been young, inexperienced birds, who habitats. Cuba is remarkably well-con- adopted a “floater” strategy, moving served overall, a far cry from the species’ R The VCE-BIOECO E

constantly through suboptimal habitat core winter range on Hispaniola. Yet M team’s camp dining M I space on the banks R or inhabiting patches only temporar- our Cuban findings are vitally import- S

I of Rio Piloto in El ily. This is well-documented in other ant, as they reaffirm the strategic need R H Toldo. C

migrant songbirds that, like Bicknell’s to continue focusing conservation © Thrush, occupy discrete winter terri- efforts in Haiti and the Dominican tories. Not everyone secures a piece of Republic. Without doubt, Cuba provides prime real estate. critical and secure refuge for Bicknell’s Thrush, even if it doesn’t harbor a moth- Back to El Toldo, 5:50 am: er lode. Moreover, our colleagues there are deeply committed to further collabo- Exactly three hours after our coffee-fu- ration as we together study and conserve eled departure from camp, the first this globally vulnerable species. FN

vtecostudies.org SPRING 2020 | 7 VCE NEWS AND NOTES

Dr. Yolanda León during a 2014 field trip in Sierra de Bahoruco . R E M M I R

S I R H C Y

E © K D O R

A R

Yolanda León A T Mountain VCE colleague receives prestigious © conservation award Birdwatch 20th anniversary Spring into Action | BY CHRIS RIMMER If you like to hike and wake up Volunteer for vernal Long-time VCE partner and Advisory Council to the sound of bird song, then pools member, Yolanda (Yoli) León, is a true conservation VCE could use your help this Does the thought of leaving the champion—and warrior (in the best sense of that June. Mountain Birdwatch beaten path in search of vernal term). Her efforts to achieve science-based habitat (MBW) is VCE’s long-term moun- pools and the critters that call conservation in her native Dominican Republic have tain bird monitoring program, them home make your heart more often than not gone against the grain of politi- with 129 survey routes located on sing? Do you think collecting cal realities, economic pressures, and social norms. high-elevation hiking trails across data is fun? If you answered They have also raised tremendous public awareness, the Catskills and Adirondacks, “Yes!” to these questions, we enriched local communities, and brought about New Hampshire, Vermont, and have a (volunteer) job for you! hard-won change. Maine. On one morning in June, VCE’s Vernal Pool Monitor- Yoli’s tireless work was recently recognized via a citizen scientists conduct simple ing Project (VPMon) is looking prestigious 2019 Partners in Flight (PIF) Individual counts for only 10 montane bird for citizen scientist volunteers to Leadership Award. Since 1990, PIF—a hemispheric species, such as Bicknell’s Thrush, monitor pools throughout Ver- coalition of 150 bird conservation organizations— Winter Wren, and Blackpoll War- mont for the upcoming spring has promoted and shepherded partnerships to bler. The short list of monitored (and beyond), with an emphasis advance landbird conservation. PIF’s annual Lead- species means that any hiker who on finding monitors in Essex, ership Award “honors an individual or group who likes to bird can participate. You Caledonia, Orleans, Lamoille, demonstrates outstanding guidance and direction don’t have to be an expert, just and Franklin counties. Monitors that contributes, or has contributed to, advancing enthusiastic. Since 2010 alone, make four visits to a single vernal PIF conservation efforts.” Yoli fulfills those criteria nearly 400 citizen scientists have pool throughout the year. No in spades. Over the past decade-plus, her collabo- conducted more than 20,000 prior experience is needed. rative, groundbreaking work has targeted Sierra de point counts in mountains of the Visit vtecostudies.org/ Bahoruco’s extraordinarily biodiverse, ecologically northeastern U.S. These data, projects/forests/vernal- critical and extremely vulnerable forests—a region and our resulting analyses, have pool-conservation/vermont- severely threatened by chronic, accelerating habitat profoundly influenced the man- vernal-pool-monitoring-project loss and degradation, much of it occurring illegally agement and conservation of our to learn more. Ready to sign up? within national park boundaries. Bicknell’s Thrush montane bird communities. Have questions? Email VCE’s VP- and associated overwintering migrant birds may Visit vtecostudies.org/ Mon Coordinator, Kevin Tolan, at be the explicit targets of Yolanda’s ongoing conser- projects/mountains/mountain- [email protected]. FN vation efforts in Bahoruco, but the ecological and birdwatch/participate to learn societal impacts of her work reach much deeper. more and explore a map of avail- VCE salutes our close friend, colleague, advisor, and able routes. Don’t hesitate to con-

conservation advocate on her well-deserved award. tact MBW coordinator Jason Hill K C O

We look forward to strengthening our long and pro- ([email protected]) with T S I FN FN ductive collaboration. Congratulations, Yoli! your questions, or to sign up! † Blue-spotted Salamander ©

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Visit vpatlas.org for a current vernal pool map.

2008), which mapped the locations of over 4,000 remotely-sensed “poten- tial” pools as well as several hundred field-verified pools. Along with our partners at VFWD and Arrowwood Environmental, VCE’s long-term vision for the vernal pool mapping data is that it not be a static “snapshot-in-time” O I map, but one that can be easily updated C C A

F as new pools are discovered or potential Vermont Vernal E

V sites are confirmed through field visits. E T S VPAtlas achieves this vision with © Pool Atlas Launch an interactive, web-based platform An interactive mapping tool and clearinghouse for all things that allows visitors to view and search mapped pools and register to become vernal pool in Vermont VPAtlas users. Once registered, VPAt- | BY JASON LOOMIS AND STEVE FACCIO las users can add pool data, including “new” pools that have not been previ- ach spring, small wetlands scattered throughout northeastern woodlands erupt ously mapped, as well as new “visits” Ewith life. Diminutive Fairy Shrimp, quacking Wood Frogs, and three charis- to previously-mapped pools. VPAtlas matic salamander species rely on these wetlands, called vernal pools, for their administrators review and validate all very existence. In an effort to conserve and protect these vital, ephemeral habitats, entries to ensure data integrity. VCE—in collaboration with Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department (VFWD)—creat- Currently in Beta release and still ed the Vermont Vernal Pool Atlas (VPAtlas), a state-wide repository of vernal pool under development, VPAtlas can be data. VPAtlas is a web-accessible database of vernal pool location and monitoring found at https://vpatlas.org. We wel- information, as well as an interactive citizen science data-gathering portal that come visitors to the site and encourage welcomes public use. Anyone can learn how to use VPAtlas and contribute to this users to begin adding pool data. You may community resource by recording observations of vernal pool locations, indicator encounter unexpected issues when using species, and more. the site during the next 6-12 months as VPAtlas is also the source of vernal pool data for the Vermont Agency of Natural we work to eliminate bugs and add addi- Resources (ANR), whose staff use this information for a variety of purposes, in- tional features. Please contact vpatlas@ cluding conservation planning, enforcing wetland regulations and Act 250 reviews, vtecostudies.org with any questions and forestry and research activities. VPAtlas provides automated, periodic updates or to report software issues. If you’d like to the vernal pool layer on ANR’s Natural Resources Atlas, a web-based mapping to join our team of citizen scientists and platform featuring over 150 different mapping layers that is widely used by natural more formally “adopt” a pool to monitor, resource professionals, land managers, and landowners. please contact us at VPMon@vtecos- VPAtlas is an outgrowth of VCE’s Vernal Pool Mapping Project (initiated in tudies.org. FN vtecostudies.org SPRING 2020 | 9 LADY BEETLES continued from page 1 L E A U V Q U I D R

N Y E

The Convergent Lady Beetle, above, E S D I D has not been spotted in Vermont since V N A I L D

1978. At left: Parenthesis Lady Beetle © ©

cies was hardly on Kent McFarland’s Lady Beetle, have completely vanished. radar when he asked Jason Loomis, A quick literature search revealed sev- VCE’s Software Developer, to digitize eral theories to explain recent declines, a historic Vermont Lady Beetle report. but many scientists believe that invasive But often, the best ideas appear when Join VCE’s Lady Beetle lady beetles and land use changes have we least expect them. played key roles. Blitz in May “We’re always on the lookout for These missing species create more historic natural history data,” explains than an alluring research mystery— Help us kick off the Vermont Kent. “When we find them, our mission is they may also leave ecosystems more Lady Beetle Atlas with a week- to rescue them from potential oblivion in end-long Lady Beetle Blitz, May vulnerable to environmental changes. the dustbin of history. We had a 43-year- 16th and 17th. We’re asking In nature, diversity assures stability. old document which provided a snapshot people all across the state to Most lady beetles are voracious preda- search their yards, gardens, and of lady beetle life prior to 1976—Lady tors that help keep plant pests in check. everywhere else to help us dis- Beetles: A Checklist of the Coccinellidae of Resource overlap can occur when cover these beautiful beetles. Vermont. Jason began pulling the records multiple similar species occupy an eco- Anyone can do it, and it’s fun! into a database, and we quickly realized system, creating competition, but also You can also learn more about that many of the beetles reported hadn’t insurance; if one species disappears, these fascinating beetles and been seen in decades.” another often takes its place, maintain- join VCE staff on a beetle hunt As VCE’s Vermont Atlas of Life team ing ecosystem stability. However, this at the North Branch Nature scoured historic Vermont collections role redundancy is reduced when fewer Center in Montpelier from 1- for more data, a clear picture emerged species occupy the ecosystem. If one 4pm May 16th. Please contact of all 40 lady beetle species ever record- vanishes and is not replaced, ecological VCE’s Citizen Science Out- ed in the state. Of these 40, seven spe- relationships may be compromised and reach Naturalist, Emily Ander- cies are nonnative—including the Asian ecosystem functioning diminished. son (eanderson@vtecostudies. lady beetle, a frequent house guest in Agriculture and managed forests org) if you have any questions. cold winter months. The team made may get hit relatively hard when lady another disturbing discovery: 13 native beetle diversity declines. Many beetles species are currently missing. Since the protect agroecosystems by devouring 1970s, species that were once consid- crop-destroying pests. Scientists cur- ered common, like the Nine-spotted rently lack a clear picture of how local

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S A G N A G

K C U

Make your H C

declines or extirpations may affect about the status of Vermont’s missing © agroecosystem stability in the era of lady beetles and emphasize the im- legacy climate change; however they could portance of community science. Lady amplify other negative impacts that beetles are needles in a haystack, and a future for already threaten many farms. we need more than a handful of sci- Are Vermont’s missing beetle entists to definitively identify their wildlife species really gone, or have we just not whereabouts (or presumed absence). been looking closely enough? With the This summer, we will engage volun- help of volunteer community scientists, teers across Vermont to search for our we’re hoping to find out. Searching for missing species, and to help establish a lost lady beetles is not a new pursuit. In statewide baseline of data. Supported 2000, Cornell University and collabo- by a community of volunteer scientists rators created the Lost Ladybug Project who are excited to help solve this insect (LLP) to discover whether missing mystery, we will have a much better species in New York were truly extir- chance of success, and ultimately of pated or just existed in extremely low conserving these amazing insects. population densities. By harnessing a Today, this project has me looking network of citizen scientists, LLP set to at lady beetles in entirely new ways. work combing all manner of terrestrial Long past believing in their luck-grant- habitats from shrubby hillsides to or- ing abilities, I still find myself enrap- namental gardens—with some success. tured by their diverse patterns and Throughout their survey (2008-2012), colors. In the coming months, I hope volunteers uncovered three species you, too, will take a closer look at the with a gift in your unseen in New York since the 1970s: multicolored beetles that share your will or estate. the Convergent Lady Beetle, Two-spot- neighborhood. You might just discov- ted Lady Beetle, and Nine-spotted Lady er a long-lost species! Learn more at Beetle. http://val.vtecostudies.org/projects/ LLP’s discoveries make us hopeful lady-beetle-atlas FN Making your gift is simple. The Missing Lady Beetles of Vermont We’ll be glad to help. COMMON NAME LATIN NAME LAST REPORTED IN VERMONT † Include VCE in your will or Convergent Lady Beetle Hippodamia convergens 1978 living trust Four-spotted Spurleg Lady Beetle Brachiacantha quadripunctata 1976 † Name VCE a beneficiary of Nine-spotted Lady Beetle Coccinella novemnotata 1976 a retirement plan or life Transverse Lady Beetle Coccinella transversoguttata 1976 insurance policy Firefly Duskyling Diomus terminatus 1976 † Establish a tax-saving life- Glacial Lady Beetle Hippodamia glacialis 1976 income plan to benefit VCE Undulate Sigil Lady Beetle Hyperaspis undulata 1976 To learn more, contact Unnamed Scymnus fraternus 1973 Susan Hindinger Two-spotted Lady Beetle Adalia bipunctata 1971 VCE Associate Director [email protected] Ten-spotted Spurleg Lady Beetle Brachiacantha decempustulata 1971 802-649-1431 x 203 Esteemed Sigil Lady Beetle Hyperaspis proba 1969 Thirteen-spotted Lady Beetle Hippodamia tredecimpunctata 1913 www.vtecostudies.org/give Five-spotted Lady Beetle Hippodamia quinquesignata 1890 vtecostudies.org SPRING 2020 | 11 NON-PROFIT ORG U. S. POSTAGE VERMONT CENTER FOR ECOSTUDIES PAID PO BOX 420 WHT RIV JCT, VT NORWICH, VT 05055 PERMIT No. 73

West Virginia White { Pieris virginiensis }

damine spp.), Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica), Violets (Viola spp.), and others, per- haps pollinating some of them along the way. Their caterpillars feed only on Toothwort and Rock Cress (Boechera). Like the flowers that nourish them, West Virginia Whites are spring ephemerals. Spring ephemeral wildflowers are perennial woodland plants that sprout from the ground early, bloom quickly, and then go to seed—all before the canopy trees overhead leaf out. This strategy allows plants to take advantage of full

sunlight that reaches the forest floor during a D N

A short time in early spring. Once the forest floor L R

A is deep in shade, the plant’s leaves wither away. F C

M Closely tied to healthy hardwood forests,

P K some West Virginia White populations are de- © clining or have disappeared altogether through habitat loss, high populations of deer over- Like the flowers t’s not a gaudy butterfly. It isn’t the biggest browsing understory plants, climate change, that nourish Ior the smallest. In fact, it’s mostly just white. and spread of the introduced weed Garlic Mus- them, West But this butterfly is unusual—it only flies in tard (Alliaria petiolata). Virginia Whites forests. To see this butterfly, you need to visit Garlic Mustard was first found in the U.S. are spring a rich, mature hardwood forest carpeted with around 1868 on Long Island, New York and ephemerals. spring wildflowers. West Virginia Whites fly has since spread throughout the West Virginia slowly and close to the forest floor. Follow White's range. Adult butterflies are fooled by | BY KENT MCFARLAND a woodland stream until you find the host Garlic Mustard. The plant’s chemistry makes plants—and the butterfly. it inviting for females to lay eggs on the leaves, The West Virginia White is almost com- but once they hatch, the caterpillars quickly

pletely white above with some gray scaling on die from ingesting alliarinoside, a compound the forewing. Below, the wings are whitish with unique to Garlic Mustard. When it is present,

D veins outlined in pale gray scales. It is often West Virginia Whites place nearly two-thirds of N A

L confused with the Mustard White, which by their eggs on Garlic Mustard, rather than their R A F contrast shows distinct, dark green-black veins preferred native host plants. C M

P on the underside of the hindwing during its You have to hurry to see this butterfly. As K

© spring flight. soon as canopy leaves burst and shade the forest Cutleaf Toothwort Adult butterflies sip nectar from spring floor, adults are gone until the next year, when, (Cardamine concatenata) ephemeral wildflowers like Toothwort (Car- if all goes well, a new generation flies again. FN

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