Ts Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports

DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS DENVER MUSEUMDENVER OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS • NUMBER 8 DECEMBER 1, 2017 NUMBER 8, DECEMBER 1, 2017

WWW.DMNS.ORG/SCIENCE/MUSEUM-PUBLICATIONS Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports 2001 Colorado Boulevard (Print) ISSN 2374-7730 Denver, CO 80205, U.S.A. Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports (Online) ISSN 2374-7749

Cover photo: Mormon metalmark (Apodemia mormo) nectaring on corymbose buckwheat (Eriogonum corymbosum), September 10, 2017, Unaweep Canyon, Mesa County, Colorado. Photo: Evi Buckner-Opler.

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 28th Annual Meeting by Museum staff or associates. Peer review will only be arranged on request of the authors. of the High Country Lepidopterists

December 1 and 2, 2017 The journal is available online at www.dmns.org/Science/ Museum-Publications free of charge. Paper copies are Colorado State University, Fort Collins exchanged via the DMNS Library exchange program ([email protected]) or are available for purchase from our print-on-demand publisher Lulu (www.lulu.com). Paul A. Opler (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 8, DECEMBER 1, 2017

Program and Abstracts 28th Annual Meeting of the High Country Lepidopterists December 1 and 2, 2017, Colorado State University, Fort Collins

Edited by CONTENTS Paul A. Opler1 Program 2

Abstracts 3

28 Years High Country Lepidopterists’ Meetings 7

1C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity, Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1177, U.S.A. [email protected] Opler 28th Annual Meeting of the High Country Lepidopterists

PROGRAM Friday, December 1, 6:00pm–10:00pm: Open House, potluck meal, and slidefest (5 slides only) at the home of Evi and Paul Opler, 3354 Valley Oak Drive, Loveland, CO 80523, tel. 970-668-8448 Saturday, December 2 9:00am–12:00pm: Open House in C.P. Gillette Museum (012 Laurel Hall) 12:00pm–1:00pm: Lunch (we’ll order pizza and eat in E005, Plant Sciences Building) 1:00pm–4:30pm: Contributed papers (E008, Plant Sciences Building) 1:00pm–1:05pm: Amy Charkowski (Head, Department of Bioagricultural Sciences): Welcome 1:05pm–1:20pm: Richard O. Bray: 1997–2011 transect species counts and their butterfly communities as recorded by the Rocky Mountain Butterfly Project in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado 1:21pm–1:36pm: Tristan Kubik & Rob Schorr: Facultative myrmecophily in the hops blue butterfly(Celastrina humulus) 1:37pm–1:52pm: Hanna H. Royals & Todd M. Gilligan: A Paralobesia puzzle (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) 1:53pm–2:08pm: Todd. M. Gilligan: Tortricidae described from Loveland, Colorado by Walsingham in 1895 2:09pm–2:24pm: Break 2:25pm–2:40pm: Chuck Harp: Colorado State University’s Gillette Museum and its partici pation in the LepNet data basing project 2:41pm–2:56pm: Sarah Garrett & Amy Yarger: BPACE: Pollinator Awareness through Conservation and Education 2:57pm–3:12pm: Erica Fleishman: Ecological inferences from and limitations of models of butterfly occupancy 3:13pm–3:28pm: Chuck Harp: Moth studies on lands of the Navajo Nation continue for Apache Co., Arizona, McKinley Co., New Mexico, and San Juan Co., Utah 3:29pm–3:43pm: Break 3:44pm–3:59pm: Deane Bowers: Consequences of novel host plants for native insect herbi vores: chemical defense and higher trophic levels 4:00pm–4:15pm: Paul A. Opler: Non-Cordilleran butterfly populations: conspecific or separate species? 4:16pm–4:30pm: Katherine Hernandez: Effect of diet on performance of Painted Lady butterflies over successive generations 4:31pm–4:45pm: David Bettman: Colorado microlepidoptera: the year in review 4:45pm–5:00pm: Business meeting 5:30pm–7:00pm: Dinner (at a local restaurant)

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checkerspot). Data showed that: 1) A. jabrophae and V. cardui are able to sequester defense compounds ABSTRACTS—ORAL PRESENTATIONS (iridoid glycosides) from the novel host plant that are not available from their native hosts; 2) feeding on P. Colorado Microlepidoptera: The Year in lanceolata also affects growth and immune response Review of these two species; 3) feeding on P. lanceolata alters chemical defense in E. phaeton and also affects cater- David Bettman pillar immune response and susceptibility to a virus. Department of Zoology, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, CO 80205-5798; [email protected] 1997–2011 Transect Species Counts and their Butterfly Communities as Recorded 2017 has been a fascinating year for Colorado microlep by the Rocky Mountain Butterfly Project in study. It has included the rediscovery of a moth appar- Rocky Mountain National Park ently last seen over 140 years ago (and which will need to switch genera), further progress in elucidating the life Richard O. Bray history of acanthopteroctetid moths, the documenting P.O. Box 1260, Estes Park, Colorado 80517; of previously unknown life histories of other microleps, [email protected] and several state records at the family- and genus-level. Opportunities for research abound, and research projects These yearly transect counts for selected species generated on several fronts are ongoing. by modified Pollard Counts in Rocky Mountain National Park create a multi-year baseline for future comparison. These transect counts in the montane, subalpine and Consequences of Novel Host Plants alpine highlight their varied butterfly communities. for Native Insect Herbivores: Chemical Communities which are expected to change due to an Defense and Higher Trophic Levels increase in atmospheric deposition (nitrogen, mercury, insecticides); climate change; changing plant communi- Deane Bowers ties; and a decrease in elk grazing should elk numbers University of Colorado Museum and Department of continue to decline after record high numbers during Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colo- the early years of the project. rado, Boulder Colorado 80309; [email protected] Ecological Inferences from and Limitations The introduction of novel host plants into new habi- of Models of Butterfly Occupancy tats may have profound effects on native organisms and their interactions with other trophic levels; these Erica Fleishman effects may vary from negative to neutral to positive. Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Here I report data from three lepidopteran species in Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo- the family Nymphalidae that have incorporated the rado 80523; [email protected] novel host plant, Plantago lanceolata (Plantagina- ceae) (narrow-leaved plantain) into their diet: Anartia Use of detection-weighted occupancy models to charac- jatrophae (the White Peacock), Vanessa cardui (the terize a species’ probability of occurrence, and abiotic Painted Lady), and Euphydryas phaeton (the Baltimore and biotic factors associated with occurrence, does not

require individuals to be marked. However, applica- Project and Monarch Watch for over three years. Through tion of occupancy models to many species within a the training of citizen scientists and restoration volun- butterfly assemblage rather than to a small number teers, as well as engagement of our guests, we hope to of individual species is complicated by variation in increase awareness of the value of butterflies and other phenology. We explored two methods for estimating invertebrate pollinators while at the same time conserv- detection probability: repeated samples on each survey ing, restoring and increasing pollinator habitats here in day, and relaxing the assumption that occupancy of a Colorado. given location does not change among surveys. We then explored the extent to which occupancy of butterflies in the Chesapeake Bay Lowlands, Great Basin, and southwestern Sierra Nevada could be explained on the Tortricidae Described from Loveland, basis of covariates including vegetation structure and Colorado by Walsingham in 1895 composition, sugars in nectar sources, and topography. Detection probabilities of a majority of species were Todd M. Gilligan associated with abundance of nectar or mud. Elevation USDA-APHIS-PPQ-S&T, Identification Technology Program, and precipitation were prominent in occupancy models 2301 Research Boulevard, Suite 108, Fort Collins, for butterflies in the Great Basin. In the southwestern Colorado 80526; [email protected] Sierra Nevada, we documented associations between occupancy and the number of inflorescences or sugar Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham (1843–1919) mass. Our work highlighted trade-offs of applying was one of the premier world experts on microlepidop- occupancy models to butterflies and suggested eco- tera in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His massive logical correlates of occupancy, especially the extent to private collection consisted of moths from around the which detection probabilities may relate to ephemeral world that he had collected himself, as well as those resources. sent to him by other collectors. He was considered the authority on North American Tortricidae following his collecting expedition to northern California and Oregon in 1871–72, and subsequent publication of PACE: Pollinator Awareness through Con- Nearctic “types” in the British Museum in 1879. North servation and Education American collectors continually sent him tortricid specimens to identify and describe—one such collec- Sarah Garrett & Amy Yarger tor was William G. Smith, an ornithologist living in Butterfly Pavilion 6252 West 104th Avenue, Westmin- Loveland, Colorado. Smith provided Walsingham with ster, Colorado 80020; [email protected] a substantial number of tortricids collected in Love- land, and Walsingham described more than 20 new Butterfly Pavilion began the initiative for Pollinator species in 1895 from this material. Several of these Awareness through Conservation and Education (PACE) species are the most recognizable Tortricidae found in in 2016. Our Science & Conservation department has Colorado. contributed to PACE through the creation and imple- mentation of Colorado Butterfly Monitoring Network, Urban Prairies Project, Colorado Pollinator Summit, and Butterflies at Chatfield. In addition we have been involved in the nationwide Monarch Larva Monitoring

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Colorado State University’s Gillette Springer, AZ to the south, Mexican Hat, Utah to the Museum and its Participation in the north and Gallup, New Mexico to the east. This pre- LepNet Data Basing Project sentation will showcase some of the moths taken from this large region. Chuck Harp C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity, Depart- ment of Bioagricultural Sciences, mail delivery 1177, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo- Effects of Diet on the Performance of rado 80523-1177; [email protected] Painted Lady Butterflies over Successive Generations In the early summer of 2016 the Gillette Museum was awarded a four-year National Science Foundation Katherine Hernandez Grant to participate in the LepNet Project. With 27 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, institutions participating in the project CSU’s Gillette University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309; Museum will data base 156,000 butterflies and moths [email protected] from its holdings and will photograph nearly 11,000 of these specimens using a state-of-the-art digital camera While there has been substantial study of the roles of system capable of producing stacked images for high- plant secondary compounds, parasitism, and plant resolution photographs. This presentation will give an nutritional content in mediating these interactions, update for this project.. much less attention has focused on the fitness effects of these factors/interactions on insects in successive generations. In addition to these different factors, the feeding strategies (e.g., specialist or generalist) of insects Moth Studies on Lands of the Navajo can also influence the insect’s fitness and consequently Nation Continue for Apache Co., Arizona, the fitness of its offspring. All of these factors will sub- McKinley Co., New Mexico, and San Juan sequently affect herbivore performance, population Co., Utah dynamics, and community structure for a given species. To try to elucidate the effects of diet on performance, Chuck Harp immune response and chemical defense over several 8834 W. Quarto Ave., Littleton, Colorado 80128; generations within a model generalist insect the Painted [email protected] Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui L., Nymphalidae) for this study. Vanessa cardui is one of the most widespread Over the past eight years, Biological Collecting Permits butterflies in the world and a generalist that feeds on have been obtained and exercised on lands owned and over 20 plant families. The Painted Lady can be reared managed by the Navajo Nation. Initial efforts to study from egg to adult in 17–25 days, making them ideal for the area started in 2009 with the search for Schinia a multiple generation study. My research this summer zuni (Noctuidae) in Apache County, AZ and McKin- sought to address these questions: 1) How does diet affect ley County, New Mexico. On that initial sampling of performance (growth rate, development to pupation, and moths, it was later discovered that a series of Sympistis pupal weight, and mortality) and 2) Does performance cleopatra (Noctuidae) was taken. Sympistis cleopatra change over multiple generations? had previously been known by only the holotype, a female from ‘Grand Canyon, AZ’. These studies have expanded over the years to include an area from

Facultative Myrmecophily in the Hops Blue Neominois ridingsii (Satyrinae: Nymphalidae). Two Butterfly(Celastrina humulus) of the species have subspecies listed as Endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service—Icari- Tristan Kubik & Rob Schorr cia shasta charlestonensis and Apodemia mormo Colorado Natural Heritage Program, Colorado State langeii. University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523; [email protected] Influence of Tri-Trophic Fitness on the Diet The hops blue butterfly (Celastrina humulus) is a rare Breadth of a Generalist Herbivore Colorado butterfly, that is found where its host plant, wild hops (Humulus lupulus), grows in abundance. Hanna H. Royals Other lycaenid butterflies are known to have relation- Colorado State University, Bioagricultural Sciences ships with ants, and it is likely that myrmecophilies and Pest Management, 1177 Campus Delivery, Fort may exist with ants found in C. humulus habitats. Collins, Colorado 80523: To better understand the ecology of this species and [email protected] guide conservation efforts, we investigated and documented myrmecophilies with multiple ant species. We Todd M. Gilligan found seven ant species with close associations with C. USDA-APHIS-PPQ-S&T, Identification Technology Program, humulus larvae. 2301 Research Boulevard, Suite 108, Fort Collins, Colorado 80526; [email protected]

Non-Cordilleran Butterfly Populations: The genus Paralobesia (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae: Ole- Conspecific or Separate Species? threutinae) currently consists of 18 described species. All but one are Nearctic, present in North America Paul A. Opler and northern Mexico, with P. andereggiana the only C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity, Depart- species native to the Palearctic. Most species are found ment of Bioagricultural Sciences, mail delivery throughout eastern North America, although three 1177, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo- have been reported from the western United States. rado 80523-1177; [email protected] Paralobesia viteana (Clemens), the grape berry moth, is the most well-known member of the genus Unlike butterfly species that have series of inter- because it is a serious pest of grapes and because it is breeding populations in the cool mountainous very similar to Lobesia botrana (Denis & Schiffermül- rocky mountain and sierra-cascade cordilleras, non- ler), the European grapevine moth (EGVM). The genus cordilleran species in the west range from the Rocky has a long and incredibly confused taxonomic history. Mountain Front westward to the Pacific coast states in Most species cannot be identified without a genitalic generally arid, disclimax habitats and often present dissection, and it is difficult to determine the status patterns of noncontiguous isolated populations in of several species based on insufficient type material. disclimax habitats. These populations usually depend In addition, there are many undescribed species in on host plants in a few genera and present taxonomic North America, including several that were previously enigmas. I will discuss three such species in what I identified as P. viteana. Here we discuss some of the propose are best considered complexes of allopatric taxonomic challenges in Paralobesia and present sibling species—Icaricia shasta (Polyommatini: preliminary results of a complete systematic revision Lycaenidae), Apodemia mormo (Ridonidae), and for the genus.

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28 Years High Country Lepidopterists’ Meetings

1990: 1st meeting (High Plains Lepidopterists), September 14–15, Holiday Inn University Park, hosted by Colorado State University, Entomology Department, Fort Collins 1991: 2nd meeting (High Plains Lepidopterists), October 4–5, University of Colorado Museum, Boulder 1992: 3rd meeting, September 11–12, Denver Museum of Natural History, Denver 1993: 4th meeting, September 18, University of Wyoming, Department of Entomology Insect Collection, Laramie 1994: 5th meeting, October 28–29, Holiday Inn University Park, hosted by C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity Colorado State University, Fort Collins 1995: 6th meeting, October 20–22, University of Colorado Museum, Boulder 1996: 7th meeting, October 25–26, Butterfly Pavilion, Westminster 1997: 8th meeting, September 19–20, Holiday Inn University Park, hosted by C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity Colorado State University, Fort Collins 1998: 9th meeting, October 23–24, University of Colorado Museum, Boulder 1999: 10th meeting, October 22–23, C.P. Gillette Museum, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 2000: 11th meeting, November 3–4, C.P. Gillette Museum, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 2001: 12th meeting, September 7–8, C.P. Gillette Museum, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 2002: 13th meeting, October 11–12, University of Colorado Museum, Boulder 2003: 14th meeting, November 7–8, C.P. Gillette Museum, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 2004: 15th meeting, November 5–6, University of Colorado Museum, Boulder 2005: 16th meeting, October 21–22, C.P. Gillette Museum, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 2006: 17th meeting, October 27–28, University of Colorado Museum, Boulder 2007: 18th meeting, November 2–3, C.P. Gillette Museum, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 2008: 19th meeting, October 24–25, University of Colorado Museum, Boulder 2009: 20th meeting, October 23–24, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Denver 2010: 21st meeting, November 5–6, C.P. Gillette Museum, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 2011: 22nd meeting, October 14–15, University of Colorado Museum, Boulder 2012: 23rd meeting, October 20, Butterfly Pavilion, Westminster 2013: 24th meeting, November 1–2, C.P. Gillette Museum, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 2014: 25th meeting, November 7–8, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Denver 2015: 26th meeting, October 23–24, University of Denver, Denver 2016: 27th meeting, November 11–12, University of Colorado, Boulder 2017: 28th meeting, December 1–2, C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity, Department of Bioagricultural Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins

Notes

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Cover photo: Mormon metalmark (Apodemia mormo) nectaring on corymbose buckwheat (Eriogonum corymbosum), September 10, 2017, Unaweep Canyon, Mesa County, Colorado. Photo: Evi Buckner-Opler.