The Need for Insect Collecting by Gregory Pohl, Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service
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ALG NEWS—Vol. 3: Issue 1 Winter 2007/08 The Need For Insect Collecting by Gregory Pohl, Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service Concerns over the practice of insect collecting are periodically raised by uninformed people who equate insects with birds and mammals, assume that killing insects is unneccessary, and then attempt to curtail legitimate collecting activities. This often leaves entomologists scrambling to justify and defend their legitimate work. Recently the ALG was asked by the Federation of Alberta Naturalists to respond to a letter they had received Young children collecting ”bugs”. One of the best ways to from one of their member get introduced to the marvels of nature (photo G. Pohl) groups, the Grasslands Naturalists, expressing concern about insect vertebrates. The Grasslands all or part of that letter to collecting in Alberta. As Naturalists' letter, and my explain the value of their president of ALG, I response, are posted on the work. responded with a detailed ALG website. Any ALG Also in response to letter outlining the many member or other amateur or this recent challenge to benefits of insect professional entomologist insect collecting, ALG has collecting, and the who is being taken to task prepared the following misconceptions that arise over their collecting position statement. when comparing insects to activities is welcome to use (Continuerd on page 2) The Rare Flower Moths of Alberta By Gary Anweiler Flower moths are mostly exceptions they are single- Over the past 3-4 years small, colorful day-flying brooded and short-lived as Chris Schmidt and I spent GUILD noctuid moths comprising adults. Of the 23 species an inordinate amount of the subfamily Heliothinae. recorded from Alberta, 9 or time and energy focused on They tend to be highly 40% are considered rare several species of Flower specialized, frequently species (known from very Moths, not only in Alberta utilizing a single species or few specimens and no more but also in southern genus of hostplant and than 3 sites in Alberta in the Saskatchewan and the feeding only on the past 50 years). Spruce Woods Provincial flowering parts of the Park area of southeastern plant. With few Manitoba. (Continued on page 2) Contents of this Issue: Special points of interest: • The need for insect collecting • Importance of insect collecting • The rare flower moths • The rare Flower Moths of Alberta • The Gray Cactus-Moth • Look out for the Gray Cactus-Moth THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF ALBERTA LEPIDOPTERISTS’ ALG NEWS Valid insect collecting and research Collectors should always respect (The Need For Insect Collecting - continued from page 1) activities can be carried out by both private property, and local regulations amateur and professional entomologists. pertaining to controlled areas and species The ALG Position on Insect Collecting In fact, the distinction between or habitat protection. They should always "professional" and "amateur" is largely comply with provincial, federal, and artificial, since virtually all entomologists international regulations regarding Insect collecting is a valid pursuit are driven by a passion for the field, collection, possession, import and export that leads to a greater understanding and whether they are paid or not. Amateur of protected species and live material. appreciation of insects and of the natural collectors are often world-class experts ALG does not support mass world. It contributes to their protection contributing large amounts of valuable commercial collecting. The commercial and ongoing security far more than it information. market in insects is driven by a very few threatens them. By far the greatest threat We recommend that insect collecting butterfly and beetle collectors who are not to insects is habitat loss resulting from be limited to sampling a population, not interested in the biological aspects of human activities. Of the many ways that unnecessarily depleting it, and that insects, but simply in the acquisition of humans directly and indirectly kill insects restraint should be exercised where the specimens. ALG does not respect or - urbanization, deforestation, land health of a particular insect population is condone that form of collecting, and cultization, and pesticide use to name but unknown. To ensure their value for draws a clear distinction between it and a few - insect collecting is the only one scientific study, collected specimens the many amateur hobbyists who pursue that actually contributes to protecting should have locality and date information insects to learn more about them. The insects, by increasing our understanding attached, and they should be safeguarded only “high-demand” insects in Alberta of them and the crucial roles they play in to ensure their long-term safety. Properly with any “market value” are a few species the ecosystems that sustain us. Insects are labeled and cared-for specimens are of high elevation mountain butterflies. incredibly numerous and prolific, so the extremely valuable to scientific Those species are already protected from effects of collecting on their populations researchers; private collections should be overzealous collectors by provincial and are minimal. Because we know little or made available to qualified researchers national parks (whether this provides nothing about most insect species, and for examination, and when no longer adequate protection from other threats in they are very difficult to identify, it is required or wanted by the collector, they another matter). necessary to kill and collect them to study should be offered to a public facility The impacts of insect collecting are them. Most insects cannot be identified where they will be available to future overwhelmingly positive. Any undue reliably until they are examined under a workers as well. restrictions on this activity would be an microscope. Collecting insects is a vital For some research, it is necessary to impediment to scientific study, and part of most entomology research, collect and rear specimens, or otherwise ultimately to insect conservation. We including taxonomic, diagnostic, keep them alive for a time in captivity. wish to see insect collecting encouraged, biodiversity, and pest management work. Any such specimens that are returned rather than discouraged, so that we may As well, most of the information critical alive to the wild, should only be returned more fully document the diversity of these to the protection of endangered insect to the region where they originated, in wonderful and fascinating creatures. species is derived from insect collecting suitable habitat. In fact, the distinction between "professional" and "amateur" is largely artificial, since virtually all entomologists are driven by a passion for the field, whether they are paid or not. The author caring properly for the days catch at Slave River (photo D. Macaulay). (The Rare Flower Moths of Alberta — continued from page 1) The impetus for all this effort was, of (2007) ACA provided additional funding course, funding. Both COSEWIC and for me to conduct additional searches in ACA provided funding for us to prepare Alberta and to prepare a provincial status status reports on several species of these report for Schinia verna. little moths, with some money actually allotted for field-work!. The species we To this list of rare flower moths can be specifically searched for and prepared added another six species that are equally status reports for included 4 species that rare in Alberta, although most are more are globally scarce: Verna’s flower moth common south of the border and to the (Schinia verna), Gold-edged gem (Schinia west. The number of Alberta localities for avemensis), Dark-banded flower-gem each is in brackets: Schinia roseitincta (1), Schinia honesta (1), Schinia nuchalis (1), Schinia roseitincta (photo: Moths of (Melaporphyria immortua) and White Canada Website) flower moth (Schinia bimatris) – all but Heliothis zea (2), Heliothis acesias (1), the last are found in Alberta. This year and Schinia suetus (3). (continued on page 3) ALG NEWS—VOL. 3: ISSUE 1 Page 2 (The Rare Flower Moths of Alberta — continued from page 2) The Gold-edged gem is a sand dune Etricopis nexilis, the White-spotted and central Alberta. Bowman also listed specialist – and is found only in active midget. In life verna looks and acts very Zone 7 (Lloydminster area) as an Alberta sand dunes and sand blow-outs associated much like nexilis, and has proven to be site for immortua We were unable to with it’s larval host – an annual native essentially impossible to identify in the locate any Alberta specimens from sunflower that also forms colonies on wild. It is not until you look at the ventral Lloydminster, but did locate single these shifting sands. It still thrives at the surface that the difference in the two specimens from Lloydminster SK and type locality in the Spirit Dunes at Spruce nearby Harlan SK in the CNCI Woods Provincial Park in Manitoba, the and BMNH collections. In only locality in Canada where this species eastern North America it has was known when I set out to look for it in been collected in sandy pine 2004. The only other place where this barrens; in the west in the moth was known to occur was in dunes in grasslands and parklands 2 or 3 locations in southern Wyoming and regions, but the specific Colorado, but specimens from there are habitat associations remain larger and darker and there was some poorly understood. Every 20 doubt that these were the same species. or 30 years somewhere in During fieldwork in 2004 I located a North America a specimen single specimen in the Burstall dunes in pops up, proving that it still Saskatchewan, while at almost the same exists! The last Canadian time Chris discovered a colony in a specimen was collected at blowout at “Dune Point”, north of Glenboro MB in 1979 by Bindloss in Alberta. Chris later discovered David Hardwick, and the only an old Alberta specimen hiding in a batch specimen reported since is a of unidenitified micromoths in the Golden-edged Gem, Schinia avemensis single specimen collected in Strickland Museum, collected in 1929 by (photo T.