McGuire Center Florida Museum of Natural History April, 2010 Issue 4 News From the editor: Following last year’s issue devoted to field work by the staff, the current issue focuses on graduate students. Graduate Student Research Their professional development is an essential part of the future at the McGuire Center of Lepidoptera conservation and exploration. There are currently thirteen graduate students who are affiliated with the McGuire Center 2009-2010 has been an exciting and whose academic advisors work here. Without these students’ work as research and year for us, with some major teaching assistants and their good humor, the McGuire Center would be a very differ- collections, grants, and awards ent place. We have decided to dedicate the pages of this issue to this diverse group of received by the center. Also, new students, joining us from locations as far as Jamaica, Ecuador, Colombia, Kentucky, faculty and staff came aboard. It Arizona, and Florida. was also a sad year, since we lost one of our colleagues. Graduate Student Profiles Delano S. Lewis Academic advisor: Dr. Thomas Emmel Delano S. Lewis came to the University of Florida from Jamaica in 2004 after meeting McGuire Center Director, Dr. Thomas C. Emmel. The current focus of his research is the taxonomy and systematics of Neotropical swallowtail butterflies. For his Master’s work, Delano looked into the day-flying colorful geometrid moths of the genus Cyllopoda. He recently published his M.S. thesis alongside Dr. Charles Covell (his M.S. advisor) and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. Lewis is concentrating on the phylogeny and revision of the genus Heraclides: a group of Neotropical citrus- feeding swallowtails. “This work,” he says, “seeks to comprehensively assess the known information about this economically important group of butterflies, and investigate the relationships between them. Apart from relatively few members of this butterfly group, little is known of the biology and habits of the majority of these species.” The significance of Lewis’s work has much to do with the recent introduction of an Asian Citrus-feeding lime swallowtail to the West Indies, and its spread throughout the Caribbean. “It becomes crucial to Photos: Collecting at Fundación Jocotoco’s Reserva understand the effect this butterfly will Jorupe, Loja; Scada zemira (Ithomiinae), a species have on the ecology of native endemic to the Tumbesian region; Showing butterfly specimens to Ecuadorian children; Puddling Actinote fauna,” explains Lewis, who species.Delano Lewis working in the collection at the McGuire Center. thinks that the lime swallowtail His research is on the genus Heraclides -- the group of citrus- Read more about field research feeding swallowtail butterflies. will eventually reach Florida. on pages 2, 3 and 8, 9, 10. UF McGuire Center for Graduate Student Profiles continued from p.1 Lepidoptera and Biodiversity University of Florida Maria Fernanda Checa structure and composition of butterfly Academic advisor: Dr. Keith Willmott Florida Museum of Natural History communities, and how microhabitat alters P.O.Box 112710 this relationship.” Gainesville , FL 32611 Maria Checa is a research assistant with the for general information “Butterflies of Ecuador” project, headed by In addition to her primary work, Checa phone (352) 392-5894 Keith Willmott. Her general interests are is researching the relationship between e-mail: [email protected] focused in determining population trends several vegetation variables and butterfly in abundance and diversity of butterfly diversity in order to predict the impacts of McGuire Center News communities in highly threatened and habitat alteration. ISSN # 1938-3029 diverse habitats, such as wet and dry forests Editorial Board: of western Ecuador and Amazonia. Christine M. Eliazar According to Checa, the data derived from Thomas C. Emmel her studies and “Butterflies of Ecuador” Andrei Sourakov could potentially fill some important gaps Jaret C. Daniels in our knowledge of tropical Andean Jacqueline Y. Miller Chad T. Douglas butterflies -- the most diverse fauna worldwide -- helping to preserve them. Editor/designer: Such data will be used to determine the Andrei Sourakov IUCN conservation categories of butterflies, contact: [email protected] predict impacts of global climate change on butterfly populations, and address other Photography: important issues. Andrei Sourakov Jaret Daniels Jennifer Duerden Matthew Trager Currently, Checa is carrying out her Bob Patterson Matthew Thom Master’s thesis: “Temporal and spatial Jessica Johnson Eric Haley patterns of diversity and abundance in Keith Willmott Sebastián Padrón butterfly communities attracted to baits: a Deborah Matthews Geoff Gallice Colleen Heath study case in an Ecuadorian dry forest.” Court Whelan Very few ecological studies of insects have been done in tropical dry forests, a habitat McGuire Center Staff characterized by high levels of endemism Atwater, Montana: Graduate Asst. and facing tremendous risks of extinction. Barszczak, Lukasz: Tech. Research Asst. “The goal of this study,” says Checa, Bliss, Andrew: Tech. Research Asst. Maria Fernanda Checa surveying a butterfly bait trap Checa, Maria Fernanda: Graduate Asst. “is to provide a better understanding of in Ecuador. Covell, Charles, Ph.D.: Visiting Scientist & Curator how seasonal climatic changes affect the Daniels, Jaret, Ph.D.: Asst. Prof. & Asst. Curator Douglas, Chad: Editorial Asst. Eliazar, Christine: Administrative Asst. Matthew Lehnert Emmel, Thomas, Ph.D.: Center Director Academic advisor: Dr. Thomas Emmel and this is the first in-depth investigation Encabo, Galileo: Tech. Research Asst. into its evolutionary biology. In addition, Gallice, Geoff: Graduate Asst. Matthew Lehnert is currently a Ph.D. there have been no previously published Heppner, John, Ph.D.: Curator candidate at the Entomology and papers suggesting that these subspecies’ Lane, Katrina: Tech. Research Asst. Nematology Department. When he first Lehnert, Matthew: Graduate Asst. population biology may correlate to the Lewis, Delano: Graduate Asst. came to UF, he worked with the Homerus formation of the suture zone, which was Lukhtanov, Vladimir, Ph.D.: Visiting Scientist Swallowtail, Papilio homerus, in the formed due to changing sea levels during the Matthews Lott, Deborah, Ph.D.: Research Associate Cockpit Country of Jamaica. The focus Pleistocene. When sea levels receded, the Maxwell, Megan: Tech. Research Asst. of this M.S. research was to estimate the populations came into secondary contact, Miller, Jacqueline, Ph.D.: Curator & Adjunct Prof. size of an under-studied population of this forming hybrid zones. “I have applied Ortíz, Elena: Graduate Asst. endangered butterfly. “For my Ph.D.,” a new method in my work to accurately Padrón Pablo Sebastián: Graduate Asst. explains Lehnert, “I am currently working Park, K.T., Ph.D.: Visiting Scientist & Curator quantify color of butterfly wings,” says Paris, Thomson: Grad. Research Asst. with the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio Lehnert, “and the current research should Pence, Akers, Ph.D.: Research Associate glaucus. I am trying to determine if two yield multiple publications that will provide Salcedo, Christian: Graduate Asst. subspecies of tiger swallowtail potentially detailed insight of these unique populations Sanchez, Stephanie: BFCI Program Coordinator hybridize in the Northern-Florida Suture in the southeastern US.” Saunders, Jonathan: Graduate Asst. Zone (an area where multiple hybrid zones Schlachta, James: Constr. Coord. & Asst. Director overlap one another).” He has sampled Tiger Matthew Lehnert, who is planning on Segebarth, Ian: Tech. Resesarch Asst. Swallowtails from Tennessee, Alabama, graduating this semester, has already Segebarth, Craig: Tech. Resesarch Asst. Mississippi, Georgia, and throughout published two papers regarding the Standridge, Matthew: Tech. Research Asst. endangered Homerus Swallowtail. He Sourakov, Andrei, Ph.D.: Collections Coordinator Florida to compare morphological Thom, Matthew: Graduate Asst. (morphometrics and color), ecological won the University Warren, Andrew, Ph.D.: Collection Manager (oviposition preference, larval survivability) of Florida Graduate Whelan, John Court: Graduate Asst. and genetic (microsatellite) characters Student Teaching Willmott, Keith, Ph.D.: Asst. Curator within and between populations. award this year, and Wright, Natasha: Tech. Research Asst. According to Lehnert, the southern ultimately hopes to Xiao, Lei, Ph. D. Research Associate become a professor. Zagvazdina, Nina: Tech. Research Asst. subspecies has been relatively unstudied, 2 McGuire Center News, Issue 4, April 2010 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Support the McGuire Center Graduate Student Profiles continued from p.1, 2 The McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity relies upon the generosity of private Elena Ortíz donors to build and enhance its collections, Academic advisor: Dr. Keith Willmott educational outreach efforts and international research programs. Every gift is important and “I am working on the molecular systematics contributes to our success. of the butterfly tribe Preponini,” says Elena Private Gifts are accepted and are tax- Ortíz. “These colorful butterflies are found deductible; The Monarch Society: Donors who commit $10,000 to this fund receive permanent only in the neotropics where the highest recognition in the McGuire Center and are invited species-richness occurs in the Amazon to participate in special events; For additional basin. Preponine