National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Program Center Inventory of Selected Arthropods at Assateague Island National Seashore 2005-2007 Survey Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NCBN/NRTR—2010/327 ON THE COVER Pink-spotted Hawkmoth feeding on Jimsonweed at Assateague Island National Seashore. Photograph by: Richard Orr Inventory of Selected Arthropods at Assateague Island National Seashore 2005-2007 Survey Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NCBN/NRTR—2010/327 Richard Orr Mid-Atlantic Invertebrate Field Studies (MAIFS) 5215 Durham Rd East Columbia, MD 21044 [email protected] www.marylandinsects.com May 2010 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Program Center Fort Collins, Colorado The National Park Service, Natural Resource Program Center publishes a range of reports that address natural resource topics of interest and applicability to a broad audience in the National Park Service and others in natural resource management, including scientists, conservation and environmental constituencies, and the public. The Natural Resource Technical Report Series is used to disseminate results of scientific studies in the physical, biological, and social sciences for both the advancement of science and the achievement of the National Park Service mission. The series provides contributors with a forum for displaying comprehensive data that are often deleted from journals because of page limitations. All manuscripts in the series receive the appropriate level of peer review to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and designed and published in a professional manner. This report received informal peer review by subject-matter experts who were not directly involved in the collection, analysis, or reporting of the data. Data in this report were collected and analyzed using methods based on established, peer-reviewed protocols and were analyzed and interpreted within the guidelines of the protocols. Views, statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect views and policies of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the National Park Service. This report is available from (http://www.nps.gov/nero/science/) and the Natural Resource Publications Management website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/NRPM Please cite this publication as: Orr, R. 2010. Inventory of selected arthropods at Assateague Island National Seashore : 2005- 2007 survey. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NCBN/NRTR—2010/327. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 622/102113, May 2010 ii Contents Page Figures............................................................................................................................................. v Tables ............................................................................................................................................ vii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... xi Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Methods........................................................................................................................................... 3 Odonata Survey ....................................................................................................................... 3 Orthoptera Survey .................................................................................................................... 4 Leaf Beetle Survey .................................................................................................................. 4 Butterfly Survey ....................................................................................................................... 4 Bee Survey ............................................................................................................................... 5 Freshwater Pond Survey .......................................................................................................... 5 Salt Marsh Survey .................................................................................................................... 5 Macro-Arthropod Survey ......................................................................................................... 6 Results ............................................................................................................................................. 7 Odonata Survey ....................................................................................................................... 7 Orthoptera Survey .................................................................................................................. 16 Leaf Beetle Survey ................................................................................................................ 18 Butterfly Survey ..................................................................................................................... 20 Bee Survey ............................................................................................................................. 23 Freshwater Pond Survey ........................................................................................................ 26 Salt Marsh Survey .................................................................................................................. 29 Macro-Arthropod Survey ....................................................................................................... 33 iii Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 37 Odonata Survey ..................................................................................................................... 39 Orthoptera Survey .................................................................................................................. 42 Leaf Beetle Survey ................................................................................................................ 42 Butterfly Survey ..................................................................................................................... 45 Bee Survey ............................................................................................................................. 46 Freshwater Pond Survey ........................................................................................................ 47 Salt Marsh Survey .................................................................................................................. 48 Impact of Mosquito Control on the Salt Marsh ..................................................................... 51 Macro-Arthropod Survey ....................................................................................................... 53 Impact of Climate Change ..................................................................................................... 55 Management Suggestions and Possible Future Research Projects ............................................... 57 General Management Suggestions ........................................................................................ 57 Arthropod Research Suggestions ........................................................................................... 57 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................................. 59 APPENDIX I: Odonata of Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge ............................................ 65 APPENDIX II: Leaf Beetles Recorded from Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge ............... 67 APPENDIX III: Butterflies and Skippers of Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge ................ 69 APPENDIX IV: Moths Documented from Chinoteague National Wildlife Refuge .................... 71 APPENDIX V: Summary of Bees collected from Chinoteague National Wildlife Refuge. ........ 75 iv Figures Page Figure 1. (a&b) Above, a: Relative Abundance of the 5 most Common Odonates from Assateague Island National Seashore (Worcester County, Maryland, 2005-2007 Survey) and below,b: Relative Abundance of the 5 most Common Odonates from Jackson Lane (a typical odonate eastern shore coastal plain mix) .......................................................................... 11 Figure 2. Number of individual Anax junius adults observed over a season ............................... 12 Figure 3. Number of individual Pantala hymenaea adults observed over a season. ................... 12 Figure 4. Number of individual Tramea carolina adults observed over a season ....................... 13 Figure 5. Number of individual Ischura hastata adults observed over a season ......................... 13 Figure 6. Number of individual Ischnura ramburii adults observed over a season..................... 14 Figure 7. Number of individual Enallagma civile adults observed over a season ......................