North American Lepidoptera Biodiversity LLC

A Lepidoptera Survey Expedition to the Blackwater River State Forest in Okaloosa and Santa Rosa Counties, Florida

Macrolepidoptera Families: Thyatiridae, Drepanidae, Geometridae, Epiplemidae, Hesperiidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Lycaenidae, Riodinidae, Nymphalidae, Mimallonidae, Lasiocampidae, Apatelodidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Notodontidae, and Noctuidae; also including: Yponomeutidae, Attevidae, Urodidae, Cossidae, Lacturidae, Zygaenidae, Megalopygidae, Limacodidae, Epipyropidae, and Thyrididae

By Hugo L. Kons Jr. & Robert J. Borth

Posted on the web 26 September 2007

This on-line publication is an exemplar of one of the localities included in an upcoming volume of the North American Journal of Lepidoptera Biodiversity. This volume will present the detailed biodiversity blitz data for various Florida localities for which check lists were published in Kons and Borth (2006). Those who would be interested in receiving e-mail notification of when this volume is published should contact the senior author at hkonsjr@yahoo.com, to be placed on an e-mail notification list for NAJLB volumes. Placement on this list constitutes no obligation to purchase any NAJLB volumes and is for notification purposes only.

Abstract

We present the detailed results of Lepidoptera biodiversity inventories conducted in two different areas within the Blackwater River State Forest in the western Florida panhandle. We present 486 unique Lepidoptera records for 220 species recorded from this state forest in the families Psychidae, Yponomeutidae, Cossidae, Megalopygidae, Limacodidae, Geometridae, Hesperiidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Lycaenidae, Nymphalidae, Lasiocampidae, Apatelodidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Notodontidae, and Noctuidae. The areas studied include the upper Blackwater River and adjacent uplands north of Kennedy Bridge Road, where 148 species were recorded, and State Forest Road W20, where 164 species were recorded. Survey was limited to one full night and one partial day for each area on a trip from 23 to 24 May 2005. Habitat types investigated include riparian white cedar-deciduous forest corridor, xeric oak-pine uplands, hydric hardwood forest swamp along a small creek, herb bog, and xeric long leaf pine-oak-wiregrass uplands. We identify which species recorded are candidates for dependency on certain specialized habitat types, including: wetlands, hydric hardwood forest, herb bog, and xeric oak-pine scrub.

Acknowledgments

We thank E. Dennis Hardin for authorizing our research on Florida state forests in 2005. For meeting with us and sharing information regarding the location of potential research sites in the Blackwater River State Forest, we thank Tom Arrington and Tom Cathey of the Blackwater River State Forest staff. John Foltz assisted with finding out information about the procedure for acquiring authorization to conduct research in Florida State Forests. David Wahl and the American Entomological Institute provided infrastructural support, lab and storage space, and a flexible work schedule for the senior author to conduct Lepidoptera research. Congressman Steven Kagen provided essential support to RJB. Danny McFather, Hugo Kons Sr., Sharon Kons, and Jim Lloyd assisted with building traps. For assistance with acquiring chemicals important to collecting or genitalic dissections, we thank Niklaus Hostettler, Jim Lloyd, Robert Robbins, and David Wahl.

Introduction

The Blackwater River State Forest is an extensive area covering approximately 190,000 acres in the western Florida panhandle. This area occurs at the southern edge of an area of sandy, red-clay soil in western Florida. The topography consists of low rolling hills with elevations ranging from 10 to 290 feet above sea level. Differences in soil composition and moisture support multiple types of plant communities within the forest, including: xeric long leaf pine-oak-wiregrass uplands, xeric oak-pine forest, slash pine forest, hydric hardwood forest, loblolly pine-hardwood forest, Atlantic white cedar forest, and herb bogs with Sarracenia and other carnivorous plants (FL Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services).

To our knowledge, most of the Florida panhandle remains poorly investigated for Lepidoptera, and prior to Kons and Borth (2006), very little had been published with respect to Lepidoptera records in this region. Kimball (1965) reported a limited number of panhandle records, primarily from Quincy and several sites in the extreme western panhandle (Escambia County). Kons and Borth (2006) present Lepidoptera species checklists for fourteen Florida panhandle localities where between 51 and 616 Lepidoptera species have been recorded. Our most extensive panhandle surveys have occurred near the Apalachicola River north of Bristol in Liberty, Gadsden, and Jackson Counties. Kons and Borth (2006) include checklists for our two study sites in the Blackwater River State Forest, but does not include the detailed results of our Lepidoptera surveys in this area.

The purpose of this paper is to present detailed Lepidoptera biodiversity blitz data for the authors’ surveys to date in the Blackwater River State Forest. We have obtained Lepidoptera samples from the upper Blackwater River and adjacent uplands north of Kennedy Bridge Road, and from State Forest Road W20. The taxonomic scope of our survey coverage includes all of the Macrolepidoptera, including: Thyatiridae, Drepanidae, Geometridae, Epiblemidae, Hesperiidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Lycaenidae, Nymphalidae, Mimallonidae, Lasiocampidae, Apatelodidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Notodontidae, and Noctuidae. We also include several “microlepidoptera” families, including: Psychidae (part), Yponomeutidae, Cossidae, Megalopygidae, and Limacodidae. Specimens were collected in other families as well, especially Pyralidae and Tortricidae, but this material has not yet been sorted and determined. The vast majority of our collecting efforts focused on the more diverse and challenging nocturnal fauna, with a more limited amount of effort devoted to diurnal surveys.

Research Localities

Blackwater River State Forest Road W20 [Santa Rosa County]: This site is accessed via road W20 west of Three Notch Road. A variety of interesting habitats occur in the vicinity of this road. Where this road crosses Coldwater Creek, there is a hydric hardwood swamp occurring as a corridor along the creek. The periphery of the hardwood swamp includes narrow areas of shrubby to open wetlands. There are a variety of wetland plants in the understory, including Osmunda ferns and one species of Sarracenia. There is abundant Arundinaria in the hardwood swamp and in adjacent mesic areas. Most of the road contains uplands with long leaf pine-wiregrass savannah. The uplands contain turkey oak and other species of oaks, but the pines are clearly dominant. Vaccinium is abundant in the understory. South of the road, a herb bog can be accessed by walking through the Long leaf Pine savannah. This bog contains several species of Sarracenia at a high density.

Blackwater River north of Kennedy Bridge Road: This site is a primitive camp site accessed via a sandy-muddy road along the Blackwater River. Except immediately adjacent to the river the habitat is xeric oak-pine forest with some grassy openings. Vaccinium is common in the openings and the understory. The habitat is quite different in a riparian corridor along the river. Tree species include Atlantic White Cedar, Magnolia, and several other species. The riparian forested corridor is quite unlike any forested area present at any of our other study sites. This site was recommended to us by Tom Cathey.

Materials and Methods

Lepidoptera surveys were conducted with MV/UV sheets, UV sheets, 15 watt UV light traps, bait trails, bait traps, and diurnal surveys with a net. These techniques are described and discussed in Kons and Borth (2006), and more information can be found on line at this link. Table 1 lists the dates when surveys were conducted, the specific locations where surveys were conducted, and what survey methods were deployed.

Our surveys were “biodiversity blitzes,” where we attempted to document each species encountered in the families in which we specialize at each locality on each survey date at each survey station. Nocturnal surveys at sheets and bait and diurnal surveys did not involve recording quantitative data for numbers of individuals, since many Macrolepidoptera species cannot be reliably identified in the field (especially at night, when most species are active), and our collecting with these methods was highly selective. Consequently, the number of voucher specimens of a species we collected does not imply the number of individuals we encountered in the field, and we report our data as unique species records. A unique species record is defined as the collection of one or more specimens of a species with a unique combination of survey date and survey station data.

All reported unique species records are based on collected voucher specimens. The voucher material has been divided between the two authors, and is currently in the personal research collections of the authors in support of our ongoing research activities. In addition, duplicate specimens of some species have been set aside for donation to a museum.

All Lepidoptera identifications for the records included in this paper were made by the senior author. For specimens identified by genitalic dissection the genitalia are preserved in vials of glycerin.

Results

Two hundred twenty species of Lepidoptera in the included families were recorded from the Blackwater River State Forest from 23 to 24 May 2005, including 148 species along the upper Blackwater River north of Kennedy Bridge Road, and 164 species on State Forest Road W20. Detailed survey data for individual sites and 486 unique Lepidoptera species records obtained from Blackwater River State Forest surveys are presented in Table 2. The numbers to the right of species names represent numbers of unique species records for individual species, whereas the numbers to the right of higher taxa represent the number of species recorded in individual higher taxa. The “X”s represent unique species records for particular survey date/survey station combinations. Numbers to the left of species names are from the Hodges et al. (1983) check list of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico, and serve as a citation for the describing author and date of description.

Discussion

Habitat Dependency: Kons and Borth (2006) present an analysis of comparative adult survey data for 39 north Florida localities and preliminary hypotheses as to which north Florida Lepidoptera species may be dependent on particular habitat types. However, for a number of species (about 20%), including numerous species recorded exclusively from the panhandle among our Florida surveys, there was too little information available to derive even preliminary hypotheses as to their habitat association. Kons and Borth (2006) hypothesize that of the Macrolepidoptera species we have recorded from northern Florida, a minimum of 50% are habitat generalists, about 25% may require a certain type of habitat, about 2.5% utilize multiple habitat types but still appear to be somewhat local, and about 2.5% are strays. For any individual site we have surveyed, a sizeable majority, 67-95%, of the recorded Macrolepidoptera species are hypothesized to be habitat generalists. Since we consider our habitat generalist hypotheses to be relatively well supported compared to our more preliminary habitat specialist hypotheses, these percentages of recorded species which are habitat generalists are considered to be minimum values.

Table 8 in Kons and Borth (2006) presents a breakdown of what percentages of the recorded Macrolepidoptera species from individual sites have particular habitat dependencies. For the site along the Blackwater River north of Kennedy Bridge Road, 87.7% of the recorded Macrolepidoptera species are habitat generalists and 7.2% are species hypothesized to be dependent on a certain type of habitat. For the latter species, 3.6% of the recorded species are hypothesized to be wetland dependent and 3.6% are hypothesized to be xeric oak-pine upland habitat dependent. For State Forest Road W20, 83.8% of the recorded Macrolepidoptera species are habitat generalists while 11.5% of the species are hypothesized to be dependent on a particular habitat type. For the latter species, 5.4% of the recorded species are hypothesized to be wetland dependent, and 6.1% may be xeric oak-pine habitat dependent. Kons and Borth (2006) proposed that Dysgonia consobrina was a candidate for hydric hardwood forest dependency, but subsequent surveys have uncovered this species in both hydric hardwood forest and herb bogs at least several miles away from hydric hardwood forest. Consequently, we still consider D. consobrina to be a candidate for wetlands dependency, but it is unlikely to be particular to hydric hardwood forest.

Wetland Dependent Species: Three different wetland types occurred among our Blackwater River State forest study sites. At the site north of Kennedy Bridge Road (BKR), there was a narrow hydric forested corridor right along the Blackwater River. Atlantic white cedar was prevalent in this habitat. Two very different wetlands occur along State Forest Road W20 (CLS). Where the road crosses Coldwater Creek there is a hydric hardwood forest (HHF) swamp, and south of Road W20 there is a herb bog (HB) with a dense concentration of several species of Sarracenia.

Table 7 in Kons and Borth (2006) presents a list of the north Florida Lepidoptera species we propose as wetland dependency candidates, along with some additional information on numbers of individuals collected at various sites and reported larval host plants. The potential wetland dependent species we have recorded from the Blackwater River State Forest, and the Blackwater River State Forest localities where we have found them thus far, include: Hypagyrtis brendae (BKR), Nematocampa baggettaria (BKR,CLS:HHF), Nemoria elfa (BKR), Dysgonia consobrina (CLS:HHF), Argyrostrotis contempta (CLS:HB), Catocala praeclara (CLS:HHF), Nola clethrae (BKR), Nola sp. nr. pustulata (BKR), Bagisara brouana Fgn. (CLS:HHF), and Exyra semicroecia (CLS:HB). Exyra semicroecia is a candidate for herb bog dependency (Kons and Borth 2006), and it is reported to utilize Sarracenia as a larval host (Lafontaine and Poole 1991).

Several of the above species are poorly known among our north Florida surveys. Hypagyrtis brendae was numerous along the Blackwater River, but we have taken only one other Florida specimen during our surveys, a single male in hydric hardwood floodplain forest on Aspalaga Road along Flat Creek near the Apalachicola River. Light trapping during May in white cedar swamps in Liberty County has not yielded additional specimens, although we did not conduct MV sheet surveys in this habitat as of yet. Dysgonia consobrina was reported from one north Florida locality in Kons and Borth (2006), but we have subsequently discovered additional sites in Liberty and Jackson Counties. Bagisara brouana was recently described from only a few localities in Louisiana and Mississippi (Ferguson 1997). However, we have now documented this species from three localities in the Florida panhandle and one locality in Dixie County (Kons and Borth 2006).

Xeric Oak-Pine Scrub Dependent Species: The Blackwater River State Forest combined with the Conecuh National Forest to the north has the largest contiguous long leaf pine-wiregrass ecosystem in the world (FL Dept. of Ag. and Consumer Services). This habitat type is present in the uplands on State Forest Road W20. For the analysis of xeric oak-pine scrub dependency in Kons and Borth (2006), we included the long leaf pine-wire grass ecosystem as a type of xeric oak-pine scrub. However, the Road W20 uplands differ from all of the other examples of scrubs in our data set by having a much lower density of oaks. There is turkey oak and live oaks in the uplands on road W20, but much of the uplands contain long leaf pine savanna with no oaks at all.

While May is an optimal time of year to conduct Lepidoptera surveys in northern Florida for overall Macrolepidoptera species diversity, hardwood forest dependent Macrolepidoptera species diversity, and wetland dependent Macrolepidoptera species diversity, this time of year only encompasses the adult flight season of a limited number of the Macrolepidoptera species we consider xeric oak-pine scrub dependency candidates (Kons and Borth 2006). Consequently, we did not concentrate on this habitat type during our trip to the Blackwater River State Forest. On Road W20 our MV sheet and bait survey stations were in the hardwood swamp while our light traps were in the herb bog, and our survey of the long leaf pine-wiregrass uplands was limited to diurnal survey.

Table 6 in Kons and Borth (2006) presents a list of the north Florida Lepidoptera species we propose as scrub dependency candidates, along with some additional information on numbers of individuals collected at various sites and reported larval host plants. Only four of these species were found on road W20, although we suspect this is incidental to the facts that our survey missed the adult flight season of many of the scrub dependent species and that none of our nocturnal survey stations were placed right in the long leaf pine-wiregrass uplands. The potential scrub dependent species we have recorded from State Forest Road W 20 include Tornos cinctarius, Erastria coloraria, Nemoria bifilata, and Pygarctia abdominalis. Several E. coloraria were flushed out during the day when walking through the long leaf pine-wiregrass uplands. The single specimens of Tornos cinctarius, Nemoria bifilata, and P. abdominalis were taken at the MV sheet in the hardwood swamp, and these specimens almost certainly represent short range dispersers from the nearby uplands.

Arundinaria Habitats: Arundinaria habitats are of particular interest because a number of species may be exclusive to Arundinaria as a larval host, including several potentially local and/or undescribed species. Unfortunately, we did not record any of the Arundinaria associated Macrolepidoptera in the Arundinaria habitat along Coldwater Creek, despite the fact we have recorded a number of these species along the Apalachicola River at a similar time of the year. However, Kons and Borth (2006) noted many of the Arundinaria associated species are very difficult to find with our survey methods, including in proven sites, so given that we only collected in the Arundinaria habitat for one night we can by no means rule out that some of the Arundinaria dependent species might actually be present there. We did rear larvae of an undetermined Pyralid that we found feeding on the Arundinaria along Coldwater Creek. The only other localities where we have found this species are in Arundinaria habitats along the east side of the Apalachicola River, so there is a good chance this is an Arundinaria habitat dependent species.

Species recorded exclusively from the Blackwater River State Forest among our north Florida Lepidoptera surveys: Kimball (1965) reported a number of species from the extreme western panhandle (Escambia County) which he reported from nowhere else in Florida. Many of these species are widespread habitat generalists to the north, but some are potentially localized species. We did not uncover any of these species (excluding species which Kimball (1965) reported only from the western panhandle but which we have found in other parts of northern Florida) during our surveys in the Blackwater River State Forest. However, there are two species which we have recorded exclusively from the Blackwater River State Forest (our only representative sites in the western panhandle) among our Florida surveys to date. These species are Cisthene unifascia and a potentially undescribed Cisthene. The latter Cisthene species is of particular interest, as the single specimen collected may possibly represent a species new to science. We have not seen any other specimens of this species, although there are some western Cisthene species with which we are unfamiliar.

The Cisthene specimen which may represent a new species

Unique Species Records: The following two figures shows what numbers of nocturnal Macrolepidoptera species were recorded from different numbers of unique species records, and what percentage of nocturnal Macrolepidoptera species were recorded from n or fewer unique species records, for each of our Blackwater River State Forest survey sites. It is interesting to compare these patterns among the various locations where we have conducted Lepidoptera biodiversity blitzes, as values of the percentage of species recorded from n or fewer unique species records may be useful in estimating how thorough survey work was for documenting those species present as adults during the times surveys were conducted. This issue will be addressed in detail in future NAJLB volumes. The notably lower percentage of species recorded from only one unique species record for the site north of Kennedy Bridge Road compared to Road W20 suggests the sample obtained for the former site may constitute a relatively larger portion of the Macrolepidoptera species actually present in the adult stage at the time surveys were conducted. This is not at all surprising since we had an extra UV sheet at the site north of Kennedy Bridge Road. More species were recorded at the Road W20 site but the percentage of species recorded from only one unique species record was notably higher than at the Blackwater River site. Consequently, the Road W20 site may have the highest adult species diversity of the two sites at the time these surveys were conducted. This hypothesis is also logical since the Road W20 site had a greater diversity of habitats in close proximity.

Future Study: To our knowledge, this is the first paper to report Lepidoptera records from the Blackwater River State Forest. While we were able to obtain a significant amount of information on our two survey dates, to approach a thorough list of the resident species for any locality would require numerous survey trips covering many different times of the year. Our single short expedition only scratches the surface of what remains to be discovered in this vast area with many interesting habitats.

References

Ferguson, Douglas C. 1997. Review of the new world Bagisarinae with descriptions of two

new species from the southern United States (Noctuidae). J. of the Lep. Soc. 51(4): 344-357.

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Blackwater River State Forest. Brochure.

Hodges, Ronald W. et. al. 1983. Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico. Great Britian, University Press, Cambridge.

Kimball, Charles P. 1965. The Lepidoptera of Florida. Div. Of Plant Industry, State of FL

Dept of Agriculture. Gainesville, FL.

Kons, Hugo L. Jr. and Robert J. Borth. 2006. Contributions to a study of the diversity, distribution, habitat association, and phenology of the Lepidoptera of Northern Florida. North American Journal of Lepidoptera Biodiversity. Volume I: 1-231.

Kons, Hugo L. Jr. and Robert J. Borth. 2007. Lepidoptera Survey Methods Utilized in North American Journal of Lepidoptera Biodiversity Publications.

Lafontaine, Donald J. and Robert W. Poole. 1991. The Moths of America north of Mexico,

Fasc. 25.1., Noctuoidea, Noctuidae (part). The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation.