Latest News
Dec. 2017
New Publications
We published four Catocala taxonomy articles in 2017, integrating data from morphology and mitochondrial DNA. These papers include the description of four new Catocala species, and are numbers 7-10 on the list of articles describing new species.
We also published a biodiversity blitz article for Splinter Hill Bog Preserve in Baldwin County, Alabama, the site of the Southern Lepidopterists' Society 2016 field trip. This article and supplemental images can be downloaded at this link.
Field Work
Kons did a season long survey of a suburban yard in Appleton, Wisconsin, over twenty years after this site that was extensively surveyed from 1989-1996. MV trap, UV light, and bait samples were obtained each night during the season when the temperature was 40F or warmer at dusk. Species records were vouchered each night and many photographs of live moths were also taken. Numerous new or uncommon records were obtained for Outagamie County, primarily for southern strays and ephemeral migrants.
Nightly Macrolepidoptera species totals from the 2017 survey of an Appleton suburban yard.
Some Appleton 2017 specimens: Ascalapha odorata (left), Catocala unijuga aberration (right).
Kons & Borth did a short trip to northeast WI from 5-6 June. We did a biodiversity blitz for Boulder Lake Campground (a site we studied in 1992 and 1993) but survey was hampered by cold weather. We vouchered the species encountered and also took photos of moths on baited trees. We also revisited the area of our 1992 Schinia indiana survey, and discovered new sites in Menominee, Shawano, and Oconto Counties.
Some Kons photos from our June northeast WI trip: Schinia indiana (Shawano Co.), Zale obliqua complex, Z. helata (Boulder Lake).
We also did a nocturnal biodiversity blitz at a mixed boreal forest/wetlands site in Door County, Wisconsin from 18-19 August 2017. All species were vouchered and some photos of live moths were also obtained.
Some Kons photos from the Door County biodiversity blitz: Catocala badia, C. alabamae, C. briseis,
Brachylomia discinigra.
Borth traveled to Mississippi in July to collect and photograph Catocala on trees during the day.
Nov. 2016
New Publications
New Web Pages
This is part of the Field
and specimen photo gallery.
Taxonomic Research
We published three
new Catocala species descriptions in
2016 (see above). Several more are in
progress.
Biodiversity Research
We conducted
Lepidoptera Biodiversity blitzes at the following Florida localities in May
2016: the TNC Splinter Hill Bog Preserve (Baldwin County, Alabama), the TNC
Perdido River Rainwater Preserve (Escambia County, Florida), the Apalachicola
National Forest (Liberty and Franklin Counties), the Saint Joseph Bay Buffer
Preserve (Gulf County, Florida), and a site along the Santa Fe River near High
Springs (Alachua County, Florida). The
first two sites were part of a biodiversity blitz organized by John F. Douglass
for a Southern Lepidopterists' Society field trip. Since 10 July 2016 HLK has run lights and
bait in a suburban yard with trees, gardens, and lawns in Appleton,
Wisconsin. This is the same site that
was intensively surveyed for Lepidoptera from 1989-1996.
Other News
Hugo Kons Jr. moved back to Appleton, Wisconsin in July 2016 after living in Gainesville, Florida for twenty years. The portion of the Kons research collection formerly present in Gainesville, Florida, has been moved to Appleton, Wisconsin.