The Xerces Society Announces the 2006 Joan Mosenthal DeWind Award Winners.

The Xerces Society is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2006 Joan Mosenthal DeWind Award for Lepidoptera Research and Conservation:

Biodiversity, systematics, and evolution of Schrankia, a cave and rainforest dwelling Hawaiian moth (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
Matthew J. Medeiros, Graduate Student - Department of Integrative Biology, University of California

Hawaiian Lepidoptera have value as indicator species, as food for endangered birds, and as pollinators. However, many groups are poorly studied. One such group, Schrankia, is interesting because it occurs in two threatened Hawaiian ecosystems: rainforests and caves. Its ecological role and natural history are almost entirely unknown. This study has two main goals: 1) Document the diversity of Schrankia and begin work on a functional key and phylogeny for this group; and 2) explain the distribution and evolution of flightless cave populations of Schrankia, predicting levels of diversity for the Hawaiian cave fauna in general.

Studying the effects of invasive Argentine ants on Lycaenid butterflies
Jessica Shors, PhD Graduate Student, Stanford University

Many North American ants protect North American lycaenid butterfly larvae from parasitism, a mutualism carefully mediated by co-evolution. However, Argentine ants are displacing native ant populations. Because of the geographic isolation between Argentina and North America, it is assumed that Argentine ants cannot protect North American lycaenids. Therefore, Argentine ants have been implicated in the decline of many lycaenid populations, a dire situation because many lycaenid butterfly species are threatened and/or endangered. This study will test this implication with a factorial design, comparing lycaenid larval survivability for ant-exclusion and ant-inclusion treatments in habitat with native ants and habitat with Argentine ants.

Does timing and frequency of mowing affect butterfly assemblages in post-agricultural fields?
Jessica Stager, Graduate Student, Antioch New England Graduate School

Grassland butterflies are declining across the Northeast, and small post-agricultural fields may provide important refuges. These fields may also act as population sinks, however, if field-cutting interferes with key life history periods. This thesis aims to determine whether mowing regimes significantly influence butterfly species richness, abundance, and/or community composition in the post-agricultural fields of the Champlain Basin of Vermont. A non-technical report describing the results and recommendations of the study will be produced and distributed to regional landowners.