PROC. ENTOMOL. SOC. WASH. 106(1). 2004. pp. 217-232 THE MOTHS (LEPIDOPTERA) AND ASSOCIATED FLORA OF KELLEYS ISLAND, LAKE ERIE B. K. Coleman, J. K. Blssell, J. Ciha, P. MacKeigan, and J. B. Keiper The Cleveland Museum of Natural History. 1 Wade Oval Drive, Cleveland, OH 44106. U.S.A. (address correspondence to J. B. Keiper. e-mail:
[email protected]) Abstract. — We surveyed the nocturnal Lepidoptera of Kelleys Island (Ohio, Erie Coun-ty) within Lake Erie from 1999-2001. and found 216 species from 20 families. A loga-rithmic growth curve applied to our data suggests that the number of species obtained represents 65% of the number that would theoretically be captured after ten years of effort. We also list the 212 plant species found on the island to aid future efforts of moth/ host plant associations. Key Words: moths, Lepidoptera, vegetation, survey, Ohio With more than 1 1,250 species recorded for North America (Hodges et al. 1988), moths (Insecta: Lepidoptera) provide an abundant food source as adults, larvae, and pupae to other trophic levels (i.e., predators and parasites), and constitute a significant proportion of teirestrial herbivores (Price 1997). The Ohio moth fauna has received a good deal of attention during the past two decades. Regional species lists have been compiled that give excellent data on the adult distribution and flight periods (e.g.. Rings et al. 1987, Rings and Metzler 1989, Summerville et al. 1999, Teraguchi and Lu-blin 1999a-f, Rings and Downer 2001). Kelleys Island is one of the Lake Erie islands situated off the north coast of Ohio. A portion of the island owned by The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is known as the North Coleman Tract, and has been designated a conservation area. How-ever, other areas of the island are under de-velopment. We began a survey of the moths of Kelleys Island in an attempt to obtain data on this species-rich group before fur-ther environmental deterioration from hu-man activities occurs. The only moth spe-cies list was prepared by Nault et al. (1989). when they captured 1 1 species from three families during sweep netting. Use of light traps is a commonly used and effective technique for collecting nocturnal Lepidop-tera, but transient species might be captured that do not breed in the trap area. Light trapping terrestrial insects on an island pro-vides a more accurate look at the number of species per unit area and habitat use, as it is reasonable to assume that all specimens captured originated from the island. We present the results of three years of light trapping for adult moths on the North Coleman Tract. Because of the strong tie between plants, moth oviposition. and lar-val development, we also give a listing of the vascular plants found on the island to aid future efforts of moth/host plant asso-ciations. Materials and Methods Kelleys Island (OH. Erie County) is a 4.8 X 6.4 km island, positioned approximately 5 km north of the mainland city of Marble-head (Ottawa County). Moths were collect-ed with a BioQuip® 15-watt black light trap
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