Hilltopping Insects
David Wagner
dwagner at uconnvm.uconn.edu
Tue Dec 21 09:54:37 EST 1999
I am preparing a report for the Massachusetts Chapter of The Nature
Conservancy on the significance of a summit in southwestern Massachusetts
that is the highest point in the entire region. I figured it made sense to
include a paragraph about the importance of hilltops as mating stations for
insects, especially for those that might otherwise rarely encounter one
another. I reproduce my account below. There is an ample literature for
butterflies (?but not moths), but would love to have citations for other
orders. Can anyone help with references for non-pompilid Hymenoptera? Are
there some benchmark papers on the subject?
Draft Text: "The Importance of Hilltops
By virtue of the fact that Mount Everett is the tallest peak, as well as
the most defined summit in the region, it may have special significance as
a mating station for many insects. The highest point on the horizon--being
the most reliable topographic features in virtually any habitat--is used by
many insects as a rendezvous site for courtship and mating (Shields 1967,
Scott 1968, 1974, Thornhill and Alcock 1983, Britton 1995). Scott noted
(1968) that many rare butterflies, which otherwise might have difficulty
locating one another, use summits of hills and mountains to initiate mating
behaviors. Invertebrates known to hilltop include butterflies (especially
papilionids, pierids, nymphalids, lycaenids, and hesperiids), Hymenoptera
(e.g., pompilids), and flies (e.g., cuterebridae, gastrophilids, oestrids
and sarcophagids)(Scott, 1968, 1974, Thornhill and Alcock 1983, Tarrier
1996, and Povolny and Znojil 1998).
Because adults use vision to locate the highest point on the horizon, it
makes sense that hilltopping behaviors would be poorly represented (if
present at all) in the moths--the subjects of this study. Future surveys
should emphasize diurnal collections. And because the most interesting
organisms are apt to be rare, flight interception or malaise traps should
be deployed at or very close to the summit."
Any help would be appreciated.
*************************
David L. Wagner
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
v. 860-486-2139; f. 860-486-6364
dwagner at uconnvm.uconn.edu
More information about the Leps-l
mailing list