How America works

[Mark Walker]

Ron wrote:

> One thing TILS is doing is to try to discover (collect), determine
> (scientifically identify), and document (publish)  butterfly and moth
> species and subspecies before they become extinct with no one 
> ever having
> known they even existed! At TILS our motto is "As a world 
> community, we can
> not protect that which we do not know."

Another thing worth encouraging is the discovery of new pockets of habitat -
places where bugs fly that have not been previously studied or where data
has not been previously recorded.  Simply going back to the same old well
known hot spots is important for the monitoring of known populations - but I
find it so much more interesting to locate these new spots.  Here's where
you(we) amateurs play a huge roll.  Most (I'm tip-toeing through the tulips
here) BTB and collector folks will seek out locations where they can expect
to see certain species.  Others - especially the children amateurs who are
limited to the habitats very close to home - tend to go out looking wherever
they see flora (the concrete jungle of L.A. in the 60's was still inundated
with overgrown empty lots).  These are my kind of lepidopterists.

Mark Walker.
> 

 
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