alien or not?
Woody Woods
woody.woods at umb.edu
Tue Aug 27 10:13:44 EDT 2002
Since I posted my own too hasty interpretation of what John Himmelman wrote,
I'm sending what in Washington DC is called a "clarification"-- Ailanthus is
certainly found in Connecticut, but John has not found it close to where he
lives, in a rural area.
I'd be curious what plant you see A. punctella on-- even though they may
simply be strays.
Woody
*************************************************
William A. Woods Jr.
Department of Biology
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd
Boston, MA 02125
Lab: 617-287-6642
Fax: 617-287-6650
*************************************************
From: "Dale Roberts/Bill Yule" <droberts03 at SNET.Net>
Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 07:26:00 -0400
To: <woody.woods at umb.edu>
Subject: Re: alien or not?
Hi Woody,
This is Bill Yule here and I live down the road from John Himmelman. I
think you misunderstood John. I think he meant that there are not Ailanthus
IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY of his house. Ailanthus grows all over
Connecticut and it is possible some grows quite near his house that he
doesn't know about. Just a thought. Hope I didn't misunderstand your post.
Bill Yule
----- Original Message -----
From: Woody Woods <mailto:woody.woods at umb.edu>
To: jhimmel at mindspring.com ; Leps-L <mailto:LEPS-L at lists.yale.edu> ;
Jennifer Forman <mailto:jennifer.forman at umb.edu>
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2002 11:35 PM
Subject: Re: alien or not?
John, you're getting this again because I neglected to click "reply all"!
I'm filing all responses, and thank you for yours; yours is the
lowest-latitude response that says there aren't Ailanthus around! At this
point there seems to be only speculation with the occasional sighting about
A. punctella beyond the range of Ailanthus-- but Ailanthus was successfully
introduced to Nantucket, (I think) north of you but possibly warmer overall
from the Gulf Stream, where the photo posted at Jenn Forman's website was
taken.
Woody
*************************************************
William A. Woods Jr.
Department of Biology
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd
Boston, MA 02125
Lab: 617-287-6642
Fax: 617-287-6650
*************************************************
From: "jh" <jhimmel at mindspring.com>
Reply-To: jhimmel at mindspring.com
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 22:10:29 -0400
To: "Leps-L" <LEPS-L at lists.yale.edu>
Subject: RE: alien or not?
I have found A. punctella in my hometown of Killingworth (Connecticut, USA).
There ain't an ailanthus for miles! I had wondered what else would have
been feeding on, but did not rule out it having made a long trip.
John
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
John Himmelman
Killingworth, CT
jhimmel at mindspring.com
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Visit my websites at:
www.johnhimmelman.com
www.connecticutmoths.com
www.ctamphibians.com
____________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-leps-l at lists.yale.edu [mailto:owner-leps-l at lists.yale.edu]On
Behalf Of Woody Woods
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2002 8:10 PM
To: Jim Mason; Leps-L
Subject: Re: alien or not?
Thanks for the Holland's input-- I really should hunt down one of those
apparently invaluable books.
It turns out that Lynn Scott, who answered me offline, had taken a photo of
A. Punctella to the Canadian National Collection in Ottawa while on a
different mission; the folks there, including Dr. J. Donald Lafontaine-- to
whom I have not yet written-- referred to it as native, but said that the
host species prior to the arrival of Ailanthis was not known.
The friend who took the photo (I'll find out what kind of camera, Jim-- I
don't know) maintains a website about alien plant species, and says that
Ailanthus came here in the late 1800s, and was first introduced to
Nantucket, where the photo was taken, in 1913. She has since found that A.
punctella was first recorded there in the 1920s, according to Johnson,
Charles Willison. 1930. A List of the Insect Fauna of Nantucket,
Massahusetts. The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Vol. III no. 2. 174.
Anyway, perhaps after a few more communications we might have a better idea
of whether there is a hitherto unidentified hostplant for A. punctella.
By the way, Lynn mentioned that her photo of punctella was a first sighting
for the Ottawa area, and that Ailanthus is not found that far north.
Woody
*************************************************
William A. Woods Jr.
Department of Biology
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd
Boston, MA 02125
Lab: 617-287-6642
Fax: 617-287-6650
*************************************************
From: "Jim Mason" <Jim at gpnc.org>
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 08:42:48 -0600
To: "Leps-L" <LEPS-L at LISTS.YALE.EDU>
Cc: <woody.woods at umb.edu>
Subject: Re: alien or not?
Holland's book (1903) shows two different species of Atteva. But on the
Natureserve web site, the genus is listed as monotypic with that species
name (punctella). I found no mention of point of origin, but it reasonable
to presume it followed its host plant into North America. Nice picture!
What was the camera used to take it?
Jim Mason, Naturalist
Jim at gpnc.org
Great Plains Nature Center
6232 E. 29th Street North
Wichita, KS 67220-2200
316-683-5499 x103 - voice
316-688-9555 - fax
www.gpnc.org <http://www.gpnc.org>
----- Original Message -----
From: Woody Woods <mailto:woody.woods at umb.edu>
To: Leps-l <mailto:Leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Friday, August 23, 2002 11:01 AM
Subject: alien or not?
A friend found this Ailanthus Webworm moth (Fred SaintOurs is pretty sure
it's Atteva punctella-- do you agree?). It was on an Ailanthus altissima
sapling on Nantucket (off the coast of Massachusetts).
http://fisher.bio.umb.edu/pages/jennphotos/OrangeInsect.jpg
She can find no confirmation as to whether this moth is alien or native. Do
any of you know? Ailanthus altissima is Asian in origin, and such
information as she has found so far makes no mention of any other (native)
hostplant.
Woody
*************************************************
William A. Woods Jr.
Department of Biology
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd
Boston, MA 02125
Lab: 617-287-6642
Fax: 617-287-6650
*************************************************
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/private/leps-l/attachments/20020827/033e02ca/attachment.html
More information about the Leps-l
mailing list