alien or not?

Tue Aug 27 10:57:53 EDT 2002

Talk about going full circle-- the second website Jim mentions here has a
link to the Umass Boston site maintained by none other than Jenn Forman, who
took the A. punctella photo that started this!

Many thanks to Chip Taylor for his information about the 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
*************************************************

From: "Jim Mason" <Jim at gpnc.org>
Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 08:49:06 -0600
To: "Woody Woods" <woody.woods at umb.edu>
Cc: "Leps-L" <LEPS-L at LISTS.YALE.EDU>
Subject: Re: alien or not?

Woody,

I suppose you saw Chip Taylor's response listing the native host plant and
its very limited range.

If you go to www.natureserve.org <http://www.natureserve.org>  , navigate to
the explorer and search for Ailanthus, you will find a range map for
Ailanthus in North America.  It IS listed as occurring in the SE 1/5 of
Ontario and virtually all of New England.  I suspect the blank spots for
Vermont and New Hampshire are only due to lack of data.

And for more context, here is the U.S. invasive species page on Ailanthus.
http://www.invasivespecies.gov/profiles/treeoheaven.shtml

Regards,

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: Jim Mason <mailto:Jim at gpnc.org>  ; Leps-L <mailto:LEPS-L at LISTS.YALE.EDU>
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2002 6:10 PM
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
*************************************************

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