Miami Blue & Mosquito control

[Ron Gatrelle]

I received in the mail today an important publication on the Miami Blue (
Cyclargus thomasi bethunebakeri) and the status of mosquito control in the
Florida Keys.  This extensive article comprises all of Volume 5 of the
*Technical Bulletin of the Florida Mosquito Control Association*.   This is
a non-profit scientific educational organization.   The paper is by Hribar,
Lawrence J. and Edsel M. Fussell of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control
District.

This 41 page paper is well done and heavily referenced (346).   Contact
information is:

Florida Mosquito Control Association, Inc.
P.O. Box 60837
Fort Meyers, Fl.
          33906

The paper is titled:

Mosquito Control, Miami Blues, and Mass Media in Monroe County, Florida.

What a pragmatic and factual eye opener.  This fine bit of science begins
with a note that the paper was originally sent to the J. Lep. Soc. for
publication as a rebuttal  "...to assertions made in a paper published in
the Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society in 2001 (Salvato 2001).  That
paper claimed that mosquito control operations in the Florida Keys were
negatively impacting butterflies in the Big Pine Key area.  Unfortunately,
that rebuttal was rejected by the Journal."... etc.

It is about time that the leps community was notified of this censorship by
the Lep. Soc.  This, is my view, tells me the Lep. Soc. editors at that
time were certainly not without agendas and biases which they allowed to
affect their work _for_ OUR Society.   As I stated, this is a very fine
piece of science done by professional entomologists.   I know the senior
author somewhat from over a fairly long time of periodic communications ON
Leps.  He recently had a paper published on various moth locality records
in the Keys.  This was in *Florida Scientist* by the Florida Academy of
Sciences, 2005.  He is thus a LEPIDOPTERIST as well as a degreed
entomologist, and like many of us, a long time research associate with the
FSCA (Florida State Collection of Arthropods).

The only real reason this paper would have been rejected by the Lep. Soc.
ed. is that it tells the facts and casts very reasonable doubt upon the
long held witch hunt and scape goat of mosquito control as a (or even The)
factor for the demise of leps in the Keys.   As a rebuttal, even if it was
totally stupid, the Lep. Soc. had a duty to allow that rebuttal to be
published  --  simply because it was a professional and official rebuttal
against an ATTACK on them!!!   Censorship is the worst sin science can
commit.   We are all intelligent enough to hear both sides and make up our
own minds.  I feel robbed and deceived by the Lep. Soc. for keeping this
information from my attention.  Had the author not sent me this copy I
would never had know the "rest of the story".   And none of us would be the
wiser to the blackballing of this data.  And the envio agendists could go
on feeding us their biased or skewed "data" with us (the public) being none
the wiser.

This article also brings to question some serious points about the
"listing" of the Miami Blue and other associated matters. Get it and read
it for yoursleves.

Ron Gatrelle.



 
 ------------------------------------------------------------ 

   For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:

   http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl