Lepidoptera of Crater Lake National Park: Results from the 2015 Surveys

Ross, Dana

Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) are an abundant and biologically diverse order of terrestrial insects that provide essential ecosystem services. As voracious larvae, the caterpillars are major herbivores of plants. As adults, most species seek nectar and are pollinators of the plants whose flowers they visit. As caterpillars and adults, Lepidoptera are an important food source for birds, bats and many other animal species. Since butterflies and moths are mobile insects that have a high reproductive capacity, they respond quickly to environmental change and are often among the first species to colonize newly available habitats. They are ideal subjects for studies dealing with both short term impacts such as from habitat management and longer term ones such as those dealing with climate change. Tilden and Huntzinger (1977) were the first to provide a baseline for the butterflies of Crater Lake National Park. During the years 1957-1962, they documented butterflies from many locations throughout the park. Combining their results with a relatively limited number of existing voucher specimens and published observations, they presented a total of seventy-eight species. During that same time period, Huntzinger sampled a number of macro moth species which now reside in the National Park Service Collection. Their work is the basis for the comparative present-day inventory initiated here, over one-half century later. The results presented herein are from three visits within a single year (2015), they confirm the persistence of many butterfly species documented previously. Several species of butterflies and many more of macro moths – some exceedingly rare - were documented within the boundaries of Crater Lake National Park for the first time.