An extension of the: Virgin Islands Beetle Fauna Survey: Buck Island Reef National Monument

Poponi, Anthony

Report on an extension of the Virgin Islands Beetle Fauna Survey Project begun by Dr. Michael A. Ivie. Much of the report describes the various collecting methods and lists the species collected. This project is an extension of the work on the Virgin Islands Beetle Fauna Survey Project (VIBFS) begun by Dr. Michael A. Ivie, Montana State University. In 1978, Dr. Ivie started a faunal project to inventory the beetles of the Virgin Islands which was aimed at producing a manual for the identification of all species in the territories of the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. To date over 1,000 species of beetle have been identified from the Virgin Islands, which is up from the 421 known species in 1978. Because of their location at the turning point of the Greater and Lesser Antilles, these islands are critical to the understanding the complex biogeography of this region. In January of 1993, Dr. Ivie, in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS), began a 3 year program to inventory the beetles of Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM). A long-term flight intercept trap (FIT) station was established and some incidental collecting was done during an overview of the island. The significant results of that project, including identification of several never before described beetles, emphasized the need for additional collections and testing of various capture/collection methods. Although our study was prompted by the VIBFS, our objectives were to test various capture/collection methods used for all types of insect fauna, with a special emphasis on beetles. The objectives of this study begin to establish the protocols and methodologies which could be used to inventory and monitor not only beetles, but various insects, on any of the tropical dry forest islands under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service.