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Journal of The Lepidopterists^ Society
Volume 14 1960 Number 1
PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL ADDRESS, 1959
PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH IN LEPIDOPTERA
by Eugene Munroe
Dear Fellow Members —The subject I have chosen is one I cannot pretend to have thought through in all its ramifications, though it is an important one and one that has received less study and discussion than it merits. However, as a lepidopterist who was an amateur for many years, and who has been a professional for the last ten, I feel I have a foot in both camps. I accordingly venture to express some rather tentative opinions, in the hope that at least they may stimulate other persons to constructive thought.
I suppose most of us originally become lepidopterists for the fun of it, whether to satisfy the collector's or hunter's instinct, or from a more studious interest in nature. But I am sure that a deeper satisfaction is found when we realize how easy it is to find out something really new, perhaps a new species or some new fact of classification, life history, behaviour or distribution. This is the beginning of research or scientific investigation; it is here that our particular specialty begins to influence other branches of knowledge, and it is here that the amateur and the professional research worker begin to find common ground. There are, however, obvious differences in the conditions under which amateurs and professionals work, and these differences necessarily influence the selection of projects and the way they are carried out.
The amateur has both advantages and disadvantages as compared to his professional colleague. His advantages come mainly from his freedom to choose fields and objectives. His disadvantages arise from the necessity of financing his work. This often imposes limitations of time, of resources, of training and preparation, and of facilities for publication. Wisely planned research, whether by professional or amateur, will be chosen and arranged to exploit the advantages and to minimize the disadvantages of the investigator's situation.
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Munroe: President's Address
Vol.14: no.l
I will not discuss at length the proper course of professional research. My professional colleagues are well equipped to determine their own lines of work, and specific suggestions from me would be presumptuous. I think, however, you will agree that professionals should take the lead in large and expensive projects, and especially those requiring complex laboratory facilities, costly instrumentation, extensive technical assistance, or other major investments of plant and funds. Major entomological studies may conveniently be regional, but they should rarely be based primarily on political boundaries, unless purely economic projects are concerned. Even government research should in my opinion include a generous share of studies with a broad geographic basis and on a fundamental scientific plane, for it is only from such broad perspectives that stable classifications and sound theoretical interpretations of general applicability can be derived. This is particularly important nowadays, when an increasing share of research is government-conducted or government-supported, and when private capital to support individual lines of interest is not quite as freely available as it once was. The professional and his employing organization also have a responsibility to encourage, assist and coordinate the activities of serious amateurs. We have, for instance, in North America an acute lack of identification manuals, and particularly of up-to-date manuals suitable for use by the amateur or by the general or economic entomologist. Our professional lepitopterists should certainly be taking a leading part in the preparation of such manuals. This, and indeed the whole field of professional encouragement of amateur observation and research, is much better developed in Europe than in America, and we could learn much from the highly developed and co-ordinated body of amateurs that exists there. Recent progress in Japan has also been exemplary. One has only to glance at the superbly produced and highly scientific and accurate handbooks now being produced there and the large volume of entomological periodicals, both professional and amateur, to realize the great strides being made in that country, and the excellent cooperation between professionals and amateurs.
Turning now to the amateur lepidopterist, I think one of his most difficult problems is often to decide what he can do usefully. It is easy to fall into the rut of making the same old collection of common butterflies and partly identified larger moths that has been made by dozens or hundreds of collectors before. With a little thought and care much more interesting and useful activities are possible. I do not, of course, mean that collecting is useless or overdone. But for collecting to be useful its results should be communicated; this means first of all accurate identification, and secondly publication of lists of captures. The second step, without the first, is worse than useless. In the present state of literature accurate identification is possible for many butterflies, especially the eastern ones, thanks to Klots' excellent handbook, and for a number of the more distinctive species of moths, by a judicious use of old pictures and new manuals and lists. For a few special groups of moths, such as the Phycitinae and several groups of tortricoids, accurate identification is within the reach of those willing to take the trouble to make genitalic preparations. By and large, however, the moths
1960
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
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are not fully identifiable from literature. This means that the help of specialists must be sought, and that, if possible, the amateur should personally make comparisons with the material of one or another of the large museum or university collections, which fortunately are fairly well distributed through the continent. Regional lists, based on accurate identifications, and preferably with annotations on habitats, seasons, relative abundance and other biological data, will certainly be welcome contributions to knowlegde for a long time to come.
Accurate observation, in conjunction with literature and in consultation with specialists, will certainly bring the collector in contact with taxon-omic puzzles, of which very many still remain unsolved, even among seemingly well-known groups such as butterflies. Often the critical aspects of such problems are best studied by the field collector on the spot, who can investigate life-histories, habits, seasonal occurrence and behaviour, and who can often detect biological differences in the living insect that are inaccessible to the museum taxonomist.
However, pure systematics is only the beginning of entomology. Other aspects of the subject are equally important and often much more poorly understood. We know relatively little about the biology of most species, yet this can be investigated by direct methods and often with little special equipment. Time, industry and the willingness to make accurate observations are all that is required. Life-histories, for instance, are unknown for a very large proportion of our North American Lepidoptera, in spite of the dense population and high educational standards of our continent. Even superficial color descriptions of early stages are greatly to be desired, though of course technical anatomical descriptions are much better. Where insects are reared, some specimens should always be preserved, if the material permits, in some suitable liquid preservative. This will permit later technical description and comparative study, even if these are not possible at the time. Food-plant records are of the greatest importance, and should in general be published, even where they confirm previous findings. It is desirable that plant identifications should be checked by a competent authority, and of course evidence of actual successful feeding is necessary before a host-plant association is worthy of acceptance.
Rearing may also yield most valuable information as to parasites. The parasitic Hymenoptera and Diptera, in spite of intensive study, are still far from being thoroughly known. Their host-relationships are even less adequately known. A parasitized egg, larva, or pupa, which we are apt to think of as "spoiled", may yield a scientific result far more interesting than a perfect adult specimen would have done. We should, therefore, try to resist the impulse to "throw away the nasty fly" and instead preserve it carefully, with an accurate host association. Specialists are available at, or through, most of the major entomological organizations who will be only too happy to study parasites of Lepidoptera and to put the identifications to use. Even butterfly parasites are, as a group, poorly known, and for many groups of moths our knowledge is little more than fragmentary.
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Munroe: President's Address
Vol.14: no.l
A tremendous field lies open in the study of lepidopteran behaviour. Butterflies are, on the whole, the most easily observed because of their diurnal habits, but even the daytime habits of night-flying moths are full of interest, and ingenious students will easily find it possible to investigate nocturnal habits as well. Various forms of protective behaviour are well known in a general way, but we have little detailed information on particular species—photographs of resting positions, for instance, have not been published in any systematic manner. Courtship and mating behaviour is interesting both intrinsically and because of its ecological implications. The problem of ''assembling" in different species needs detailed experimental study. Activity of butterflies and moths in general is poorly known. We do not know how-far individuals normally travel, how much they move around, or how much they are attached to particular places or territories. These are all things that could easily be investigated for particular species by alert amateurs.
Reactions to various stimuli—to light, to odors, to colors, to vegetation, etc., provide a rich field for study. Experiments with marked individuals offer possibilities here. We all know that local differences in temperature and humidity have a strong influence on the activities and distribution of Lepidoptera, and that different parts of a sugar line, for instance, may be good or bad on different nights because of local variations in atmosphere conditions. However, we sadly lack documented evidence on phenomena of this kind. Careful and systematic observation would go a long way towards supplying the lack.
A further area of critical knowledge within reach of the amateur is the study of numbers and mass movements of Lepidoptera. We have little comparative information on the actual numbers or densities of lepidopterous populations in different areas or in the same area at different times, though fairly simple sampling methods are available for observing and calculating such data. We do not know with much accuracy where and how given populations originate, whether they are sedentary and conservative, or whether they are dissipative, and maintained or reconstituted by colonists from other sources. Population studies of this sort can, of course, tie in closely with individual behaviour and activity studies such as were mentioned previously.
There are many other fields in which intelligently directed curiosity can yield valuable information. How much do caterpillars eat? How does this vary with conditions promoting slow or fast growth? What is the weight of living Lepidoptera at different stages? How does feeding bv Lepidoptera affect the growth of the host plants? How effective are Lepidoptera as pollinators, and do they have specific relationships with certain plants? One could go on almost indefinitely, but I promised not to give an exhaustive list. If I have suggested a few ideas for learning interesting things without elaborate equipment, I shall have fulfilled my intention.
Entomology Research Institute, Research Branch, Department of Agriculture,
Ottawa, CANADA