PEN: Digitization: Enhancing LepNet: Digitization and integration of significant butterfly and moth collections from the upper Midwest Tension Zone region

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) are one of the most diverse groups of organisms on the planet: worldwide there are approximately 160,000 species, including around 14,300 species in North America. Moths and butterflies are a conspicuous component of terrestrial habitats and one of the most diverse groups of plant-feeding animals worldwide. This insect group includes species of great economic importance. Their juveniles feed on plants useful to humans, including grains, cotton, tobacco, and timber and shade trees. However, many of the adults are beneficial as pollinators and are icons of conservation as evidenced by Monarch butterflies. Given their economic importance and sheer beauty, butterflies and moths are one of the most abundant insect group in museum collections, but only a fraction of the approximately 15 million specimens in non-federal collections have had their specimen label information digitally recorded and accessible to researchers and educators. This award will allow the Wisconsin Insect Research Collection (WIRC) at UW-Madison to join with the Lepidoptera of North America Network Thematic Collection Network (LepNet TCN) as a Partner to Existing Network (PEN). A floristic “Tension Zone” separating temperate and sub-boreal biota passes through the Great Lake Region; Wisconsin contains a greater portion of this zone than any other state in which it is found. The majority of Lepidoptera specimens in the WIRC were collected in Wisconsin and their data will thus fill a significant and critical gap in our knowledge of Lepidoptera species in the upper Midwestern United States. This project will provide digitized and georeferenced data for nearly 70,000 North American Lepidoptera specimens. Currently, Wisconsin records for Lepidoptera are scarce in the LepNet SCAN portal. Inclusion of the WIRC dataset will significantly increase the number of species-level occurrences for the Great Lake Tension Zone region for most Lepidoptera superfamilies, greatly enhancing the target number of species for ecological niche modeling. Project personnel will develop and implement a workflow that involves transcribing data to add new specimen records to the WIRC’s existing Specify database. These data will be available through the LepNet SCAN portal, iDigBio.org, and GBIF.org, where they can be accessed for research, education, and public use. High-resolution images will also be generated for about 1,500 adult exemplar specimens for Lepidoptera species in and around the upper Midwest tension zone. Participating undergraduate and graduate students, as well as interns and volunteers, will be trained and mentored in databasing workflows, specimen curation, imaging, and collections-based research. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.