Moths of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

A Provisional Checklist

24-Mar-02

Compiled By Guy Tudor, Don Riepe, Diana Pollak, and Steve Walter

The following list represents the species of moths found at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge since 1986. It includes

those for which we have definite records, as well as a few that are possible based on records from other, nearby

units of Gateway National Recreation Area.

Field work through 1993 was sporadic, consisting of only two or three "moth nights" per season. A more comprehensive

survey was conducted during 1995 by Diana Pollak, as a special project suggested by John Zuzworsky. It consisted of

setting up a blacklight trap two nights per week during most of the summer. Little work was done during the late 1990's

and the trap fell into disrepair. Following its repair in August 2000, night surveys were resurrected by Steve Walter to

augment his survey of diurnal and roosting species during that year. Other methods for finding moths included the baiting

of trees in the South Garden and the netting of species nectaring on butterfly bushes surrounding the Visitor Center.

Earlier surveys were conducted principally by Refuge naturalists (Don Riepe, Mary Hake, Kathy Krause, John Zuzworsky)

together with various members of the NYC Butterfly Club (in particular, Skip Blanchard, John Lawrenson, Guy Tudor,

Nick Wagerik, and Harry Zirlin). Jeff Ingraham, who probably knows the insects of N.Y.C. better than anyone,

has provided additional information on a number of the rarer large species (his comments in question marks).

Considering the sporadic nature of surveys through much of the time that moths have been studied here, and the nocturnal

nature of most species, it is expected that many species remain to be discovered here and that many species are more

common that the current record indicates.

Identifications were based mostly on the Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America by Charles V. Covell, Jr.

(Peterson series), and we follow his taxonomy and nomenclature throughout. All records for 1995 were identified by Diana

Pollak, except as otherwise noted. Records for 2000 were identified by Steve Walter. While voucher specimens were

taken, with permission, for many species in earlier years, most moths have been released unharmed since the 1995 survey.

The most recent efforts have attempted to photographically document Jamaica Bay's moth species.

Since none of us are experts in systematics, we present this list for ease of reference, in the order (more or less)

in which the species are depicted in the Covell Field Guide plates – only the major families have been specified.

The plate number, in Covell, for each species is indicated in the left column. Species that are underlined on the web site

are documented by photographs, which can be viewed by clicking on the species name. All photographs were taken at

the Refuge, unless otherwise noted. In some cases, a specific area within the Refuge is noted. Among these are the

South Field, the South Garden, the bird blind, and the Visitor Center.

While the survey has centered around the Refuge, there are references here to other units of Gateway in the Jamaica Bay

area. These are Floyd Bennet Field in Kings County and Fort Tilden and Jacob Riis Park on the Rockaway Peninsula of

Queens County. For brevity, these are referred to here as FBF, FT, and Riis, respectively. In the case of a few species,

most or the only confirmed records may be from these sites. Given the similarity of habitats, these species could turn out

to be present or more common at the Refuge, although the Rockaway Peninsula sites do hold the advantages of possessing

sand dune habitat and of being better situated to record strays.