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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Over the years, specimens from collections used in this
study have been submitted to a numbers specialists for verification. The
early South Dakota material was sent by P. C. Truman to J. B. Smith for
identification. More recent determinations from the North Dakota State
Insect Reference Collection are as follows: micro-Lepidoptera are mostly by
R. W. Hodges and D. Davis; Crambini by A. B. Klots, other Pyraloidea by W.
T. M. Forbes, D. Davis, and R. W. Hodges; Tortricidae by D. Davis, W. D.
Duckworth, W. E. Miller, and J. A. Powell; Geometridae by F. H. Rindge;
Noctuoidea by A. E. Brower, J. D. Lafontaine, R. W. Poole, and E. L. Todd.
I have approximately doubled the number of records of North Dakota moths
from previously undetermined material in the North Dakota State Insect
Reference Collection (NDSIRC) and the Sevrin-McDaniel Insect Research Museum
(SMIM), North/South Dakota State Universities, respectively, and also
records from my personal collection-- being incorporated into the NDSIRC..
Any errors here-in ‘alight’ at my doorstep and I would appreciate any
suggestions and criticisms.
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In addition to the list of specialists who have
determined specimens, the following people also, in varying capacities, were
instrumental in the compilation of this web site. At South Dakota State
University: Paul Johnson facilitated visits and specimen loans, his
predecessor Buruss McDaniel provided the opportunity to begin this project.
Jolene Christensen transcribed specimen data. At North Dakota State
University: David Rider provided access to the research collection and
granted time away from other duties to work on this project; his
predecessor, E. U. Balsbaugh Jr. also encouraged work on this project.
Philip Glogoza provided information and allocated time for his clerical
help, to work on the project, see below. In cases where photographic
quality specimens were unavailable from university collections, specimens
have been lent by other institutions. I greatly appreciate the
assistance of Robert Barney, Associate Research Director, Kentucky
State University and Michael Sharkey, Systematic Entomologist, University of
Kentucky for the loan of specimens. I thank Jim Vargo for the use of a few
important images of elusive moths. The Canadian Biodiversity
Information Facility has published on the web, for public non commercial
use, images of most of the Macrolepidoptera of Canada. Where specimens
have been unavailable, and the turn around time for loans would have slowed
production of this website, I have included these images with complete attribution.
Such images have been re-formatted to match the image style on the ndmoths
website. Forestry Images, Bugworld.org has been a source of
images of larvae. Many of these images have been cropped to reduce
file size as there is no reason to present a square image of a
'longitudinal' subject. All information with each image has been
preserved and every use of these images is cited under each image with the
photographer and source. In a few cases, I have disagreed with
specimen determinations for these images, and in any case, throughout this
website, any errors in either presentation or identification,
associated with any images are, of course, mine.
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Collecting specimens is the groundwork upon
which any faunistic project rests. I have been fortunate in being
accompanied in field work by a number of enthusiastic entomologists: Donald
Hyder, David Cuthrell, Paul Tinerella, Patrick Beauzay (former and present
graduate students at NDSU), Dave Rider, and Jan Knodel accompanied me on a
number of field trips in which many additional species and much additional
distributional information was collected. I am grateful to all of these
people for their contributions.
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A number of people have furnished photographs
of larvae and I am grateful to Loren Oslie, Jan Knodel, Mary J. Hatfield,
John Weber and Chris Grondahl for their generosity. Living specimens of
moths or their larvae were made available for photography by David Rider,
Mark Boetel, Marion Harris, Justin Knott, and Loren Oslie.
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| Two people deserve very special
acknowledgments, without their contributions this web site would have taken
additional years to develop. JAN KNODEL provided funding for the
orignal digital equipment and so reduced a growing project expense down to
the basic expense in any endeavor– time. In addition, she provided valuable
research materials which make this web site a far better resource and that
will enhance the education of future students in entomology at North Dakota
State University. DIANE PENNINGTON deserves special acknowledgment
and sincerest thanks for the accomplishment of the initial web pages, for
her suggestions in web site design, her continuing help with the occasional
computer glitch, and for enduring the tedium of creating the first couple
thousand hyperlinks. |
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