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Harvard Forest Data Archive

HF287

Butterfly, Dragonfly and Damselfly Species at Harvard Forest 2015

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Data

Overview

  • Lead: Daniel Cooper
  • Investigators:
  • Contact: Information Manager
  • Start date: 2015
  • End date: 2015
  • Status: completed
  • Location: Harvard Forest
  • Latitude: +42.482618 to 42.533459 degrees
  • Longitude: -72.213837 to -72.182266 degrees
  • Elevation:
  • Datum: WGS84
  • Taxa: Lepidoptera, Odonata
  • Release date: 2023
  • Language: English
  • EML file: knb-lter-hfr.287.7
  • DOI: digital object identifier
  • EDI: data package
  • DataONE: data package
  • Related links:
  • Study type: short-term measurements
  • Research topic: biodiversity studies; physiological ecology, population dynamics and species interactions
  • LTER core area: population studies, disturbance patterns
  • Keywords: agriculture, arthropods, biodiversity, census, populations, species abundance
  • Abstract:

    I report on preliminary observations of butterflies in small meadows in the vicinity of “Harvard Farm” (formerly Petersham Country Club) in Petersham, MA, from 16-20 July 2015. I sampled butterflies at 10 locations over five days, visiting some areas twice. I documented (with digital photography) a total of 17 recognizable species/morpho-species, as well as 2-8 additional “grass skippers” which could not be identified to species. Initially I had planned to conduct a more organized survey, but most of the property had been grazed by the time I arrived in mid-July. This, combined with the late start date, meant that flowers – and nearly all butterflies – were absent at the Harvard Farm property during my visit. Instead, I opted to opportunistically sample several un-grazed meadows in the Petersham area, including North Common Meadow near the center of town and small meadows on Harvard Forest property, to develop a species list and photographic database of as many local butterflies as possible. From these surveys, the most numerous species were clouded/orange sulfur (Colias spp.; 34 individuals observed), followed by great spangled fritillary (Speyeria cybele; n = 32) and unidentified grass-skippers (various genera; n = 32). Moderately common species (n = 8-12) included Common wood-nymph (Cercyonis pegala), American copper (Lycaena phlaeas) and cabbage white (Pieris rapae); fewer than 4 individuals were recorded of: black/spicebush swallowtail (Papilio sp.), banded hairstreak (Satyrium calanus), gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus), azure (Celastrina ladon), eastern tailed-blue (Everes comyntas), pearl crescent (Phycioides tharos), eastern comma (Polygonia comma), Appalachian brown (Satyodes appalachia), northern pearly-eye (Enodia anthedon), and silver-spotted skipper (Epargyreus claras). These observations should be taken as preliminary, but may serve as a list of the most common and conspicuous butterfly taxa during mid-summer in the Petersham area, and could inform study design and focal species lists for future projects in and around Harvard Forest.

  • Methods:

    Butterfly, dragonfly and damselfly species were observed and photographed at various sites in and around Harvard Forest.

  • Organization: Harvard Forest. 324 North Main Street, Petersham, MA 01366, USA. Phone (978) 724-3302. Fax (978) 724-3595.

  • Project: The Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program examines ecological dynamics in the New England region resulting from natural disturbances, environmental change, and human impacts. (ROR).

  • Funding: National Science Foundation LTER grants: DEB-8811764, DEB-9411975, DEB-0080592, DEB-0620443, DEB-1237491, DEB-1832210.

  • Use: This dataset is released to the public under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (No Rights Reserved). Please keep the dataset creators informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset should include proper acknowledgement.

  • License: Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal (CC0-1.0)

  • Citation: Cooper D. 2023. Butterfly, Dragonfly and Damselfly Species at Harvard Forest 2015. Harvard Forest Data Archive: HF287 (v.7). Environmental Data Initiative: https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/367f5ce27ac6083cbf65b7c238e956dc.

Detailed Metadata

hf287-01: observation locations

  1. loc.code: location code
  2. loc.description: location description
  3. lat: latitude (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
  4. long: longitude (unit: degree / missing value: NA)

hf287-02: butterfly species codes

  1. sp.code: species code
  2. species: genus and species name
  3. common.name: common name

hf287-03: dragonfly and damselfly species codes

  1. sp.code: species code
  2. species: genus and species name
  3. common.name: common name

hf287-04: butterfly observation data

  1. date: observation date
  2. loc.code: location
    • HP: Harvard Pond
    • CHM: Harvard Forest meadow behind Common House next to Route 32
    • HQM: meadow across Route 32 from Harvard Forest headquarters
    • Rt32a/122M: Meadow at corner of Routes 32a and 122
    • NCM: North Common Meadow
    • HF: Harvard Farm
    • HF-NE: Harvard Farm - northeast corner only
    • PRM: Pierce Road Meadow
    • PL: powerline cut south of Harvard Forest headquarters along east side of Route 32
    • PM-SE: southeast "Prospect Meadow"
    • WSM: West Street Meadow
  3. start.time: observation start time
  4. end.time: observation end time
  5. pasp: number of Black/Spicebush Swallowtail observed. Values of NA in all observation data indicates that the species was present, but no number was recorded. (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  6. pira: number of Cabbage White observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  7. cosp: number of Clouded/Orange Sulfur observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  8. lyph: number of American Copper observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  9. saca: number of Banded Hairstreak observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  10. stme: number of Gray Hairstreak observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  11. cela: number of Common Wood-Nymph observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  12. evco: number of Eastern tailed-blue observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  13. spcy: number of Great Spangled Fritilary observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  14. phth: number of Pearl Crescent observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  15. poco: number of Eastern Comma observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  16. cepe: number of Common Wood-Nymph observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  17. saap: number of Appalachian Brown observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  18. enan: number of Northern Pearly-eye observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  19. epcl: number of Silver-spotted Skipper observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  20. thba: number of Southern cloudywing observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  21. poma: number of Eastern Comma observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  22. skip: number of Skipper (various species) observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)

hf287-05: dragonfly and damselfly observation data

  1. date: date of observation
  2. loc.code: location
    • HP: Harvard Pond
    • CHM: Harvard Forest meadow behind Common House next to Route 32
    • HQM: meadow across Route 32 from Harvard Forest headquarters
    • Rt32a/122M: Meadow at corner of Routes 32a and 122
    • NCM: North Common Meadow
    • HF: Harvard Farm
    • HF-NE: Harvard Farm - northeast corner only
    • PRM: Pierce Road Meadow
    • PL: powerline cut south of Harvard Forest headquarters along east side of Route 32
    • PM-SE: southeast "Prospect Meadow"
    • WSM: West Street Meadow
  3. start.time: observation start time
  4. end.time: observation end time
  5. licy: number of Spangled Skimmer observed. Values of NA in all observation data indicates that the species was present, but no number was recorded. (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  6. sysp: number of Meadowhawk sp. observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  7. cesp: number of Pennant sp. (female) observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  8. ceep: number of Halloween Pennant observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  9. moda: number of "Mosaic" darner observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  10. ersi: number of Eastern Pondhawk observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  11. emsp: number of Emerald sp. observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  12. ceel: number of (Calico) Pennant observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  13. liin: number of Slaty Skimmer observed (unit: number / missing value: NA)

hf287-06: Google Earth map of observation areas

  • Compression: zip
  • Format: kmz
  • Type: vector GIS

hf287-07: map of North Meadows observation areas

  • Compression: none
  • Format: jpeg
  • Type: image

hf287-08: map of South Meadows observation areas

  • Compression: none
  • Format: jpeg
  • Type: image