Results

The results of this study are summarized in the Checklist of Lepidoptera Collected in Wayne County, Ohio, which begins on page 21 of this publication. A total of 901 species of Lepidoptera was recorded. This tremendous diversity of Lepidoptera reflects the county's rich assembly of plant life that serves as hosts.

The checklist is arranged by family. The scientific name of the family is centered and ends in -idae. The common names of the families are taken from Heppner (1998). The common names of the species are much preferred over the scientific names when communicating with agricultural and lay groups. Common names for the species have been used wherever possible, and a few obvious ones have been coined.

For each species listed, the citation is as follows. The first and second entries are shown in italics and represent the genus and species. Following this, usually in parentheses, are the name of the author of the species and the year in which the species was described. The next number, in boldface, is the checklist number. This is a number assigned to each species that represents its taxonomic relationship to other Lepidoptera (Hodges et al., 1983). The lower the checklist number (1) the more primitive the species, and the higher the number (11177), the more advanced the species is in regards to its place in the animal kingdom.

For an example, see the sample listing in the box below.

The common name, if one has been assigned, is in capital letters at the right margin. Next is the site where the specimen was collected in Wayne County. The date(s) of collection appears next, and following this item is the abbreviated name of the collector and identifier, as indicated by "c" or "i." Following this, in parentheses, is the number of specimens collected and the stage collected.

The next entry is a listing of the host(s) of the larvae, the seasonal flight behavior of the adults, and other pertinent biological facts. Following this item is the status of

the species, whether abundant, common, locally common, uncommon, or rare. The final entry indicates a new county record. For the Noctuidae, this is based upon the Wayne County distribution of the species treated in Rings et al. (1992) The Owlet Moths of Ohio.

In this sample listing, the genus and the species are Pseudaletia unipuncta. Haworth described the species in 1809, but the genus was originally described under a different name. The number from Checklist of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico (MONA) is 10438. The common name is ARMYWORM. The first moth was caught at Brown's Lake Bog on 15 April 1997 and the last moth was caught on 9 August 1997. The collector was Lorraine F. Rings, and the identifier was Roy W. Rings. Next, a total of 78 adults was collected during the collecting period. Following this is a description of the food plants and finally the status "Abundant" is given. As used here, "Abundant" describes the status of the insect in northeastern Ohio, including Wayne County.