The 24th Annual Meting of the Southern Lepidopterists’ Society was held on September 21, 2002, in the Doyle Conner Auditorium of the FSCA, Division of Plant Industries, Gainesville, Florida. Attending the meeting were James K. Adams, Phyllis Baker (new member), Bob Belmont, Richard Boscoe, John and Laurel Calhoun, Tom Emmel, David Fine, Irving Finkelstein, Ron Gatrelle, Rick Gillmore, John Heppner, Tom Neal, J. Akers Pence, and Jeff Slotten.

After a period of informal socializing, feasting on coffee and donuts, and identification of UFOs, the meeting was called to order at 10:05 with welcoming remarks by chairman James K. Adams. The first item on the agenda this year was the Business meeting and election of officers for 2003.

Tom Emmel proposed a joint meeting in late September, 2003, of the Southern Lepidopterists’ Society and Tropical Lepidoptera group, with the possibility of a collecting trip following the meeting, perhaps to Mexico or Costa Rica. The timing of the proposed joint meeting is geared to coincide with the date the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera Research is slated to be ready for occupancy, and the meeting would include a tour of the new facility. Specifically, the proposed tentative dates are for the weekend of September 27-28, 2003.

James initiated a discussion of the future of the society. Membership has continued to drop off, and declining attendance at annual meetings may lead to discontinuing having annual meetings after next year. James urged that the Newsletter be sent only to people who have paid their dues. Jeff Slotten reported that current membership stands at 163, with 103 paid for 2002. He gave special thanks to C. Howard Grisham for his generous $400 contribution to the society.

James lauded the Newsletter and Barry Lombardini’s great job of continuing (and improving) where Leroy Koehn has left off, including the excellent color inserts. Rick Gillmore suggested that the state coordinators be encouraged to do a more conscientious job of reporting records, and that even reports of common species (e.g., Saturniids) can be useful. Also discussed was the problem of several coordinators who rarely if ever submit reports (Is no one collecting at all in Arkansas, for example?).

James led a discussion of the society’s relationship (or non-relationship) with NABA, and he encouraged attracting more “butterfly watchers” as a means to increase membership, and noted that great success of the Ohio Lepidopterists’ in this area. However, SLS members reported repeatedly running into problems (in Florida and elsewhere) with fanatics who are hostile to the idea of killing and collecting, and want no part of us. An interesting observation was made that there is a predominance of women among butterfly watchers, and they [women or watchers?] naturally [alllegedly] have a strong emotional attachment to living creatures. The members present were in general agreement that discussions on this subject should continue, including the possibility of initiating watchers-coordinators.

 

[Web-ed: A quick explanation is in order for those not familiar with the society. NABA promotes “non-consumptive butterflying,” and many of their members are of a strong anti-collecting disposition, stressing watching as the preferred activity. SLS is both pro-watching and pro-collecting. The pro-collecting nature of SLS is due in part to its more scientific nature and to its interest in moths as well as in butterflies. Here is an interesting document on the (international) Lepidopterists’ Society site regarding their stance on collecting.]

The desirability of more field trips and field meetings (in lieu of annual meetings?) was discussed, and the Florida Keys and northern Alabama (Howard Grisham country) were mentioned as potential localities.

Last year, a motion was made and passed to initiate a $10 registration fee for the annual meeting, but his was never publicized, and therefore not required for the present meeting. A new motion was made, seconded and passed, to institute a $5 registration fee for members, and $10 for non-members, beginning with this meeting.

Finally, the nominating committee’s report produced a slate of officers to remain the same for 2003, except for the chairman’s position, to be filled by Bob Beiriger. The officers were elected unanimously. They are as follows:

Bob Beiriger, Chairman Jeff Slotten, Treasurer Bill Russell, Secretary Barry Lombardini, Editor Paul Milner, Membership Coordinator Marc Minno, Member at Large

A much-needed 10-minute bathroom and coffee break was followed at 11:15 by the start of the regularly scheduled program. James reported (for Dave Morgan) on the Southern Lepidopterists’ web site (www.southernlepsoc.org), now up and running since last December and drawing more and more visitors (680 in August), with the “Unknowns” page drawing the most traffic. James indicated the growing popularity of the web site and ability to e-mail make it a great tool to potentially increase membership, and he encouraged the use of the web site to place announcements (e.g., for field trips) and news clips, articles and UFO identifications.

Dave Fine rounded-out the mornings’ meeting agenda with an impassioned status report on the Miami Blue Restoration Project, with excellent site photos and lots of personal experiences.

After assembling for the group photo in front of the building, the meeting adjourned for lunch, during which socialization and informal discussion of matters lepidopterological (or illogical) continued at Subway’s courtesy of Tom Neal and his offer of free lunch vouchers.

At 1:15, the meeting reconvened with what was for many attendees the highlight of the day’s program, Tom Emmel’s report on the progress and future program plans for the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera Research, a 40,000 square foot facility that will house the second-largest Lepidoptera collection in the world (after the British Museum). Using large, colorful posters, Tom gave a dramatic overview of the appearance, scope and diversity of the impressive new museum, conservatory and research facility.

Jeff Slotten continued the afternoon’s program with his paper on two Sphingids, Perigonia lusca and Eupyrrhoglossum sagra in Florida, the latter a first U.S. record for the species, and excellent slides documenting the life history of both species.

For the first time in the Southern Lepidopterists’ Society’s 24-year history, two candidates for the Abbot Award received an equal number of votes. Therefore, two awards were presented, to James Adams and John Calhoun, both recipients having demonstrated outstanding service to the Society and having made important contributions to our understanding of the Lepidoptera fauna of the region. Serendipitously, the two final papers in the afternoon program were presented by the Abbot Award recipients. John Calhoun reported on the (un)Common Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus albescens) in Florida, and James Adams detailed his three-year Highlands, NC moth sampling project and its significance. A more detailed version of John’s paper also appeared in the Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society, 56 (2), 2002:98-103.

James brought the afternoon to a close by showing a selection of slides of his trip to Mexico in August of this year, specifically around a town called El Lobo (“the wolf”) in the mid-elevation of the Sierra Oriental range, and an assortment of spectacular and seldom encountered moths he collected during that trip.

Nearly all the attendees, some accompanied by their family, reconvened that evening for dinner at the Voodoo Lounge in downtown Gainesville, and continued sharing their thoughts and experiences before going their separate ways.

(Submitted by Irving Finkelstein, Secretary-for-the-Day)