Crambus Update

15 January 2023

For the last year I have been trying to add identifications on all observations of the genus Crambus Fabricius from North America that have been posted on iNat. As of 10 January 2023, there have been 22,590 verifiable North American records posted at iNat. Of these 16,780 (74%) have reached research grade (RG). I have personally reviewed 19,314 (85.5%) leaving me with a little more than 3000 observations to review, which I intend to go through by the end of April 2023.

In the last two years, more than 12,000 observations of Crambus have been submitted to iNaturalist. As a result, there are now four species with more than 1000 RG observations: C. agitatellus (7419), C. praefectellus (2385), C. albellus (1592), and C. laqueatellus (1111).

Rounding out the top ten species on iNat are: C. saltuellus (970), C. girardellus (531), C. leachellus (444), C. perlella (414), C. bidens (382) and C. unistriatellus (321). A total of 15 species have more than 100 observations.

Currently there are 43 species in the genus that occur in North America north of Mexico, but two of these (dimidiatellus & angulatus) will be transferred out of the genus with the next revision. Thirty-five species have been recorded on iNat. The unrecorded species are: ainsliellus (which can only be separated from leachellus by dissection); angulatus; bigelovi; cockleellus; johnsoni; leuconotus (there is a record from Mexico on iNat); and trichusalis.

Significant finds in the last year include the following:

Two records of C. awemellus: one from Michigan by @susan_kielb and one from Manitoba by @kkrockytop bring the total number of observations to 3!

Four records of C. cyrilellus, all from NM, bring the total to 14 by @wendybirdsbyrv (two observations), @dull2shinetoo, @adrianj. This is a fairly common species, so the small number of records on iNat may be due to the relative dearth of observations from the southwestern states where it occurs.

The first record of Crambus dimidiatellus on iNat from CO by @adrianj.

Two observations of C. gausapalis, doubling the iNat total, from CA by @tiwane and @yubabirder.

Four observations of C. hamella, all from Quebec, 3 by @jo_gagnon and one by @ygobeil which bring the iNat total to 14.

One additional observation of C. harrisi by @rkostecke brings the total to 16 on iNat, all from TX.

From Quebec, @jo_gagnon added iNat’s second record of C. lyonsellus.

Ten observations of C. multilinellus were added during 2022. The range map for this species is filling out nicely. The only other states where it occurs (based on specimen records) are TN and LA. Adult phenology has also been well circumscribed by iNat.

iNat’s 10th record of C. rickseckerellus was found in CA by @chilipossum.

There were 19 new records of C. whitmerellus, which is about 40% of the iNat total.

Sixteen additional records of C. youngellus increased the number of observations on iNat by 50%.

The range maps for some species are getting fairly impressive, and even for species with a relatively small number of observations, the range map gives a good idea of where the species might be expected.

A Tip for Photography of Crambus
Too many of the photographs submitted to iNat can’t be identified further than genus b/c of poor quality or because the photo is taken in top-view only. It is essential to photograph Crambus, and most micros, in profile to improve the odds of obtaining an identification.

Comments welcome.

I am tagging several people who have photographed or IDed a lot of Crambus as this post may be of interest to them. Feel free to tag others. Apologies in advance for those I have omitted: @a_anctil @joannerusso @jasondombroskie @tcooley @edporopat @treichard @birds_bugs_botany @bobharding @brevan_wagner @btk @lepalot @maractwin @joebartok @arborsphere @henryhawkes @smithsqrd @mercedes-fletcher @thomasirvine @jenniferwhanson @ken_j_allison @sgalick @stubirdnb @suegregoire @jo_gagnon @gis1 @paul_dennehy @dull2shinetoo @garyyankech @allenratzlaff @johntrent @roshan2010 @psweet @markread @marc_belisle_usherbrooke @robpendergast @erikamitchell @michael_butler @michelarrivee @robertdifrusca @md-in-ns15 @hholbrook @mikeburrell @josh_vandermeulen @imbeaul @jollygoodyellow @dan_macneal @joefrechette @seabrookeleckie @driley @lockebeulve @safechrislaurie @finatic @cbuelow45 @joshualincoln @iandavies @gaudettelaura @rayray @pmaxp @bryanpfeiffer @scholtensb

Posted on February 27, 2023 03:13 AM by hughmcguinness