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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #308125
Title: Reed Watkins: A Passion for Plume Moths

Author
item Silverson, Nicholas
item Solis, M Alma

Submitted to: News of the Lepidopterist's Society
Publication Type: Popular Publication
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/11/2014
Publication Date: 8/30/2014
Citation: Silverson, N.J., Solis, M.A. 2014. Reed Watkins: A Passion for Plume Moths. News of the Lepidopterist's Society. 56(3):142-144.

Interpretive Summary: The Pterophoridae, or plume moths, include economically important species such as the grape plume moth, a pest on grapes, and the artichoke plume moth, a pest on artichokes. The national collection at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, is used to make identifications of adults and larvae. Reed Watkins, a volunteer for 13 years, has upgraded this collection to make identifications more accurate and retrieval of specimens and information more efficient. This collection improvement will aid in identification of plume moths intercepted at U.S. ports and make material available to researchers worldwide.

Technical Abstract: Reed Watkins has curated the nationl Pterophordiae or plume moth collection at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, for the past 13 years. He has decreased the number of specimens of unsorted and unidentified material and has expanded the collection from 3 to 6 cabinets. He has developed a species list of material in the collection and databases of the adult and larval collection.