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More than an empty case: a non invasive technique for monitoring the Australian critically endangered golden sun moth, Synemon plana (Lepidoptera: Castniidae)

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Abstract

Monitoring programs for butterflies and moths are focused on the adult stage, rarely considering other life stages. Transect-based counts of adults and searches for empty pupal cases have been suggested as standard monitoring protocols for the critically endangered golden sun moth Synemon plana in Australia. To date, surveys and monitoring have focused only on counts of adults. However, undertaking such counts is constrained by the short adult life of the species (1–2 days), and the fact that prevailing weather conditions can seriously influence detectability. We tested whether empty pupal cases of S. plana can be used to supplement the monitoring of adults and whether this technique can be undertaken by citizen scientists. Volunteers from Canberra (Australia) collected 650 pupal cases from 11 grassland areas. The cases were found in native grasslands and in grassland comprised entirely of the exotic Chilean needle grass (Nassella neesiana). Pupal cases of S. plana were found to be durable, with most persisting in the field for greater than 3 weeks after first sighting, and exhibited a male biased sex ratio. This study demonstrates that detection of empty pupal cases provides a potential additional tool to monitor S. plana that is not dependent on the restrictions of prevailing weather conditions and time of day, and can be undertaken by citizen scientists.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Friends of Grasslands, Canberra, and the many volunteers who contributed to the success of this project. Thank you to Alan Yen and Daniel Gilmore for numerous discussions about the golden sun moth and thanks to Bernhard Theißen, Patrick Leopold and Gabriel Hermann who provided advice regarding the implementation of non adult life stages in monitoring programs in Europe. Nadav Pezaro assisted with the interpretation of the sex ratio bias in the species. Thank you to Michael Braby and one anonymous reviewer for providing helpful comments to improve the paper. The project was financially supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government. Facilities and transport were provided by the Institute for Applied Ecology at the University of Canberra. Permission to undertake this research was provided by the ACT Government. Finally, we thank our families who shared our enthusiasm for this project and tolerated the long hours that we had to devote to field and laboratory work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Anett Richter, Dana Weinhold, Matthew Young & Will Osborne

  2. Friends of Grasslands, P. O. Box 987, Civic Square, ACT, 2608, Australia

    Geoff Robertson & Sarah Hnatiuk

  3. The Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, Clunies Ross Street, Acton, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Ted Edwards

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  1. Anett Richter
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  2. Dana Weinhold
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  3. Geoff Robertson
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  4. Matthew Young
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  5. Ted Edwards
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  6. Sarah Hnatiuk
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  7. Will Osborne
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Correspondence to Anett Richter.

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Richter, A., Weinhold, D., Robertson, G. et al. More than an empty case: a non invasive technique for monitoring the Australian critically endangered golden sun moth, Synemon plana (Lepidoptera: Castniidae). J Insect Conserv 17, 529–536 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-012-9537-5

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