The blue means that there have been reports. As far as I've been told, it doesn't mean that there is necessarily an established population, although the more blue in a region, the greater the likelihood that it is endemic or common.

I'd contact the Missouri state entemologist or the entomology authority at Mizzou.

In general the "dot maps" are counties/states where the authors have accepted a record (or records) for each species from a source that they trusted. Could be from personal field work, published works, and labeled specimens in institutional synoptic collections or from other serious Lepidopterists that have proven they are knowledgeable field researchers. Sightings and even photographs are normally just termed speculation unless a specimen was collected to back them up, and even then if the authors know and trust the abilities of the one submitting them. IOW it takes a bird in hand from a known and trusted source to be a valid record for a confide determination (more than one so called lepidopterist has been known to falsify records). An author that accepts a record from an unproven source, especially just a sighting or photograph, negates the value of their maps.

That said the maps serve mostly as just a guide. They have many errors, and unfortunately they don't take into account past species level. Many of the counties listed are for a single record that was accepted (obviously a stray), or for multiple strays as they are in habitats that do not or can not support an established colony.

There are several so called dot maps assembled by various authors, and the one you mentioned is a compilation of many of them. IOW in time most active Lepidopterists end up working on projects together, and this was the case with this particular data base. I've worked with and/or done field research with several of the authors of these data bases, so this one contains county and state records from my field work, many of which are the only documented records for those species in those counties. And many of them are from a single specimen collected.

In a nut shell (kind of a long one), but there is lots more that could be said about dot maps and the people who have done them.

Huh, I thought it meant "consistently votes Democrat."

Thanks Anna and Ladobe.
Jrcagle - you're no help at all. ; ) lol

It would be nice to see a dot map from 50 or more years ago to compare to a current one. How far back do the current maps go?

Jrcagle, You are right, but the question is, are they voting absentee, or are they actually present?

Seriously though, maps here indicate a number of things I've never personally seen. But apparently someone once did, or said they did, see at least one.

kelly

Christie, It has been my understanding that if a county is blue, it could mean that only one person reported seeing a particular species in his/her county. It could also mean that more than one person (perhaps dozens) could have reported it for that county. Although I'm no expert, I guess I sound like I know enough about the butterflies to be able to identify them, etc. Of course, I had pictures of them when I reported the butterflies for my county. Last year I got Pipevine Swallowtails here and reported them with a pic. It hadn't been reported previously and I noticed at some point after that (could have been months, I don't know), our county turned blue. I was assuming that my report turned it blue. The butterfly coordinator told me that it was a county record, and he said the same thing the year before when I reported the Giant Swallowtail. I had pictures to back up my report.

That being said, I suppose anyone could falsely report a butterfly. I don't see what would stop some unscrupulous person from just taking any picture that they find of someone else's and reporting it for their county. I don't actually know what they'd gain from it though; it's not like you win a prize for reporting a record butterfly. :) I am hoping that people are honest when reporting a certain species, but I suppose there are a few who give false reports for whatever reason.

The maps in the books (butterfly guides) give people a general idea of what butterflies are found in each state, but that's not detailed enough for me. So when I was deciding on what kinds of butterflies to try to attract here, I went to the website you mentioned to get a better idea of what I might be able to get. I did a map search for my county and started an Excel spreadsheet of the butterflies that had been reported here. I also looked up the host plants from that website and from this forum's list of host plants and put host plants in another column. At first I got the idea that those were the only butterflies that I'd be able to get here, but then I decided to do a state search. When I did that, I found more kinds of butterflies that had been reported in several counties surrounding mine but not in mine. I figured if they had been reported in counties that close that I'd be able to get them here too, so I decided to try for the Pipevine Swallowtail and Giant Swallowtail and got them. Now I want to try for the Zebra Swallowtail and have planted a dozen paw paw trees. Yes, I want them in the worst way! lol I have 98 species of butterflies listed in my file, although I don't think I'll try for every single kind.

Anyway, just because your county is blue for a particular species doesn't necessarily mean that you'd absolutely be able to get that one at your place. Conversely, just because your county isn't blue doesn't mean that you can't get the butterfly there. I'd look at the map at the counties surrounding yours also to get a better idea.

Once you have a pretty good idea of the types of butterflies that you'd like to try to attract at your place (and surely there are ones that you get there already), then you can decide what host plants to plant. For instance, I know that the endangered Karner Blue butterfly caterpillar eats Lupinus perennis/wild lupine, so I started some of that here; however, I also know that there are only two counties in our state (and they're far away from me) that reported the KB, so I'm not going to hold my breath for them to come here. Also, there's no savannah habitat near here, which is what they require, so I guess I'll be happy with the other types of butterfly cats that eat the plants.

There were already plants here for some types of butterflies like violets for the fritillaries and plantain for the buckeyes so that saved me from planting them, but I've planted a lot of wildflowers, weeds, trees, and bushes for butterflies that I've already seen here and for butterflies that I'd like to get here. The butterfly garden isn't real busy some years, but it's a huge attraction other years.

I would encourage anyone to try for as many types of butterflies as possible because I'm sure many of them could use our help. Sometimes we might be disappointed, but it's been my experience that the pleasant surprises far outweigh the disappointments.

I guess this is more than what you asked...lol...sorry. I get excited in the summer...butterflies galore this year! :-D

Cathy

Christie,
("It would be nice to see a dot map from 50 or more years ago to compare to a current one. How far back do the current maps go?")

The "current" maps probably all include historical as well as current records since the data is commonly shared between authors (Lepidopterists). Historical data is laced with lots of errors that are slowly being qualified by new field work done by an army of Lepidopterists. While historical Lepidopterists probably kept good field journals and may have assembled their data on maps, I think the maps as we know them today are a fairly new innovation. While beneficial, they leave a lot to be desired to serious Lepidopterists though.

Cathy,
Most of the recent known perpetrators of Lepidopteron falsehoods did it mostly for one or both of two reasons IMO... to gain acceptance in the professional circles as a bona fide Lepidopterist (the pump their ego IOW), or to use it to make a profit off of it. The most highly publicized recently (mid 90's) of the latter was the high jinks of three gentlemen (two in CA, one in AZ) who were black marketing protected and endangered species through the 80s and early 90Âs that were collected in protected reserves (like Grand Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park, Death Valley National Park, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Point Reyes National Seashore and a number of wildlife refuges) and selling them mostly to foreign collectors not governed by the ESA, or with false location data. Fortunately they were incarcerated, prosecuted, found guilty and paid the price for their actions (and are no longer welcome in the lep circles).

Larry

Larry, Thanks for that information...now I know why they falsely report them. I don't think it's right though that they would do that. I can't respect someone like that, and I really have disdain for people who would black market protected and endangered species. That's good that they were apprehended and punished for their despicable actions.
Cathy