Sampling to Assess a Re-Established Appalachian Forest in Ohio Based on Gelechioid Moths (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea)

A list of microlepidoptera belonging to the superfamily Gelechioidea was produced from June trap samples from sites within the Wayne National Forest (Lawrence County), an Appalachian forest in Southern Ohio that was once a greatly disturbed area and has since re-established over a period of nearly 100 years. The composition and diversity of Lawrence county is compared to lists of gelechioid moths generated by other surveys in the eastern United States: the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, an Ohio study (Summerville and Crist 2003), and unpublished data from Connecticut (Wagner). From comparison with these studies, we address two questions: (1) How well do passive surveys of Gelechioidea compare to more labor intensive surveys? (2) How does the regenerated Wayne National Forest compare to other well documented areas with respect to gelechioid diversity? Our sample of diversity, though more narrow in time and area, compares favorably to more exhaustive sampling and demonstrates that it may be more efficient to focus on target groups in focal localities when time and resources are limited rather than conduct extensive sampling programs.