Atlas of North Dakota Butterflies
Explanation of Textual Species Accounts
In order to promote congruency with other butterfly resources, each of the following species listings presents three different naming conventions. These appear in three separate lines at the beginning of each account.
The first line, coded BND (Butterflies of North Dakota), lists nomenclature that generally accords with Royer (2003), Butterflies of North Dakota (Minot State University). BND colloquial names are based on J. Y. Miller (Ed.) (1992), The Common Names of North American Butterflies (Smithsonian); and BND scientific names are based on Miller, L. D and F. M. Brown (1981), A Catalogue/Checklist of the Butterflies of America North of Mexico, as amended by Ferris, C. D. (1989), Supplement to A Catalogue/Checklist of the Butterflies of America North of Mexico (Lepidopterists' Society Memoirs Two and Three), and in part on Opler, P. A. and A. D. Warren (2002), Butterflies of North America: 2. Scientific Names List for Butterfly Species of North America, north of Mexico. Higher classification generally accords with the Holarctic treatment of Karsholt, D. and J. Razowski (1996), The Lepidoptera of Europe.
The second line, coded BNA, affords a cross-link to the nomenclature used for the same species in the USGS Butterflies of North America resource, allowing immediate access to many of the names used by butterfly resources other than this one.
The third line, coded NDC (North Dakota Code), uses four-letter reporting/database codes derived from Miller & Brown (1981)/Ferris (1989) binomial names. While some of the Miller/Brown nomenclature is now outdated, these codes are employed at a number of North Dakota sites in long-term butterfly monitoring projects, and for the sake of congruency with existing database material they are the preferred codes for reporting butterfly survey results in North Dakota. Examples: Colias philodice = COPH; Satyrodes eurydice = SAEU.
For each species, in the first citation listed (code BND) the original author of the species is named, along with the date of its first formal publication. If the author's name is in parentheses, then the species was named under a different genus than is given here. For example, BND: Milbert's Tortoise Shell; Aglais milberti (Godart, 1819) indicates that J. Y. Miller identifies the name in preferred usage as “Milbert's Tortoise Shell,” for which the scientific name listed by Miller and Brown is Aglais milberti, the trivial epithet, milberti, having first been published by Godart in 1819, but under a different genus (which was in fact Vanessa, though that is not given here).
Following is a summarization of naming codes, as they appear in each species listing, with their various meanings:
BND: J. Y. Miller colloquial name; Miller & Brown/Ferris scientific name
BNA: NABA common name; Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center "Butterflies of North America" scientific name
NDC: North Dakota four-letter survey database reporting codes
In each account this material on nomenclature is followed by a brief description of typical North Dakota habitat, in some cases including adult food sources, etc. This information is followed by an indication of larval host(s), when known, and that by information on adult phenology. These items are followed by abbreviated citations for texts in which more detailed information may be located. Each abbreviation gives last names of authors followed by the page numbers on which pertinent textual entries will be found. These reference works are as follows:
Royer, Ronald Alan. 2003. Butterflies of North Dakota: An Atlas and Guide (2nd Edition). Minot State University Science Monograph series.
Opler, Paul A. and Krizek, George O. 1984. Butterflies East of the Great Plains: An Illustrated Natural History. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore. (For principally eastern taxa)
Ferris, Clifford D. and Brown, F. Martin. 1981. Butterflies of the Rocky Mountain States. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman. (For principally western taxa)
Layberry, R. A., P. W. Hall, and J. D. Lafontaine. 1998. The Butterflies of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto. (For principally northern taxa)
Scott, James A. 1986. Butterflies of North America: A Natural History and Field Guide. Stanford University Press. Stanford, California.
