Research Projects
The economically important Archipini (Tortricidae: Tortricinae) has over 1700 currently recognized species worldwide with many more undescribed. In the Americas this tribe is relatively less diverse than the Old World, but a few genera have radiated into a diverse assemblage over 350 currently recognized species. In the US & Canada the tribe is fairly well known except for a few species complexes, but in Central & South America there are over 200 undescribed species, mostly at higher elevations.
The last time the Lepidoptera were thoroughly surveyed in New York State was in 1928 by W. T. M. Forbes in Leonard's checklist of the Insects of New York. A lot has changed since then, but we are still far from a clear picture of the diversity and distribution in the state. In collaboration with Hugh McGuinness, we are surveying the Lepidoptera diversity through fieldwork and examining existing specimens in various collections.
The tortricid fauna of Curaçao is very poorly known and includes at least one endemic species. The fauna has components of arid areas of both nearby Venezuela and the Caribbean.