By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The thousands of moths that moved through Central Kansas earlier this year may have been more than just pests and bear food. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are now asking the public in six states, including Kansas, to mail in deceased butterflies, moths, and skippers as part of a pilot study to help them identify contaminants and environmental factors that may be contributing to the decline of insect populations.
"Each of the laboratories in USGS has a different capability," said USGS Scientist-in-Charge Julie Dietze. "The work my colleagues and I have started here in Lawrence is related to pesticides, antibiotics, getting a baseline for hormones, and whether or not environmental contaminants are having a negative impact on their functionality."
Other states included in the study are Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, and Georgia. The insects must already be dead, and must be at least two inches in size to ensure scientists have enough sample to work with. The specimens should be placed in a resealable plastic bag and mailed without a return address. Not including personal information allows the USGS to work around the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, and scientists will use postmarks to determine locations.
"Having those latitudes and longitudes of those postmark facilities will be sufficient for what we're doing," Dietze said. "Butterflies and moths are flying around, so it's not like a body of water, per se, where you need an exact location. Hopefully, if the pilot is successful, we would go through the Paperwork Reduction Act and add additional states, and be able to have that option for people to say who sent it."
Specimens can be mailed to USGS LRC, 1217 Biltmore Dr., Lawrence, KS 66049. The deadline is Nov. 1, 2023.