Flower abundance and army cutworm moth lipid contents

Our objective was to evaluate how nectar resources and lipid accumulation in army cutworm moths (Euxoa auxiliaris) have changed since originally evaluated in 1978-1980. We compared flower and moth data collected in the alpine zone at Pennsylvania Mountain, Park County, Colorado, USA between historic (1977-1980) and contemporary (2021-2023) study periods. We relocated vegetation plots and moth trapping sites used in the original sampling scheme. The flower data come from repeated censuses of five vegetation plots. Observers visited five plots each week in June-July to count the number of flowers of each of three species: alpine pennycress (Noccaea fendleri), dwarf phlox (Phlox condensata), and false candytuft (Smelowskia calycina). The moth data come from repeated blacklight trapping in June and July at four sites. The presented data include abundances and sex (M/F) of army cutworm moths as well as the lipids contents (% dry weight) of a randomly selected subsample. To match the dimensions of the original available data, the mean lipid contents of male and female army cutworm moths are presented. Our finding show changes in flower abundance associated with changing patterns of lipid accumulation by army cutworm moths during foraging in June and July in the alpine tundra.