United States
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From the introduction:
"From time to time, the Sandwell Valley Naturalists' Club (SNVC or SANDNATS) produces Special Series Publications on groups of plants and animals in the locality. It regularly updates members about local wildlife in its Bulletins but copies can be mislaid, so it is useful to publish more substantial versions of accumulated wildlife information. December 1993 saw a provisional list of butterflies and moths produced, but we now have enough information for this more detailed book about our butterflies and moths.
Over 900 different Lepidoptera species are currently recorded from Birmingham and the Black Country (B & BC) by Grundy and others. On the larger site in the vicinity, a number of notable entomologists have studied these insects in Sutton Park over a considerable period and a list of some 700 species including many rarities exists for that site. Saltwells Local Nature Reserve (LNR) is also important in having a history of modern light trapping and collection. Over 600 butterflies and moths, including a number of noteworthy species, have been discovered there. Many smaller sites have contributed records with some garden traps providing substantial amounts of data. From 1973 until the present day members of SVNC have been recording Lepidoptera in the Sandwell Valley. Most of our earlier records came from the observations and light trapping by Alicia and Bob Normand. Without their hard work and dedication, Butterflies & Moths of the Sandwell Valley would be of much reduced interest. When they left the area, Andy Purcell and Tony Wood took the lead in occasional moth trapping events but we lacked a dedicated unit for study of moths until some members of the Midlands' Moth Group joined SANDNATS. In collaboration firstly with staff at the RSPB and later with the Club in other areas, they worked to add data by a programme of light trapping. The influence of Dave Grundy was seminal in bringing this about. The current moth trapping programme has covered areas in the Valley where records are sparse, rather than focusing on gathering data from the same places over time. This has considerably improved the picture of the distribution of our moths and has raised the number of species discovered in the Valley to 675.
The butterfly data includes a substantial record set from Paul Smith. His transects were not regularly worked by recent volunteers and so did not provide an extended picture of butterfly activity, but they still provide a valuable foundation for possible future studies.
The overall period of butterfly and moth studies in the Sandwell Valley cannot be considered long in comparison with some of the extended surveys carried out on more famous sites. Our study does not have great quantitative value, but provides a list of the insects from relatively recent times, gives some idea where they have been found and how their presence may reflect their surroundings."
