Vermont has not benefited from a formal statewide Orthoptera survey. Instead, this atlas draws on more than 50 years of recorded observations beginning with the work of Ross and Joyce Bell and continuing today.
During the 1960s the Bells began a program to learn the fauna of Vermont and to compile extensive records of natural history information. Through this work they built the UVM Entomological Collection into an important resource for science and conservation, and they inspired us here at VCE to launch the Vermont Atlas of Life, where we’ve helped to digitize, publish, and archive some of their amazing work, including their hand drawn Vermont Orthoptera dot maps, which are the original basis for this atlas.
Dot map created created by Ross and Joyce Bell from their collection trips. Each dot was digitized and shared here.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to the late Susan Gallagher for all of her work digitizing and mapping records and then researching and writing the first species accounts, which are still available. Without Susan’s work, this project would have remained locked away in a binder rather than used for science, education, and conservation. We’d also like to thank expert Brandon Woo, who identifies a lot of Vermont records on iNaturalist.
