INTRODUCTION TO DOMINICK MOTH CHECKLIST

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The Richard B. Dominick Moth and Butterfly Collection consists of 25,215 moths and 1,758 butterflies of which there are 1,167 species; the collection is currently located on the Columbia Campus of the University of South Carolina. All specimens were collected by Dr. Dominick at his home on The Wedge Plantation between around 1965 and 1975; The Wedge is a former rice plantation, located 5 miles north of McClellanville, South Carolina, and consisting of a mixed habitat of impounded rice fields, cypress swamps and a mixed pine-hardwood forest including live oaks and giant Magnolias. The property is transected by the fresh to brackish South Santee River, which divides The Wedge into approximately 650 and 850 acre tracts.

For some years The Wedge has been part of the School of Public Health at The University of South Carolina, serving as The International Center for Public Health Research focusing on the control vector-borne desease (e.g. mosquito). The site hosted on site research and frequent international courses in mosquito identification and control. This program is currently being terminated and the property being considered for sale.

The moth collection was moved from The Wedge to Columbia in March 1993 and is currently part of the University of South Carolina McKissick Museum Collections. Access to the collection for research purposes can be arrainged by contacting

Dr. Richard Vogt
Department of Biological Sciences
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
803-777-9621
vogt@biol.sc.edu

Dominick's Laboratory at The Wedge (cir. 1994)

The collection was the result of the lifelong interest of Dr. Dominick, a physician. Dr. Dominick played a central role in reevaluating the phylogeny of moth species in North America. A series of monographs organized as fascicles of "The Moths of America North of Mexico" was published through the joint effort of Dr. Dominick and E.W. Classey; from 1971 to l978 13 fascicles were published on 13 superfamilies of moths. Many individuals assisted Dr. Dominick in this enterprise; those recognized as the principal contributors include Dr. D. C. Ferguson (1978), Dr. J. G. Franclemont (1973), Dr. Ronald W. Hodges (1971), (1974), (1978), Dr. E. G. Munroe (1972), (1973), (1976), and Mr. Charles R. Edwards.

The cataloging of the Dominick Collection was done by Dr. F. Lance Wallace of The Citadel, Charleston SC; Dr. Wallace maintained the collection from 1983 to 1992, updating the collection to coincide with the numbering system and revisions occurring in the Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico. In his original checklist, Dr. Wallace includes the following acknowledgement:

"I would like to thank Dr. Mac A Tidwell, Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, for his support and encouragement, as well as Mrs. Beverly M. Powell and Lt. Col. Rex K. Skanchy for the long hours spent in helping organize this manuscript."