2025 Long Point Bioblitz
Its schedule adjusted to work around inclement weather, this year’s annual bioblitz at Long Point Wildlife Refuge ran from 11:00 p.m. on June 28, 2025, until 11:00 p.m. the following night. Fog early on the June 29 quickly gave way to warm and sunny conditions, which prevailed for the rest of the day. The good conditions continued into the evening, yielding a very productive blacklighting event.
Though participation was lower than usual this year, with only six observers submitting iNaturalist observations, the good weather and the steadily building skill levels of participants made this a very successful event. Hardworking observers produced a total of 580 iNaturalist observations representing 291 species, approaching the productivity of our 2024 effort. Trustees of Reservations ecologist Shea Fee also submitted two lists to eBird that totalled 46 avian species. Combining and reconciling iNat and eBird results, this bioblitz documented a remarkable 331 species on this fine conservation property on the south shore of Martha’s Vineyard.
The quality observations was high this year as well, with a number of apparently new species for Martha’s Vineyard being documented. For example, a velvety shore bug in the obscure family Ochteridae was photographed along the shoreline of the drawn down Tisbury Great Pond. While the genus of this striking, blue-spotted insect was surely Ochterus, our species identification, O. banksi, remains tentative. Beetles (the order Coleoptera) were particularly well represented this year. For instance, the oak-feeding weevil Laemosaccus nephele, which appears to furnish another Vineyard first, was photographed near the “winter parking area” that served as the base of operations for the event.
Banded hairstreak, Satyrium calanus
Diligent seining in Middle Cove by a small team led by Sam Gurney added seven species of fish to the event’s tally. A rainwater killfish, Lucania parva, uncommon on Martha’s Vineyard, was the clear highlight of this effort. I was joined at the moth sheet on the evening of June 29 by Robyn Graygor of BiodiversityWorks and Shea Fee of The Trustees. Collectively, we produced 127 moth observations representing 51 species; while no rarities were detected, it was an active evening featuring colorful species such as the Io moth (Automerus io) and Cerma cerintha. The evening also produced a number of non-Lepidoptera sightings, such as the predatory biting midge Sphaeromias longipennis (in the family Ceratopogonidae and an apparent first record for Martha’s Vineyard). Among the diurnal Lepidoptera recorded, the highlight may have been a freshly eclosed banded hairstreak (Satyrium calanus).
Each of our now-annual bioblitzes at this Trustees of Reservations property continues to add now species; across the four events that we’ve held to date, hard-working observers have compiled a total of 2,133 iNaturalist observations representing 642 species. These results highlight the high-quality habitat and skilled management of this ecologically important site; they also underscore the steadily growing skills of the local naturalists who participate in these events. The buttons below will take you to the iNaturalist project for this year’s event, or to an “umbrella project” that pulls together the results of all four bioblitzes we’ve held at Long Point.
BiodiversityWorks and The Trustees would like to thank all event participants and the 105 iNaturalist users who have so far provided identifications for 2025 bioblitz observations; in particular, the 159 identifications supplied by Vineyard botanist Margaret Curtin, who was unable to participate in this year’s bioblitz, represented a valuable contribution. Results will continue to evolve as identifications in iNaturalist are supplied, corrected, or refined. We’re already looking forward to next year’s event!
