The 2020 Lep course will be held August 6-16 at the Southwestern Research Station (SWRS) in the Chirichahua Mountains of Southeastern Arizona (a 2 1/2 hour drive from Tucson), USA. The deadline for application is July 10, 2020 http://www.lepcourse.com .
With its extensive series of Sky-Island mountain ranges, SE Arizona is a hot spot for the highest Lepidoptera diversity in North America. With low desert scrub oak and mixed oak-pine woodland, lush riparian, juniper, Douglas fir, and mountain meadow habitats all within a 40 minute drive from the station, the SWRS is an ideal location from which to sample this diversity of both habitats and species.
The emphasis of the Lep Course is to train graduate students, post-docs, faculty, and serious citizenscientists in the classification and identification of adult Lepidoptera and their larvae. The course includes lectures, field trips and labs. Topics to be covered include an extensive introduction into
adult and larval morphology with a focus on taxonomically important traits, extensive field work on both adults and larvae, collecting and curatorial techniques, genitalia dissections, larval classification, and general issues in Lepidoptera systematics, ecology, and evolution.
Instructors will include Richard Brown, Jennifer Bundy, Chris Grinter, Sangmi Lee, Ray Nagle, Ron Rutowski, and Bruce Walsh
Updates and further information is available online at http://www.lepcourse.com/
Applications to the Lep Course can be made in the future at the following site: https:// www.amnh.org/our-research/southwestern-research-station/education/lepidoptera-course
