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Panoquina errans (Skinner, 1892), commonly known as the wandering skipper, is restricted to a narrow band of disjunct salt marsh habitat extending along the west coast of North America from Santa Barbara Co., California to the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico. A determination by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of whether it represents an endangered or threatened species could not be made owing to a paucity of information on its biological vulnerability and threat. Based on a three-year survey (2010-2012) in San Diego Co., California, the species was observed in nine coastal lagoons and a coastal bluff. At all sites within the study area there was a significant correlation between the maximum annual observations of P. errans and the total area occupied by the larval host plant Distichlis spicata (Poaceae). The primary habitat for P. errans is coastal lagoons and coastal bluffs (100% of observations); elevations less than 5 m above mean sea level (98% of observations); within 25 m of patches of D. spicata over 1 m2 (75% of observations); and containing Frankenia, Cakile, or Heliotropium (95% of observations).

INTRODUCTION: The San Diego Multiple Species Conservation program (MSCP) was developed for the conservation of plants and animals in the southeast portion of San Diego County. To assess the success of the MSCP and to evaluate the effectiveness of management actions implemented at the reserve level it is critical to monitor the species covered by the plan. Proper management of the preserve system will require ongoing collection and analysis of data on specific species and habitats to determine that species populations and habitats are being maintained by the MSCP preserve as expected. The purpose of this document is to provide protocols that the agencies and jurisdictions can apply to Risk Group 1 species (SDSU 2006) they share in common across the preserve. The intent is to begin collecting a unified and cohesive data set.