Development of this checklist was begun by the late George T. Austin, collection manager at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity. After his death, responsibility for the checklist and State of Florida collecting permit passed to Charles V. Covell, curator of lepidoptera at McGuire.

Because Paynes Prairie is just a few miles from the McGuire Center and Florida Museum of Natural History it is often visited by staff members of those institutions. It is also a favorite site for field trips when lepidopterist groups meet at Gainesville, and of individual lepidopterists using the Preserve's camping facilities. As a result of these visits to Paynes Prairie a substantial inventory of lepidopteran species has been made.

Due to its location within Florida (not too far north or south) and to the variety of habitats within the Preserve, it might be anticipated that 50%, or 1,500, of the lepidopteran species known to occur in Florida could be found at Paynes Prairie. This checklist, as of February, 2013, provides names of 930 species for which specimen or photographic records are known. In addition, another 60-70 species have been recognized at the family or genus level. Since the work to determine species level identification has not yet been done for this group they cannot be included in the checklist at this time.

Also lacking at present from the list are the butterflies which might eventually add 100-150 species.