Discussion
Most studies of insect phenology have focused on regional scales, and the few studies at larger spatial scales have been constrained to species easily identified by trained volunteers such as butterflies in the United Kingdom (e.g., Hodgson et al., 2011; Roy et al., 2015). Here, we leverage rapidly increasing, openly available observation records to achieve the broad phylogenetic sampling necessary for finding commonalities in phenological sensitivity related to climate and life history traits, both important predictors of insect phenology. Our key finding is that timing of adult insect activity is temperature-driven but strongly conditioned by species traits and less-so by phylogenetic relatedness. As we discuss below, these findings provide a basis for prediction of phenological responses in the face of environmental change.