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34
Vol. 6, nos.1-3
A NEW ALTITUDINAL HIGH FOR ERORA LAETA by Sidney A. Hessel
On August 11, 1951, as a member of a collecting party on Mt. Washington, N. H., including also C. L. Remington, G. W. Rawson and our host D. J. Lennox, the writer through a stroke of extremely good fortune became "initiated into the fraternity". For the benefit of those not familiar with this use of the colloquialism it means simply that he joined the ranks of those select few who have been so lucky as to capture a specimen of the most mysterious and elusive of eastern butterflies, Erora laeta (Edw.). Dr. A. B. Klots commented on the capture in a letter: "and in quite conventional fashion, i. e., in the most unlikely place and when least expecting it."
More definitely, the locality was close to the toll road in that area known as Cragway Spring, elev. 4660 feet, definitely above timber line. The date is apparently the latest of record.
When first seen, the butterfly had been flushed from the ground or ground-cover by my approach and appeared to be a Geometer moth (Carsia paludata boreata Pack.) as it fluttered with the light breeze and came to rest some fifteen yards away on a slender, bare, upright twig projecting a few inches above the thick, brushy mat that covered most of the immediate area. It was then that its position with wings held together betrayed its butterfly identity, and for that matter, before the net could be clamped over it, its specific determination.
The insect, however, would not fly up into the net even when its resting spot was disturbed but persisted in crawling through the brushy mat, at times being lost to view. It became evident that the rim of the net, held firmly to the ground by my knees, would have to be lifted, a maneuver I contemplated with horror. At least I would summon assistance! — and so let out a yell which soon brought C. L. R. to the scene, though strangely enough, no rescue parties from the valley below. I lifted the edge of the rim while C. L. R., after one or two false starts, was able to work the E. laeta into a cyanide tube and place the cork in position. (Luckily for him he did not excite the insect into a flutter as I was prepared to jump oxitD the rim of the net and would likely have cut his arms off just below the elbows.)
Upon reflection it did occur to us that nearly 400 pounds of Homo sapiens pitted against a single Erora laeta male probably was not sporting, but it was a strong and heavy bodied male, so much so that only after microscopic examination by Dr. Klots was I satisfied that the abdomen was not loaded with eggs.
8 Woodmere Blvd. South, Woodmere, N. Y., U. S. A.