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Vol.14: no.3
NEW LARVAL FOODPLANT FOR ERYNNIS ZARUCCO (HESPERIID^E) FROM LOUISIANA
by Roy O. Kendall
While visiting my father-in-law, Lawrence Alfokd, September 13, 1959 at Leesville, Vernon Parish, Louisiana, I took the liberty to examine the Black Locust trees, Robinia pseudoacacia L., which grow in his yard. At the front of this property is a clump of trees ranging in height from about five to fifteen feet. On these I found numerous larvae of Epargyreus clams Cramer. A short distance from this clump of trees, about three hundred feet, were two more small bushes about six feet high. I now proceeded to examine these and was pleasantly surprised to find five Erynnis zarucco Lucas larvae hidden in leaf nests. The nests or protective shelters consisted of two or three leaflets pulled together and held there by strands of silk, typical of the genus.
The larvae were all in the last instar. Except for one which was preserved, all pupated in their leaf shelters during the next two days. Of the pupae, one was preserved; the remaining three emerged September 22 & 23, 1959. It was interesting to note the similarity of E. zarucco larva to that of E. funeralis Scudder & Burgess from Bexar County, Texas. A descriptive comparison based on this limited sample of E. zarucco follows:
Erynnis funeralis: Larva tan with dorsolateral yellow line segmentally punctuated with bright yellow squarish spots; indistinct whitish granulations. Head angled, black with two distinct orange-yellow spots on each cheek; a third spot at the uppermost part of the head tending to form a single large spot at the crown; below this a small spot not always distinct.
Erynnis zarucco: Larva cream colored with dorsolateral yellow line segmentally punctuated with yellow squarish spots not quite so brilliant as E. funeralis; distinct whitish granulations. Head angled, black with six distinct orange-yellow spots.
Determination of the adults was made by John M. Burns of the University of California, at Berkeley.
135 Vaughan Place, San Antonio 1, Texas, U. S. A.