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128
Vol.16: no.2
BUTTERFLIES AT LIGHTS
L. S. Phillips's note concerning Nymphalis /-album Boisduval & Le Conte, and Pieris rapse L. at lights, in vol.15: page 101 of the Journal, attracted my interest considerably. The reason for this is that at that time I had taken a butterfly at a light. Since then I have taken three more.
The first instance was the capture of a male Strymon liparops Le-Conte on the screen door of my home in Petersburg, N. Y., late in July 1961 around 10:30 in the evening. The fluorescent light was on inside, as was the incandescent light on the porch; and as I stood there capturing moths at the outside light, this Strymon flew in and landed on the screen door.
The second occurrence involved a female Hamadryas februa Fruhstorfer. The place was the Hotel Valles, Cd. Valles, S. L. P., Mexico. There at about 10 p.m. on July 31, 1962, as I was returning past a previously investigated outside light bulb in my rounds for moths, I discovered this Hamadryas quietly clinging to the ceiling about a foot from the bulb itself. It was a moderatly strong bulb, but the yellow walls of the outside corridor where it was located increased the area of brightness considerably.
The third occurrence was the following night at 10:30 p.m., and like the first it involved a screen door also. This time it was at a house in McAllen, Texas, involving a male Libytheana bachmanii Kirtland, a species which was particularly abundant there at the time. I had just stepped outside for several minutes, and when I returned to enter the house there was this Libytheana, apparently attracted by the incandescent light inside.
The most recent instance was yet a fourth species at a still different location. Just before 10 p.m. on August 9, 1962, I did a double-take when I looked up at the porch light of my parents home in Kingston, Pennsylvania. We had just greeted some visiting friends goodnight after talking on the porch for 15 minutes or so, and with the natural instinct of the collector I glanced up at the light bulb in the ceiling to see if there were any moths. This time it was a female Speyeria cybele Fabricius quietly clinging to its perch there on the ceiling within two inches of the bulb.
All four specimens are in slightly worn condition.
What to me in 1961 seemed like an interesting curiosity, must be of much more frequent occurrence than is generally observed, at least by the entomologist.
David W. Bouton, RD No. 2, Petersburg, N. Y., U. S. A.