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Vol.16: no.4
OCHLODES SNOWI AT BLACKLIGHT IN COLORADO (HESPERIID^E)
by Thomas C. Emmel
Records of butterfly species flying at night or being attracted to lights at night are rare, due mostly, of course, to the normal diurnal flight habits of these insects and inactivity in the absence of a minimum level of solar radiation (Hovanitz, 1948; Emmel & Emmel, in press). Nevertheless, a number of Rhopalocera species are reported in the literature visiting blacklight (ultraviolet), incandescent light, and lighthouse beacons.
A new species record was obtained by the author in the summer of 1960 at Big Spring Ranch, 8640 feet elevation, near Florissant, Teller County, Colorado. Four fresh specimens of Ochlodes snowi Edwards were taken on the nights of July 20, 21, and 23. The two individuals taken on the twenty-first of the month flew in to a moth sheet which had as a light source a single General Electric 15-watt Black Light (unfiltered) Lamp. The single specimens collected on the twentieth and twenty-third were resting around an ordinary 150-watt incandescent lamp. All four individuals were obtained in the early morning (before 5 a.m.); the temperature ranged from about 65° to 60°F between midnight and 5 a.m., with no wind, cloudiness or moonlight (new moon) occurring. According to Brown, Eff and Rotger (1957) this skipper is found rather generally in the mountains "from 7,000 to 9,000 feet above sea level in open fields and along the roadsides;" its foodplant and life history are unknown. From the fresh condition of the individuals and their quiet resting around the lamps, it appeared that these skippers were freshly emerged. Since the moth-collecting lights were directed toward a large dry meadow area, it is possible they came from their chrysalides only a short distance away. Interestingly enough, except for these specimens at light this species was never found in the Ranch area during the entire summer despite rather intensive day-collecting.
Literature Cited
Brown, F. M., D. Eff, & B. Rotger, 1957. Colorado butterflies. 368 pp. Denver Museum of Natural History, Denver.
Emmel, T. C. & J. F. Emmel, in press. Ecological studies of Rhopalocera in a High Sierran community — Donner Pass, California. II. Meteorological influence on flight activity. Journ. lep. soc.
Hovanitz, W., 1948. Differences in the field activity of two female color phases of Colias butterflies at various times of the day. Contrib. lab. vert, biol., univ. Michigan, 32: 1-24.
Reed College, Portland 2, Oreg., U. S, A,