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214 Tilden: Two hesperiids new to U. S. Vol.18: no.4
suffering from dysentary. Nothing further is known about Tryon Reakirt.
References Brown, F. M. 1957 Two early entomological collectors in Colorado Ent. News,
68:41-47.
1960 The correspondence between William Henry Edwards and Spencer Fullerton
Baird. Part IV. Jour. New York Ent. Soc, 68: 157-175. Carpenter, M. M. 1945 Bibliography of biographies of entomologists. Amer. Midland
Naturalist, 33:1-116.
1953 Bibliography of biographies of entomologists (Supplement.) Amer. Midland
Naturalist, 50:257-348. Cresson, E. T. 1911 A History of the American Entomological Society, Philadelphia,
1859-1909:' 60 pp. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Essig, E. O. 1931 A History of Entomology. The Macmillan Co., New York, N. Y.,
1029 pp. Reakirt, T. 1866 "Coloradoan butterflies." Proc. Ent. Soc. Philadelphia, 6:122-151.
1866 - 72 letters to Herman Strecker in Chicago History Museum, Chicago, 111.
1868 letter to W. H. Edwards in archives of State of West Virginia, Charleston.
W.Va. Strecker, H. 1878 Butterflies and moths . . . synonymical catalogue . . . diurnes.
Reading, Pennsylvania. 283 pp.
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TWO SPECIES OF HESPERIIDAE PREVIOUSLY UNRECORDED FROM THE UNITED STATES
by J. W. Tilden San Jose, California, U.S.A.
Two species of Hesperiidae (Hesperiinae) described from Mexico and previously unrecorded north of the Rio Grande were collected by the author in the vicinity of Rrownsville, Cameron County, Texas, during October and November, 1963.
Vidhis perigenes (Godman) was first taken on October 20 and for several days thereafter; the last specimens were somewhat worn. The length of the fore wing costa of the male is 12-13 mm, that of the female 14-16 mm. The upper surface of the wings is dark brown without spots, the costa of forewing and the fringes, lighter. The fringes are not checkered. The underside of the forewing costa and apex, and the entire hindwing, are cinnamon colored with light veins. On the hind wing there is a pale ray that runs the length of the wing at the upper edge of the discal cell. The genitalia are figured by Exans (1955). The figure of the valve is recognizable. That of the uncus is inaccurate, showing the cleft too wide, the lateral lobes too flaring and the lateral processes too large.
This species was taken in tall grass growing in the open, usually along ditch banks and railroad rights-of-way. Often the insects hid in the thick clumps or took refuge near the bases of the culms. V. perigenes was not seen to visit flowers nor to choose open perches. It is therefore easily overlooked.
Lerodea dysaules Godman was first taken October 17 and the last captures were November 13. These are the first and last days of the
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1964
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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
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author's collecting in the Brownsville area. Presumably the insect was on the wing before and after these dates, indicating a long flight season. L. dysaules somewhat resembles L. ambus (Edwards) but differs in a number of ways. L. dysaules is a small insect (forewing costa 11-14 mm), dark grayish-brown, with reduced white markings on the forewing and no white markings on the hindwing. The coloration below is dull, quite gray, and a short band, often only perceptibly darker than the ground color, extends from space Cu2 towards the costa, on the hind-wing. This band is about 2mm wide and may be pale-edged. The insect appears gray rather than brown, and the fringes are obscurely checkered. L. arabus is by comparison a more brownish insect, and lighter in coloration. The forewing measures slightly larger (about 15mm). The white markings of the forewing are more extensive. There is usually a band of white spots on the hindwing as well. On the pale under surface of the hindwing is a conspicuous dark brown patch. The fringes appear uncheckered, though close examination may show a few dark scales at the vein-ends of the fore-wing. It will be seen that the type of markings is very similar in each instance. However, the overall effect is quite different and the two do not look very similar when compared.
Bell (1938) and Lindsey, Bell & Williams (1931) consider L. dysaules a synonym of L. arabus. Evans (1955) treats each as a separate species but notes that L. dysaules may be a subspecies of L. arabus. Rindg'e (1948) records a specimen from Pulpito, Baja California, as L. arabus. MacNeill (1962) treats this specimen and another from Cabo San Lucas as L. dysaules, but points out that the Pulpito specimen would key to arabus in Evans' key, while the Cabo San Lucas specimen would key to dysaules. He also notes that he sees no genitalic differences between these two specimens.
MacNeill's description of the Pulpito specimen suggests that it is referable to L. arabus, especially the statement that it ". . . has the large hyaline spots fully developed on the forewing, with distinct traces of a pale band of spots above and below on the hindwing. . . ." His finding that the genitalia of the two specimens are identical is very interesting. Evans' figures show considerable difference between the valvae of the two entities. The valve of L. arabus has a V-shaped cleft, the ventral projection somewhat longer than the dorsal one. The figure of Skinner and Williams (1923) agrees. Evans' figure of L. dysaules shows a U-shaped cleft of the valve, with both the dorsal and ventral projections long and slender. The genitalia of the specimens from Brownsville, reported here, agree with Evans' figure. The one male L. arabus available to me for genitalic examination has the cleft less markedly V-shaped than shown in Evans' and Skinner and Williams' figures. The dorsal arm is short and bent toward the midline.
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216 Tilden: Two hesperiids new to U. S. Vol.18: no.4
The figures by Godman and Salvin (1900) are good likenesses of the Brownsville specimens. The author has shown some of these Texas specimens to two lepidopterists' who know L. arabus. Neither identified these specimens as L. arabus. This is mentioned in support of the statement that L. dysaules and L. arabus have rather different facies.
One of the problems in reaching a decision as to the status of L. arabus and L. dysaules is the scarcity of specimens. Evans had before him two dysaules from Guererro, Mexico (1 #, 1 9 ). He had only a single male arabus, from Arizona. Evidently MacNeill had only the two specimens. The Brownsville specimens of L. dysaules number nineteen in all, but are from Cameron County, Texas, only. Five L. arabus have been examined, but only one of these is in the collection of the author, a 8 from Sabino Canyon, Pima County, Arizona.
Any decision to consider L. dysaules and L. arabus separate species, or to consider L. dysaules Godman, 1900, a subspecies of L. arabus (Edwards, 1882), should be deferred until such time as more material is available. The two seem to be allopatric, suggesting that they may be subspecies of one species. The genitalic similarity also suggests close relationship if not conspecificity. However, they do differ considerably in appearance, and (possibly because of the few specimens) intergrades seem to be lacking.
The majority of specimens of L. dysaules were taken under the canopy of the thorn forest, sitting on the grass or the ground, and in the shade. A few were taken in the open, early in the morning or late in the day, around Bermuda Grass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.).
Specimens of both Vidius perigenes and Lerodea dysaules will be placed in the following institutions: The American Museum of Natural History, New York; The California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco; The Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh; The Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, and the United States National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Literature Cited
Bell, E. L. 1938. The Hesperioidea. Bull. Cheyenne Mountain Mus., 1 — Part 1.
Evans, W. H. 1955. A Catalogue of the American Hesperiidae, Part IV. British Museum (Natural History), London.
Godman,F.D. &O. Salvin. 1900. Biol. Cent. Amer., Insecta, Lepidoptera-Rhopalocera, Vol. 2.
Lindsey, A. W., E. L. Bell, & R. C. Williams, Pr. 1931. The Hesperioidae of North
America. Denison Univ. Bull. Jour. Scientific Laboratories, 26.
MacNeill, C. D. 1962. A preliminary report on the Hesperiidae of Baja, California. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th series, 30:91-116.
Rindge, F. H. 1948. Contributions toward a knowledge of the insect fauna of Lower California. No. 8. Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th Series, 24:298-312.
Skinner, H., & R. C. Williams, Jr. 1923. On the male genitalia of the Hesperiidae of North America. Paper III. Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, 49:129-153.
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