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1965
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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
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105
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LARVAL FOODPLANT AND DISTRIBUTION NOTES FOR SCHINIA OLIVACEA (NOCTUIDAE)
Roy O. Kendall
135 Vaughan Place, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.
J. B. Smith (1906) described Schinia olivacea from a female taken in October, 1895 at Beeville, Bee County, Texas. The type is in the American Museum of Natural History, New York (Rindge, 1955). Today, this insect remains rare in collections.
Based on collection and rearing records, it appears that olivacea is double brooded with perhaps a partial third. It has a pupal diapause. Its flight is from March to November with greatest emergence in June. Of the 49 known examples, all from Texas, 11 were collected in May and 21 in June.
Rearing records
Bexar county, texas: In 1958 three larvae were found eating leaves of Sida physocalyx Gray (Malvaceae). The plant was growing on a limestone bluff in the southeastern portion of the Edwards Plateau. The date was recorded on a field label and kept with the larvae. When they died of unknown causes the label was destroyed and the exact date lost. It was not known at that time that these were immatures of olivacea, They were, however, distinctive enough to unmistakably remember.
Live oak county, texas: On Texas Highway 9 at La Parra Creek, 12 October 1963, several larvae were found feeding on foliage of Sphaeralcea Undheimeri Gray (Malvaceae) growing in the dry, sandy creek bed. Some larvae were parasitized by ichneumonids. The first of four larvae pupated 2 November and a female emerged 20 November 1963. The remaining larvae pupated in due course but remained in diapause until the following year. Adults emerged: 7 June ( $ ), 8 June ( $ ), and 15 June ( $ ).
San patricio county, texas: At the Welder Wildlife Foundation Refuge on 14 September 1963, along a trail near the Aransas River, a few larvae were found feeding on S. Undheimeri together with larvae of Pyrgus communis (Grote) (Hesperiidae). All the Schinia larvae died of parasitism except one which pupated within a day or two; a male emerged 29 September 1963.
Larvae rest on top of the leaves. They are much lighter in color than the foliage, causing them to be conspicuous. The foodplants grow in open areas but may be somewhat hidden by grass or other low vegetation.
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106 Kendall: Rare Schinia reared Vol. 19, no. 2
Other collection records
Andre and May Elise Blanchard (in litt.) collected most of 39 examples using a black-light trap of a model designed by Mr. Joe P. Hollingsworth, Agricultural Engineer, College Station, Texas. A few, however, came to an 85-watt, high-pressure, mercury vapor lamp set on a white sheet spread on the ground. The date and location of these examples follow.
San Patricio County: Welder Wildlife Foundation Refuge, 22 to 24 August 1962 (6), 11 to 13 May 1963 (10), 3 July 1963 (1), 7 October 1963 (1), and 22 April 1964 (1); Kimble County: V-H Ranch near Junction, 14 June 1963 (2), 28 & 29 June 1963 (10); Uvalde County: Garner State Park, 13 April 1964 (1), 10 May 1964 (1), 1 to 3 June 1964 (5); Zapata County: Zapata, 4 June 1964 (1).
The writer and Mrs. Kendall collected two males feeding on the blossoms of Mimosa malacophylla Gray (Leguminosae) about 11:00 A.M. C.S.T. 6 July 1963 at Lake Corpus Christi State Park, San Patricio County. Also, in the same county at the Welder Wildlife Refuge, a female was collected 14 October 1963 at a 15-watt ultraviolet light.
In the American Museum of Natural History is the type female, one other taken by Buchholz at Kerrville, Kerr County, Texas on 8 June 1948 and five of those collected by the Blanchards at the Welder Wildlife Refuge and Junction. In the U. S. National Museum there is one example taken at San Benito, Cameron County, Texas during the period 16 to 23 March; year unknown. In addition, there are three examples collected by the Blanchards at the Welder Wildlife Refuge.
Acknowledgments
The author is very grateful to Mr. Andre Blanchard for furnishing collection data and encouraging preparation of this paper. Identification of Schinia specimens from this study was made by R. R. McElvare, Southern Pines, North Carolina. Special thanks go to Dr. F. H. Rindge (American Museum of Natural History) and Dr. E. L. Todd (U. S. National Museum) for verifying dates of specimens in the museum collections and providing other valued information.
Literature Cited
Jones, F. B., C. M. Rowell, Jr., & M. C. Johnston, 1961. Flowering Plants and
Ferns of the Texas Coastal Bend Counties. Sinton, Texas; Rob & Bessie Welder
Wildlife Foundation, 146 pp. Rindge, F. H., 1955. The type material in the J. B. Smith and G. D. Hulst collections
of lepidoptera in the American Museum of Natural History. Bull. A.M.N.H.,
New York, 106(2): 91-172. Schulz, E. D., 1928. Texas Wild Flowers. Laidlaw Brothers, Chicago. Smith, J. B., 1906. New Noctuidae for 1906.—No. 1. Jour. New York Ent. Soc
14: 9-30.
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