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Volume 25, Number 2
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NOTES ON SOME SOUTH FLORIDA LEPIDOPTERA
Frank Rutkowski
153 Centre Street, New York, N.Y.
The following observations from the Florida Keys are additions to information published by Kimball (1965). These observations may be of interest because they represent apparently new records of habits, larval foodplant or extension of known range. Nomenclature and checklist numbers follow dos Passos (1964) for butterflies and McDunnough (1938) for moths. Plant names are taken mostly from Small (1933). I am indebted to Mr. George Avery of the Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Miami, Florida, who helped me in various ways and was also kind enough to identify two of the more difficult plants.
29. Lerodea eufala (Edwards). Extension of range. A few of these skippers were taken in December on Rig Pine Key, visiting blossoms of Croton linearis Jacq. in the shadier parts of pine woods.
281. Ascia monuste phileta (Fabricius). During a migration of this species on Key Largo in June, a pair was found in copula within shady hammock at 1:15 PM on a sunny day, the dark female flying.
340. Lephelisca virginiensis (Guerin-Meneville). Extension of range. A colony was found in August on Rig Pine Key, in rocky pinelands immediately adjacent to marshes.
380. Strymon martialis (Herrich-Schaffer). This very local species seems to prefer the blossoms of Ray Cedar (Suriana maritima L.) when available, to the flowers which it usually visits at other times.
451a. Hemiargus ammon beihunebakeri Comstock & Huntington. New larval foodplant. At 10 AM in early June a female laid an egg just above a lateral bud on Snowberry, Chiococca alba (L.) Hitchc, growing along a shady trail on Key Largo.
486c. Anaea aidea floridalis Johnson & Comstock. A butterfly trapped in a spider web was tasted and immediately discarded by the spider.
524b. Metamorpha stelenes biplagiata (Friihstorf er). Extension of range. In late October a colony was found on Rig Pine Key, associated with Blechum pyramidatum (Lam.) Urban, which is probably the larval foodplant. The butterflies are very fond of the blossoms of Wild Lantana, Lantana involucrata L. When at rest with wings closed, they are hard to tell from the curled and blotchy leaves of Jamaica Dogwood, Ichthyo-menthia piscipula (L.), which start to turn brown and fall at this time of year. One female apparently had been attracted to light, for early on
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a rainy morning she was found among moths in the grass at the base of a streetlamp.
531. Junonia coenia (Hiibner). This species and Junonia evarete zonalis Felder & Felder interbreed on Big Pine Key. J. e. zonalis is common along mudflats while J. coenia seems to prefer damp places on higher ground. The roads and fire lanes which have been opened on Big Pine Key may help to break down reproductive isolation of these two populations. Copulating pairs representing various intergradations were taken around 5 PM in December, when the sun was quite low. The fact that mating took place late in the day when light had shifted from the violet to the red end of the spectrum might have minimized any importance that pattern or color differences could have in courtship. If this interbreeding really represents secondary intergradation, it is to be expected that the two populations might formerly have diverged even less in courtship ritual than in appearance. The instance of abortive courtship listed below under Euptoieta suggests that in bright sunlight any rusty orange butterfly resting on the ground in a likely habitat might momentarily arouse the interest of a male /. e. zonalis.
624. Euptoieta claudia (Cramer). Extension of range. Occasional but fresh specimens were taken on Big Pine Key in May, August and October. They were found in both very wet and very dry habitats. One female briefly responded (spreading out of wings and raising of abdomen) to a hovering Junonia evarete zonalis.
628d. Dry as julia cillene (Cramer). Extension of range. A battered female was taken in August on Big Pine Key along the edge of dry hammock on an outcropping of Key Largo Limestone.
818d. Automeris io lilith Stkr. New larval foodplant. Larvae were found on Croton linearis on Big Pine Key in December.
860a. Eacles imperialis didyma Beauv. Extension of range. A badly smashed specimen was found among other moths at the base of a street-lamp on Big Pine Key in October.
870. Lymire edwardsii Grt. Numerous cocoons were found at the base of a Sapodilla, Sapota Achras Mill., trunk on Big Pine Key in August.
1954. Xanthopastis timais Cram. Third and fourth instar larvae found skeletonizing the leaves of Hymenocallis keyensis Small on Big Pine Key in October, freely accepted Iceberg Lettuce as a substitute foodplant in New York and were reared to maturity on it.
3816a. Cornposia fidelissima vagrans Bates. One of these moths was removed unharmed from a spider web on Big Pine Key in December. Unlike netted specimens, it responded to being handled by squeaking and excluding a drop of yellowish froth at each side of the prothorax. This
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froth had a very faint but disagreeable taste which can be compared to the smell of a "sour" dishcloth.
5221. Sphacelodes vulneraria (Hbn.). Extension of range. A pair was caught at light on Big Pine Key in October.
Literature Cited
dos Passos, C. F. 1964. A synonymic list of the nearctic Rhopalocera. Mem.
Lepid. Soc, No. 1. Kimball, C. P. 1965. Lepidoptera of Florida. Div. of Plant Industry, Fla. Dept.
of Ag., Gainesville. McDunnough, J. 1938. Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United
States of America. Part 1. Macrolepidoptera. Mem. Southern Calif. Acad. Sci.
Vol. 1. Small, J. K. 1933. Manual of the southeastern flora. Univ. of North Carolina
Press, Chapel Hill.
NYMPHALIDAE OF WISCONSIN
David Wm. Schwehr
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Fernekes (1909) and Muttkowski (1907) compiled a list of over 1000 species of Lepidoptera, including Nymphalidae, found in the Milwaukee County area. The list was by no means a complete survey of the Lepidoptera of Wisconsin, nor was it entirely accurate for the Milwaukee area. Lack of extensive collecting, deficiency of accurate records, and absence of recent distribution studies have resulted in only generalized records on the distribution and range of Nymphalidae in Wisconsin.
Thus, during the summer of 1966 and continuing into the spring of 1968, a survey was conducted in an attempt to establish the distributive range of Nymphalidae in Wisconsin. Literature sources provided a preliminary list of Wisconsin Nymphalidae. Specimen records were then obtained from the collections of the University of Wisconsin, Northern Michigan University, University of Minnesota, Concordia College, Wisconsin State University at Stevens Point, and from the personal collection records of J. A. Ebner, Wm. E. Sieker, Stephen C. Kleene, and Kurt Johnson, as well as from my own collection.
Twenty-four species of Nymphalidae were obtained through personal collecting in various parts of Wisconsin, ranging from Bayfield County in the north to Dane County in the south. Polygonia faunus, Polygonia progne, Phyciodes batesii, Phyciodes gorgone, and Melitaea harrisii were added through reference to the collection of the Russel Laboratory, at the University of Wisconsin. Collection records of Agraulis vanillae and