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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
Literature Cited
Carde, R. T., A. M. Shapiro, & H. K. Clench. 1970. Sibling species in the eurydice group of Lethe (Lepidoptera: Satyridae). Psyche 77(1): 70-103.
Clark, A. H. & L. F. Clark. 1951. The Butterflies of Virginia. Smithsonian Misc. Coll. 116(7), 227 p., 30 pis.
Clench, H. K. 1971. Some records of Euristrymon Ontario (Lycaenidae). J. Lepid. Soc. 25: 80-82,
Covell, C. V., Jr. 1962. The occurrence of Satyrium kingi (Lycaenidae) in Virginia. J. Lepid. Soc. 18: 197-198.
----------. 1967. A checklist of the butterflies and skippers of Virginia. Va. J. Sci.
18: 21-24.
Massey, A. B. 1961. Virginia Flora. Tech. Bull. 155, Va. Agr. Exp. Sta., Blacks-burg, 258 p.
dos Passos, C. F. 1964. A Synonymic List of the Nearctic Rhopalocera. Mem. Lepid. Soc. 1. 145 p.
----------. 1970. A revised synonymic catalogue with taxonomic notes of some nearctic
Lycaenidae. J. Lepid. Soc. 24: 26-38.
Straley, G. B. 1969. Occurrence of Thymelicus lineola (Hesperiidae) in Virginia. J. Lepid. Soc. 23: 76.
A MASSIVE MIGRATION OF KRICOGONIA (PIERIDAE) IN CAMPECHE, MEXICO
Byers (1971, J. Lepid. Soc. 25: 124-125) notes that, ". . . this is the first record of a migration of a species of Kricogonia" and, "Recent books on insect migration . . . do not mention the genus." My article on migrations (1959, J. Lepid. Soc. 13: 62-64) must have been overlooked, as I recorded the migration of Kricogonia lyside Godart. Attention must also be called to articles by Clench (1965, J. Lepid. Soc. 19: 223-224), Heitzman (1962, J. Lepid. Soc. 16: 249-250), Howe (1964, J. Lepid. Soc. 18: 26), and Welling (1964, J. Lepid. Soc. 18: 229-230).
dos Passos (1964, A Synonymic List of the Nearctic Rhopalocera. Mem. Lepid. Soc. 1, p. 46) refers to two species, K. lyside Godart 1819, and K. castalia (Fab.) 1793. de la Torre y Callejas (1958, Reconsideration Taxonomica de las Especies del Genero Kricogonia Reakirt con Vista al Estudio de sus Organos Genitales. Publ. Univ. Oriente, Santiago, Cuba) refers to K. lyside and K. castalia as being a single species, and K. cahrerai Ramsden 1920 as the other. As to which species we may be referring to, much must be left to speculation. Klots (1951, A Field Guide to the Butterflies. Houghton-Mifflin, Boston) notes that a thorough study of the complex needs to be made, most records being untrustworthy.
I take this opportunity to record another great migration of Kricogonia. I first note that 1971 seemed to be a year of intense rainfall in the Yucatan peninsula, after a few years of fair to mediocre precipitation. In my prior article (1959, op. cit.) I refer to dry year cycles alternating with wet year cycles, and migrations seeming to be associated with the latter. On 9 June 1971, on passing south of the city of Campeche, Campeche, and until reaching Escarcega, Campeche, I observed the heaviest migration I have ever seen of any kind of insect. Once again it was our commonly-reported Kricogonia sp. The heaviest part of the migration was slightly south of Lerma, through the villages of Sihochac, Seybaplaya, Haltunchen, Champoton, to about X-bacab, all in the state of Campeche. The slight wind was from the east, with the migration going straight against it. Where these butterflies originated, I could not guess, as all the way south to X-bacab the migration direction was straight east-
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wardly. These great swarms were seen as coming from the sea, as the highway follows the shore very closely most of the way. Slightly before mid-day a great thunderstorm arose from the east, but in spite of the heavy rain, the butterflies did not stop to take shelter or rest—they just kept coming.
It is difficult to calculate the immense number that might have passed 100 meters of roadway per minute, as they formed a veritable yellow-white cloud. A conservative attempt would say there were 10,000 specimens per 10 meters of roadway, taking into account the width of the road, and the fact that the bulk of them were flying from ground level to 6-8 meters high. There were so many dead butterflies along the road, having been hit by vehicles or killed by other factors, that it looked as if it had just snowed. As I drove through the cloud of migrants I must have been killing at least 100 or more every split second; the din of their crushed bodies against my vehicle stirred remorse within me—I felt like a treacherous assassin. This migration began to thin out near X-bacab, and by the time I arrived at Escarcega, it was possible to calculate about 1000 specimens crossing 100 meters of road per minute.
When I returned through the same area about 3 July 1971, the bulk of the migration had waned. Now the strongest concentration was south of X-bacab, through Escarcega, and southwest to Pital and Rio Candelaria. The numbers were about 500 per 100 meters of roadway per minute, and the direction had changed towards the southeast.
I will here add that when passing through Tamaulipas in northeast Mexico in early June after leaving Campeche, I noticed Kricogonia flying westwardly, but in minimum numbers, about 1 or 2 in sight at any given moment, crossing the road at ground level.
Eduardo C. Welling M., Apart ado Postal 701, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
AN ALTERNATIVE CAUSE OF DIMORPHISM IN PAPILIO PUPAE
(PAPILIONIDAE)
D. F. Owen's paper, "Pupal Colour in Papilio demodocus (Papilionidae) in Relation to the Seasons of the Year," (1971, J. Lepid. Soc. 25: 271-274), has prompted me to make the following observations.
The idea of seasonal variation appears to have one fatal flaw. The Rutaceae, on which Papilio demodocus and many other Papilio species with dimorphic pupae feed, are always in green leaf and leaves fall off while still green. Furthermore, a recent note by Vaidya (1971, J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 68(2): 477-478) points out that the ovipositing female of Papilio demoleus L. requires a visual stimulus connected with leaf colour as well as the olfactory one connected with the scent of the food-plant. In my experience females of the citrus-feeding Papilio species invariably lay on new growth.
Generally speaking, what may be considered as typical pupae, such as Papilio polytes L., P. demoleus L., P. demodocus Esp., P. nireus L. and many others, are dimorphic, either green or otherwise, the 'otherwise' varying from pale to dark brown, various shades of grey, etc. Specialised pupae, such as the cylindrical, dark, stick-like pupa of Chilasa clytia L., the flattened, green, leaf-like pupa of Papilio dardanus Brown, and the brown pupae of Byasa hector L. and B. aristolochiae F., with their leaf-like subdorsal projections, are monomorphic.
If the colour of the pupa is controlled genetically, it is possible that there are three genotypes, a green, a brown and an optional green or brown controlled by external