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Volume 27, Number 4
303
days. Then it was killed and dissected. One egg had been deposited on the vine, and four were found in the abdomen.
The vertically oriented eggs are yellow, about 1.5 mm long by 1 mm wide, covered by a reddish coating, and with ribs and sculpturings somewhat resembling Danaidae eggs. They hatch in four days. First instar larvae, about 2 mm long, are yellowish, head and body. At this stage the head shows no markings or spines, but has some scarce fine setae. The body has no markings or spines either, but each segment has a transverse row of fine, dark setae. From the second instar, on the head shows white and reddish markings and two spines, one on each epicranium. The body is covered by rows of spines and shows white and reddish markings, such as described in great detail by Richard (1968, J. Lepid. Soc. 22: 75-76) for Dryas iulia delia (Fabricius).
The larva of D. i. iulia, upon emerging from the egg, eats the egg-shell, at least partially, and then moves to the edge of the leaf where it starts feeding. It leaves small hanging sections of the leaf that soon wilt and dry, forming an excellent camouflage. The first, second and sometimes third instar larvae are easily located by examining the leaves that show these ragged edges. Larger larvae move about the vine and can cause a mild rash on the skin when touched with the back of the hand.
It is interesting to note that in the two cases of copulation we are reporting, the young female laid only one egg and had four in the abdomen, whereas the old and damaged female laid 37 eggs and had none left in the abdomen. The females probably copulate several times during their life span and lay considerably more than 30 eggs, contrary to Labine's suggestion (1968, in Young 1972, Acta Biol. Venez. 8: 1-7) that most species of Heliconiinae probably lay less than 30 eggs during the average females lifetime. Another species that tends to contradict Labine's suggestion is Dione iuno huascama Reakirt, whose female often lays groups of over 100 eggs during a single sitting (pers. obs.). This is the only heliconiid with gregarious habits all through its developmental stages that we have found in El Salvador.
As seen in the description above, in D. iulia iulia the male is the active flying partner. In most of the reports on butterfly copulation we have found, (Pronin 1964, J. Lepid. Soc. 18: 35-41; Ferris 1969, J. Lepid. Soc. 23: 271-272; Carcason 1970, J. Lepid. Soc. 24: 72; Jae 1972, J. Lepid. Soc. 26: 28; Priestaf 1972, J. Lepid Soc. 26: 104), the active partner usually has been the female.
A final comment: the description by Richard (1968, op. cit.) of the early stages of Dryas i. delia matches exactly the early stages of Dryas i. iulia, except for the first instar and the fact that we have always found five larval stages instead of four. We suspect that the larvae he collected and thought were first instar were actually second instar larvae.
Alberto Muyshondt, 101 Avenida Norte #322, Lomas Verdes, San Salvador, El Salvador.
NEW MEXICAN SPHINGIDAE RECORDS
Since Hoffmann's catalogue of Mexican sphingids (1942, An. Inst. Biol. Univ. Nal. Auton. Mexico 13: 213-256), few species have been added. Some of them like Phryxus caicus Cram, and Callionima nomius Wlk. were recorded in 1967 (Beutel-spacher & Vazquez 1967, An. Inst. Biol. Univ. Nal. Auton. Mexico 38, Ser. Zool. (1): 75-77). Hoffmann's catalogue, however, requires numerous generic changes which we will be making soon, based on Hodges (in Dominick et al., 1971, Moths of America North of Mexico, fasc. 21, Sphingoidea).
Thanks to Mr. Roberto de la Maza and his sons, we are learning of more new species for Mexico, and at this time can add two new genera; one of Neotropical, and the other of Palearctic origin.
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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
Amphimoea R. & J. A. walkeri Bdv. (= staudingeri Drc, magnificus Rothsch.)
Amphimoea is a monotypic genus and the species A. walkeri, according to Druce (in Godman & Salvin, 1886, Biologia Centrali-American a, Insecta, Lepidoptera Heterocera 2: 311; 3: pi. 65-4) and Draudt (in Seitz, Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde, VI, Heter. Amer.: 847, 865), is distributed from Chontales, Nicaragua, Chiriqui Volcano, Panama to south of Brasil. These authors mention that the caterpillar feeds on a Jatropha species.
One female specimen from Dos Amates, Catemaco, Veracruz, taken in August 1965, is in the De la Maza collection. In Hoffmann's catalogue, this genus must be situated before Manduca Hbn.
Cressonia Grt. & Rob. C. juglandis (J. E. Smith) (Sphinx juglandis J. E. Smith)
This genus of Palearctic origin, previously known only from the United States, is recorded now for the first time in Mexico. According to Hodges (op. cit.), "the larvae feed on various species of hickory (Carya species) and walnut or butternut (Juglans species), and perhaps beech (Fagus species)."
The following specimens are in the De la Maza collection: one male from Parque Funeral Guadalupe, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, 17 June 1970; one male and one female from El Barrial, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, 10 September 1971. In Hoffmann's catalogue, this genus must be situated after Paonias Hbn.
Carlos R. Beutelspacher B., Instituto de Biologia, Apdo. Postal 70-233, Mexico 20, D.F. Mexico, & Roberto de la Maza, Jr., Nicolas San Juan 1707, Mexico 12, D.F. Mexico.
APODEMIA MORMO NEAR DIALEUCA (RIODINIDAE) FROM MONTANE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: NEW FOR U.S.A.
Eleven male and 23 female unusual-appearing Apodemia mormo (Felder and Felder) were taken on 3 and 5 June 1966 by John Justice, Keith Hughes and the writer on Sugarloaf Ridge, north of Barton Flats, San Bernardino Mountains and County, California. They were closely associated with the prostrate buckwheat, Eriogonum wrightii subscaposum Wats. (Polygonaceae), growing on gravelly slopes above 2600 m elevation in open mixed deciduous-coniferous forest dominated by ponderosa pine, mountain mahogany and manzanita. The entire series was shown to Dr. Jerry Powell, who found them nearly identical to A. m. dialeuca Opler & Powell, described from similar habitats in the Sierra San Pedro Martir of Baja California, Mexico, nearly 500 km south of Barton Flats (Opler & Powell 1961, J. Lepid. Soc. 15: 145-171; Patterson & Powell 1959, J. Lepid. Soc. 13: 229-235). The wings dorsally have large white spots on a dark gray background with little if any red or orange suffusion, lending a distinctly tesselated appearance to the insect; the ventral surfaces are dusted generously with light gray scales, especially on the outer one-third of the primaries and outer two-thirds of the secondaries (Fig. 1).
Subsequently other collectors have taken examples of this phenotype at the same and nearby localities, including some in September and early October suggesting multivoltinism (Opler, in lift). It is rather peculiar that this interesting population remained undiscovered until recent years. The fact that collectors like the Sperrys, Rindge, Comstock, Martin and others failed to turn it up in many years of intensive collecting during the last half-century causes one to wonder if it might be a very recent segregate from A. m. virgulti Behr populations to the south and west, or from A. m. near mormo and "blend-zone" populations to the east, north and northwest at lower elevations. The nearly exact similarity in facies, habitat and probable host-plant of this new population and topotypical dialeuca suggests either a common phenotypic response to similar environmental conditions, or previous ecologic and