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Volume 28, Number 2
161
and start propelling themselves up and down the tunnel in the cortex of the plant by rotating their abdomen, as is the character of the pupae.) I found several plants which had the tents of M. yuccae in them and started to dig. After I had dug up
10 plants I decided to stop and come back at a later date to dig up the rest because I had found only 2 pupae, the rest being still in the larval state. Six of the 8 larvae were ready to pupate, the other two had discontinued feeding but were still active. On 17 and 18 March I again visited Edisto Island and dug up 25 more immatures. Of the 25 in the March batch only 3 were still larvae, the rest having already pupated. All 3 larvae were ready to pupate.
I divided all of the immatures into two groups: group A (being those which were found in February); and group B (those found in March). Group A consisted of 8 larvae and two pupae. Of the 8 larvae, 2 died in that state; the rest pupated but of these only two emerged as perfect adults, both females on 22 March. The other four emerged (3 males, 1 female) but the wings did not expand. Of the two pupae, one emerged a perfect male on 16 March. The other pupae had died when checked on 16 March.
Group B consisted of 22 pupae and 3 larvae. Of the three larvae, 2 had died when checked on 9 April. The other pupated, and a perfect female emerged on
11 April. Of the 22 pupae, four died while 16 emerged as perfect adults (9 males on 21, 24, 26 (2), & 27 March and 8, 9 (2), 12 April; 7 females on 25, 29 March and 14, 15, 19, 20 and 21 April). Two others emerged but their wings did not expand (1 male, 1 female).
The total sample of 11 larvae breaks down as follows: 4 died (36.5%) and 7 pupated (63.5%). Of those which pupated, only 3 emerged as perfect adults (43%) and 4 emerged deformed (57%). Of the 24 immatures which were taken in the pupal state: 5 died (21%), 17 emerged as perfect adults (71%), and 2 emerged deformed for 8%. In all, 17 of 24 pupae succeeded in reaching the perfect adult state (71% success). On the other hand only 3 of 11 larvae taken emerged as perfect adults (73% failure).
The conclusion is obvious, if you plan to collect Megathymus yuccae by digging up the immatures you will have far better success if you wait until the larvae have pupated. 71% success is better than 73% failure any day. It will be interesting to see if this mortality rate occurs in other species of Megathymidae as well.
Literature
Freeman, H. A. Systematic Review of the Megathymidae. J. Lepid. Soc. 23, Suppl. 1. 58 p.
Ronald R. Gatrelle, 126 Wells Road, Hanahan, South Carolina 29405.
SOUTHERN RECORDS OF MITOURA HESSELI (LYCAENIDAE)
When Mitoura hesseli (Rawson & Ziegler) was recognized as a new species from Lakehurst, New Jersey in 1950, several specimens from North Carolina were found by the late Frank Morton Jones in his collection. Since their capture in 1911, these had been assumed to be Mitoura gryneus (Hubner). These specimens (two males and two females) were captured on 28 July near Southern Pines in Moore Co. To my knowledge these are the only records from North Carolina. Therefore I was excited when I found M. hesseli at two locations in North Carolina during 22-25 July 1972. The two locations, one on the Ft. Bragg Military Reservation and the other near the town of Raeford, are in Cumberland and Hoke counties respectively. Both of the counties border on Moore Co.
I tried to find M. hesseli in April 1972 by visiting a number of the more accessible
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Journal of the LEPIDOPTERISTs, Society
concentrations of White Cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) on the Ft. Bragg reservation, but had no luck, and decided not to make an effort to look for the second brood. In July I was collecting hesperids that were visiting Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia) when I spotted and captured the first M. hesseli also visiting these flowers. After realizing what I had captured, I made a quick search of the area and found a small stand of White Cedar (10-12 trees) about 20 yds. from the edge of a powerline cut in which I was collecting. More White Cedar may have been farther back in the wooded area. An hour's worth of additional searching turned up 2 more specimens.
Having found my first M. hesseli I checked other promising stands of White Cedar and eventually found the second locality. The two areas in which M. hesseli were found were the only areas that had a considerable amount of Sweet Pepperbush in the vicinity of the White Cedar. I tried tapping trunks and throwing sticks into the upper branches of the White Cedar, but never saw M. hesseli on its foodplant. In both areas M. hesseli was uncommon, and a two hour search would turn up 4-5 specimens. The patches of Sweet Pepperbush could be searched in 10-15 minutes so that most of the time was spent just waiting for M. hesseli to appear on the flowers. Most collecting was done during midday, however, some specimens were taken as late as 1700, and almost all were in good condition.
White Cedar is not uncommon along stream banks and in swamps in this part of North Carolina, and in view of the fact that the captures were made over a three county area separated by as much as 23 air miles, further collecting in this part of the state should turn up additional locations. Also it seems that the most promising areas to investigate, in July at least, would be those where Sweet Pepperbush or other productive flowers are in the vicinity of White Cedar.
It is interesting to note similarities in the occurrence of M. hesseli in North Carolina and in New Jersey. Rawson & Ziegler (1950, J.N.Y. Entomol. Soc. 58: 69-80) noted that M. hesseli in New Jersey was almost always found on flowers, and was not seen arriving or leaving, or flying about the foodplant as does M. gryneus. This certainly was the situation in North Carolina.
The range of M. hesseli has now been extended to Virginia with the capture of a female on 18 July 1972 in Chesapeake. Mr. Bill Smith captured the specimen on milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), along with a female M. gryneus, while collecting on the eastern edge of the Dismal Swamp.
There appears to be an unpublished record of M. hesseli from Maryland. In the correspondence of Mr. Frank Jones to Mr. J. B. Ziegler regarding the identification of M. hesseli in his collection, Jones cited a specimen from Pocomoke, Maryland, dated only 21 July and bearing a dos Passos identification label. The present status of the specimen or why the record has never been published before is unknown.
M. hesseli may occur in many areas along the coastal region of the eastern U.S., but probably has remained uncollected not only because White Cedar often grows in inaccessible swamp lands, but also because M. hesseli is inconspicuous in areas where it does occur.
Richard A. Anderson, 1044-B Halsey Drive, Key West, Florida 33040.
AN ABERRANT INTERSPECIFIC HYBRID OF LIMENITIS (NYMPHALIDAE) FROM WISCONSIN
Interspecific hybrids between the Limenitis arthemis-astyanax complex and Limenitis archippus (Cramer) are extremely rare in nature. They occur as morphs preserving either more arthemis-like (arthechippus Scudder) or astyanax-like (rubidus Strecker) phenotypic characters. Each of these can be generally separated into two sub-