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from the sea, and in the Arabuku-Sekoke Forest, males of the various Papilio and Graphium species (Papilionidae) and Appias sabina Feld. (Pieridae) occur at damp mud, but nothing else. Both the latter forests are far more sheltered and less windy than the forests of the Shimba Hills. Compare this very meagre list with the number of species recorded in the Kenya Highlands and Western Uganda when motoring through in 1960: Kenya Highlands (Danaidae 3, Acraeidae 3, Nymphalidae 2, Lycaenidae 11, Pieridae 5, Papilionidae 1); Western Uganda (Danaidae 5, Acraeidae 0, Nymphalidae 5, Lycaenidae 7, Pieridae 9, Papilionidae 3). (A full list of species will be found in 1962, Entomologist 95: 17-18). It is, perhaps, noteworthy that not a single hesperiid was recorded, as this is the family concerned in all the records of butterflies settling on human skin, exuding a drop of fluid from the anus, and then sucking it up through the proboscis.
It is suggested that butterflies in the coastal areas absorb enough salt with their food as larvae, the shore level forests being more sheltered, and so receiving less salt, than the more exposed forests in the Shimba Hills. The air all along the Kenya coast is heavily impregnated with salt, which is deposited as a thin film on windows and which causes heavy corrosion in metal fittings.
I was surprised to read in Downes' paper that horse droppings were found to increase the attractiveness of damp mud and water. In Africa the droppings of herbivorous animals, antelopes, buffalo and elephant for example, hold no attraction whatever, and it is only the droppings of carnivores that are attractive. I am not even certain that the faeces of the Canidae are attractive, as the droppings of my own dogs, which are fed mainly on meat, do not attract the Charaxes species that frequent my garden, but I have never come across the droppings of jackals or foxes in the bush.
That there is some difference in the food requirements of male and female butterflies appears to be confirmed by the habits of the Charaxidae, where both sexes are attracted to fermenting fruit and sap but only the males to dung and carrion. Possibly there is some connection with the production of the female-attracting scents secreted by the males. A very specialised case of this connection is the recently discovered necessity for the males of certain Danaidae to feed on the fermented juices of certain plants of the Boraginaceae before they can develop this scent.
I have one example of male moths feeding at damp mud, a Semiothisa sp. (Geometridae) identified by the British Museum (Natural History) as near f meat aria Mschl., which was found in considerable numbers at mud puddles in a forest in Uganda.
D. G. Sevastopulo, F.R.E.S., P.O. Box 95026, Mombasa, Kenya.
LARVAL FOODPLANTS AND PARASITES OF SOME LEPIDOPTERA IN SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS
A great deal of information is available concerning the larval foodplants and parasites of the more important lepidopterous pests in Arkansas. Little such information is available for Lepidoptera species not considered primary insect pests. With greater emphasis on pest management programs in recent years and increasing interest in biological control of pests, it is becoming more important to understand the relationships among animals and plants. In order to elucidate some of these relationships, the following study was conducted on or near the White River National Wildlife Refuge during the summer months of 1969 and 1970.
The White River Refuge, a relatively undisturbed habitat, consists of portions
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of Arkansas, Phillips and Monroe counties. The Refuge is 56 miles long, 3 to 6 miles wide, and consists of 113,600 acres of mixed hardwoods. About 75% of the Refuge is flooded in winter and spring by the Mississippi, Arkansas, and White Rivers. Approximately 600 to 1000 acres are annually planted in agricultural crops, a portion of which serves as food for the wildlife. The crops include rice, soybeans, grain sorghum, other small grains and forage grasses.
Lepidopterous larvae were collected on or adjacent to the Refuge and brought to a field laboratory for rearing. Each larva and a portion of the hostplant were placed in a waxed paper cup covered with a clear plastic lid. If the larva was an internal feeder, i.e. stem borer or leaf miner, the hostplant was placed in a vial of water within the cup. Fresh cuttings of the hostplant were added daily to the cups containing externally feeding larvae. The older food was removed only after the larvae had willfully changed to the new food. The cups were checked daily for emergence of adult moths and parasites. Hostplant specimens were collected for identification.
Twenty-six lepidopterous species representing 12 families were reared from 20 species of host plants. Seventeen species of parasites representing 4 families of Hymenoptera and Diptera were reared from the Lepidoptera. The following is a list of the lepidopterous species reared, dates of emergence, localities collected, hostplants and parasites. The dates given are dates of emergence of the moths and parasites.
Acrobasis sp. PHYCITIDAE. 11 August 1970, 4 miles east Ethel. Host: Liquid-amber styraciflua (sweet gum). Parasites: Campoletis sp., Exochus sp., Trathala tetralophae (Cush.), ICHNEUMONIDAE; Phanerotoma tibialis (Hald.), BRACONIDAE; Pseudochaeta clurina Rein., TACHINIDAE.
Anavitrinella pampinaria (Guenee) GEOMETRIDAE. 26 July 1971, 4 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Eupatorium sp.; 10 July 1971, 8 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Amaranthus hybridus (pigweed).
Argyrotaenia velutinana (Walker) TORTRICIDAE. 4 July 1971, 5 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Ilex decidua (deciduous holly).
Asterocampa clyton (Boisduval & LeConte) NYMPHALIDAE. 12 September 1971, 4 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Celtis mississippiensis (Hackberry). Parasites: Apanteles sp. BRACONIDAE.
Brachmia melantherella (Busck) GELECHIIDAE. 17 July 1970, 2 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Xanthium pennsylvanicum (cocklebur).
Characoma nilotica (Rogenh.) NOCTUIDAE. 12 July 1971, 3 miles north St. Charles. Host: Salix sp. (willow). Parasites: Brachymeria ovata (Say), Spilo-chalcis sanguineiventris (Cress.) CHALCIDIDAE.
Choristoneura rosaceana (Harris) TORTRICIDAE. 30 June 1971, 5 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Hypericum sp. (St. John's wort). 30 June 1971, 5 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Rubus sp. (blackberry).
Conchylodes platinalis (Guenee) PYRAUSTIDAE. 27 July 1971, 5 miles northwest Snow Lake. Host: Ambrosia trifida (giant ragweed).
Delta ramulosa (Guenee) NOCTUIDAE. 2 August 1971, 4 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Hypericum sp. (St. John's wort).
Desmia funeralis (Huebner) PYRAUSTIDAE. 13 July 1971, 5 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Vitis sp. (wild grape). Parasites: Eucordyligaster septentrionalis (Tns.) TACHINIDAE.
Eumarozia malachitana (Zeller) OLETHREUTIDAE. 19-23 August 1971, 3 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Diospyros virginana (persimmon). Parasites: Agathis annulipes (Cress.) BRACONIDAE.
Fascista cercerisella (Chambers) GELECHIIDAE. 25 July 1971, 4 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Cercis canadensis (redbud).
Filatima serotinella (Busck) GELECHIIDAE. 23 July 1971, 2 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Prunus sp. (wild cherry).
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Heterocampa subrotata (Harvey) NOTODONTIDAE. 3 July 1971, 5 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Celtis mississippiensis (hackberry).
Hymenia perspectalia (Huebner) PYRAUSTIDAE. 28 August 1971, 2 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Amaranthus hybridus (pigweed).
Hysoropha hormos (Huebner) NOCTUIDAE. 19 August 1970, 5 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Diospyros virginiana (persimmon). Parasites: Meteorus sp. BRACONIDAE.
Loxostege sp. PYRAUSTIDAE. 27, 28 August 1971, 2 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Amaranthus hybridus (pigweed). Parasites: Cremnops haematodes (Brulle) BRACONIDAE; Nemorilla pyste (Walker) TACHINIDAE.
Mineola indigenella (Zeller) PHYCITIDAE. 1-3 August 1971, 4 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Crataegus viridis. Parasites: Eusisyropa boarmiae (Coq.), Eusisyropa virillis (Aldrich & Webber) TACHINIDAE.
Olene leucophaea (Abbot & Smith) LIPARIDAE. 2 October 1970, 6 miles south St. Charles. Host: Liquidamber styraciflua (sweet gum).
Phaecasiophora niveiguttana (Grote) OLETHREUTIDAE. 1 August 1971, 2 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Sassafras sp. (sassafras). Parasites: Macrocentrus ancy-livorus Roh. BRACONIDAE.
Polychrosis sp. OLETHREUTIDAE. 4 August 1971, 2 miles north St. Charles. Host: Amaranthus hybridus (pigweed). Parasites: Agathis annulipes (Cress.) BRACONIDAE.
Psilocorsis caryae Clarke OECOPHORIDAE. 23 August 1970, 3 miles east Ethel. Host: Carya sp. (hickory).
Psilocorsis quercicella (Clemens) OECOPHORIDAE. 4 August 1971, 4 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Quercus sp. (oak). Parasites: Temelucha grapholithae (Cush.) ICHNEUMONIDAE.
Scythris trivinctella (Zeller) SCYTHRIDAE. 2 October 1970, 3 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Amaranthus hybridus (pigweed). Parasites: Nemorilla pyste (Walker) TACHINIDAE.
Stegasta bosqueella (Chambers) GELECHIIDAE. 18-24 July 1971, 5 miles southeast Ethel. Host: Cassia fasiculata.
Xenolechia "Telphusa" sp. group GELECHIIDAE. 2 August 1969, 2 miles south St. Charles. Host: Salix sp. (willow).
Thanks are due Mr. Raymond McMasters for his cooperation in allowing use of the White River National Wildlife Refuge; Drs. Ed Smith and Patricia Coons for plant determinations; Drs. Paul Marsh, R. W. Carlson, C. W. Sabrosky, and B. D. Burks for determination of parasites; and Drs. R. W. Hodges and Ed Todd for determination of Lepidoptera. This article is published with the approval of the Director, Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station.
Richard L. Brown and Robert T. Allen, Entomology Department, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701.
A NOTE ON FREEZE-DRYING CATERPILLARS
At the request of Dr. Richard B. Dominick this small amount of information is offered to anyone interested in freeze-drying caterpillars without purchasing any materials whatsoever. In the summer of 1971 several saturniid caterpillars (mainly Hyalophora species and hybrids) were frozen alive with the original intention of keeping a small larval collection in the freezer permanently. On adding more specimens to the box in the spring of 1973, the 1971 ones were observed to be very light in weight. They were taken out, and no changes have been observed for