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Volume 29, Number 1
31
Shields, O., J. Emmel & D. Breedlove. 1969. Butterfly larval foodplant records and a procedure for reporting foodplants. J. Res. Lepid. 8: 21-36.
Southwood, T. 1966. Ecological Methods. Methuen, London. 263 p.
Stern, V. & R. Smith. 1960. Factors affecting egg production and oviposition in populations of Colias philodice eurytheme. Hilgardia 29: 411-454.
RECORDS OF LYCAEIDES MELISSA SAMUELIS (LYCAENIDAE) FROM WISCONSIN
One of us (FHK) discovered a large flourishing colony of Lycaeides melissa samuelis Nabokov in the Seymour Township School Forest Reserve, Eau Claire County, Wisconsin on 28 May 1972. We both returned to this locality many times during 1972 to collect additional specimens, and several other colonies were discovered in an approximate 10 mile radius of the original site. Collecting dates during 1972 included May 26 and 31; June 3, 5, 6, 12, 15, 19 and 25; July 4, 5 and 7; and August 20 and 26. There appear to be at least two and possibly three broods.
The habitat where these colonies were found was fairly typical of Pine Barrens, although somewhat disturbed by plantations of Pinus resinosa (Red Pine). The soil is very shallow and sandy; dominant native trees are Pinus banksiana (Jack Pine) and Quercus ellipsoidalis (Hill's Oak); prevalent groundlayer plants include Vaccinium angustifolium (Blueberry), Viola sp. (violets including the rare Viola pedata), Lupinus perennis (Blue Lupine), Arabis sp. (Rock Cress), Lithospermum sp. (borage) and Amorpha canescens (Leadplant). Other, somewhat habitat restrictive, species of diurnal Lepidoptera which occurred here included: Amblyscirtes samoset (Scudder), Wallengrenia otho (Smith), Hesperia sassacus Harris, Incisalia polios Cook & Watson, Incisalia niphon (Hiibner), Glaucopsyche lygdamus (Doubleday), Chlosyne gorgone (Hiibner), and Speyeria aphrodite (Fabricius).
We both visited the colony together on June 19 and observed a female Lycaeides melissa ovipositing on Lupinus perennis. She spent a great deal of time flying over the plant, then landed and walked up and down the leaflets and stems. She would stop occasionally and make false attempts at depositing an egg. After about five minutes of observation, she paused on top of a leaflet and then, twisting her abdomen in an arc, she deposited a green egg at its edge on the lower surface.
All previous records of Lycaeides from Wisconsin have been attributed to argyrognomon (Bergstrasser), recently described as subspecies nabokovi Masters (1972, J. Lepid. Soc. 26: 150-154). These records of L. argyrognomon, a species extremely hard to distinguish superficially from L. melissa, include Marinette and Oconto Counties (Griewisch 1953, Lepid. News 7: 54), Brown, Waupaca, Shawano and Burnett Counties (Ebner 1970, Milwaukee Public Mus. Popular Sci. Hbk. 12) and Portage County (Johnson & Malick 1972, Rpt. 7, Mus. Nat. Hist., Univ. Wise, Stevens Point). There is little doubt, however, that these new populations in Eau Claire County represent L. melissa and not argyrognomon. The identification is determined by maculation (the ventral hindwing margins tend to have a solid terminal line), male genitalia dissection (JHM), the foodplant (Lupinus), the habitat (Pine Barren instead of Canadian Zone Forest), and the existence of multiple annual broods. In addition we highly suspect that the specimens recorded from Burnett and Portage Counties should be properly attributed to L. melissa instead of L. argyrognomon. Our reasoning for this is that Pine Barrens occur in Burnett County and Oak Barrens in Portage County, but true Canadian Zone Forest occurs in neither.
John H. Masters, 5211 Southern Avenue, South Gate, California 90280. Fay H. Karpuleon, 921 Maple Avenue, Eau Claire, Wisconsin 54701.