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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 32(1), 1978, 59-60
NEW OR INTERESTING LEPIDOPTERA RECORDS FROM WESTERN TEXAS
The Panhandle and South Plains areas of Texas have probably received less close attention from lepidopterists than other areas of the state because of the dearth of resident collectors and the greater number of interesting species in other parts of Texas. In view of the relative lack of information on Panhandle-Plains species, it seems worthwhile to publish certain significant records from my collection and the Texas Tech University collection at this time. I report herein one new Texas record (Pieridae) and additional records of species not usually associated with these areas of Texas.
Pieridae
Kricogonia lyside (Godart) has previously been reported from the Panhandle-Plains area only in October (Kendall and Freeman 1963, The Butterflies and Skippers of Texas: A Tentative List, Sinton, Texas, 6 p.). The Texas Tech University collection contains two males of this species from Lubbock, Texas (Lubbock Co.), both of which are in very good condition. One was collected on 12 July 1970 by D. W. Kiser, and the other on 24 September 1967 by U. Barber. In addition to these specimens, I collected one male and two females in fair condition at Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Randall Co., Texas, on 6 May 1977.
Phoebis agarithe maxima (Neumoegen). Although this species was not cited in Kendall and Freeman's checklist as having been recorded from the Panhandle-Plains region of Texas, the Texas Tech collection contains two males, in fair condition, from Lubbock, Texas (Lubbock Co.). One was collected on 7 July 1967 by "E J W," and the other on 16 September 1970 by P. M. Allen. I observed numerous males and females of agarithe maxima in Lubbock, Texas throughout September of 1976, and captured a single worn male on 19 September 1976.
Pieris napi (Linnaeus). The Texas Tech collection contains a single perfect male specimen of an undetermined subspecies collected on 17 August 1970, at Canyon, Texas (Randall Co.) by Walt Fournier, a former Tech graduate student. As far as can be determined, this record is a new one for the state of Texas.
Lycaenidae
Lycaeides melissa melissa (Edwards). I collected a single perfect male of this species on 31 August 1975 at the Buffalo Springs Lake Recreation Area (4 mi. E Lubbock, Lubbock Co., Texas). This record tends to support the contention by Rickard and Vernon (1975, /. Lepid. Soc.: 150) that this heretofore rarely reported species has probably just been overlooked in the past.
Nymphalidae
Chlosyne janais (Drury). A single female of this common neotropical species was collected by me at my residence in Lubbock, Texas, on 11 June 1977. The specimen has badly torn hindwings but is in fair condition otherwise. This species has not previously been reported from the Panhandle-Plains region of Texas.
Saturniidae
Hemileuca hera hera (Harris). Although Douglas C. Ferguson states that hera is "widespread in the West but not known from Texas" (1972, Bombycoidea-Saturniidae in part, p. 106. in R. B. Dominick, et al., The Moths of America north of Mexico, Fascicle 20.2B), the Texas Tech collection contains a single male in very good condition, collected on 16 September 1969 in Dickens, Texas (Dickens Co.) by M. Hughes.
Callosamia promethea (Drury). The Texas Tech collection contains one female,
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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
in fair condition, collected on 2 September 1973 at Junction, Texas (Kimble Co.) by Tech graduate student Sandy M. Benbow. According to Ferguson (p. 235), promethea has not been cited previously as occurring west of Tyler, San Jacinto, and Montgomery counties in eastern Texas. Thus this record suggests a possible range extension of several hundred miles into the Edwards Plateau area. Texas Tech University students and faculty collect annually at a field campus in Junction, so it should be possible to determine if promethea is more than just a stray in the area.
Acknowledgments
I wish to thank Roy O. Kendall of San Antonio, Texas, for reviewing this paper and confirming the identification of these specimens, and Dr. David E. Foster of the Texas Tech entomology faculty for allowing me to examine material in the Tech entomology collection.
Jeff Robb, Department of Entomology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79403.