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Volume 33, Number 2
143
Fletcher, T. B. 1929. A List of the Generic Names Used for Microlepidoptera.
Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India. Entomological Series,
ll:i-ix, 1-244. Gaede, M. 1939. In Bryk, Lepidopterorum Catalogus, 92: 209-476. s'Gravenhage:
W. Junk.
Journal of The Lepidopterists' Society 33(2), 1979, 143-145
GENERAL NOTES
NOTES OF MARYLAND LEPIDOPTERA. 6. OCCURRENCE OF BOLORIA SELENE (NYMPHALIDAE) IN MARYLAND
In 1941, Clark (J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 31: 381-384) named a new subspecies of Boloria selene from specimens he had caught near Beltsville, Maryland in 1929. It was described as single brooded and ". . . resembling Brenthis selene myrina but larger . . . and with the ground color above darker and more reddish and the black markings broader and heavier. . . ." Clark had pictured the type earlier in his Butterflies of the District of Columbia and Vicinity (1932, U.S. National Mus. Bull. 157) and later (Clark and Clark 1951, Smithsonian Misc. Coll. 116, No. 7. 239 p.) reported that the 1929 specimens were the last to be found in Beltsville.
This subspecies, named marilandica (Fig. 1), reappeared in Largo, Maryland in 1941 when Dr. Warren Wagner, Jr. captured at least one specimen there (Clark and Clark, loc. cit.). In 1948 and 1949, one of us (WAA) caught several specimens which were first identified as myrina, but when they were shown to A. H. Clark himself in late 1952, he identified them as typical marilandica and noted that he was happy to know of another locality where they could be found.
Since then several more colonies have been located. They seem to be clustered around the Fall Line as it makes its way in a northeast-southwest direction through Maryland (Fig. 2). (The Fall Line is a line of rocky falls on the courses of the many streams and rivers that in Maryland empty into the Chesapeake Bay. It divides the low, flat Atlantic coastal plain from the gentle, rolling hills of the piedmont.) However, we know of no specimens caught later than 1966. This apparent disappearance may be due either to our not collecting at the right time in the swampy areas where the insects occur, or to their actual extinction, due to the pressures of human population extension into their areas which is occurring rapidly in the Baltimore-Washington-Philadelphia corridor.
An analysis of the capture dates of our "marilandica" specimens suggests there are three broods: late May to mid-June, mid-July to early August, and mid-August to late September.
The populations of the different areas in which we collected were somewhat variable. Many specimens were larger and darker than normal, agreeing with the description of "marilandica." However, we also found a few that agreed neither with "marilandica" or myrina, some being larger but lighter in color, others being smaller but having very thick, heavy black markings. Likewise, there were two colonies that existed close by those of "marilandica" in which all the specimens were small and only a few conforming to "marilandica" could be found. One of us (RSS) collected myrina earlier (2 September 1941) in Lutherville, Maryland, which is very near Stevenson (Fig. 2), and these specimens do not conform to "marilandica."
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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
1cm
Fig. 1. Boloria selene myrina, form "marilandica": 1. male, Eklo, 17 July 1948; 2. same, ventral; 3. male, Eklo, 6 June 1949; 4. same, ventral; 5. female, Harkins, 2 June 1966; 6. same, ventral; 7. male, Coopstown, 14 July 1966; 8. same, ventral.
Volume 33, Number 2 145
Fig. 2. Distribution of B. s. myrina, form "marilandica,'' in Maryland. Map adapted from Brush, Lenk & Smith (1977, Dept. Geography and Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, Md. 81 p.) and reproduced by written permission of the authors. 1. Largo, Prince Georges County; 2. Beltsville, Prince Georges County; 3. Stevenson, Baltimore County; 4. Eklo, Baltimore County; 5. Coopstown, Harford County; 6. Harkins, Harford County; and 7. Chesapeake City, Cecil County.
In the two small colonies in Harford County the specimens were all "marilandica." Only one specimen was obtained from the Chesapeake City (Cecil County) locale.
These observations and data support the recent revision of selene by Kohler (1977, J. Lepid. Soc. 31: 243-268) which places "marilandica" in synonymy with myrina, since "marilandica" is not single-brooded as Clark had thought, and specimens of this form are found in some populations north of Maryland (Kohler, loc. cit, Fig. 2). In fact, the type specimen of the species figured by Cramer (1779, Papillons exotique des trois parties due monde, l'Asie, FAfrique et TAmerique. Baalde, Amsterdam; Barthelmy Wild, Utrecht. 4 vol.), although not comparable with "marilandica" in size, appears to be just as heavily marked as "marilandica." The type specimen is from New York.
NEW MARYLAND RECORDS. Baltimore County: Eklo, 28 September 1947; 17 July 1948; 25 July 1948; 15 August 1948; 29 August 1948; 30 May 1949; 6 June 1949; 9 June 1949; 13 September 1962; 11 July 1963; 28 May 1964. Stevenson, 14 August 1965; 4 June 1966. Lutherville, 2 September 1941. Cecil County: Chesapeake City, 21 August 1952. Harford County: Harkins, 2 June 1966; 14 July 1966. Coopstown, 14 July 1966. Prince Georges County: Beltsville, 21 July 1961 (topotype caught by Mr. William Field and now in the collection of the U. S. National Museum, Washington, D.C.).
William A. Andersen, 220 Melanchton Avenue, Lutherville, Maryland 21093. Robert S. Simmons, 1305 Light Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.