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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 33(4), 1979, 258
ERYNNIS BAPTISIAE (HESPERIIDAE) ON CROWN VETCH (LEGUMINOSAE)
Crown vetch, Coronilla varia L., is a European perennial leguminous ground cover introduced to North America after 1890. It has been extensively planted by the Pennsylvania highway authorities to control embankment erosion. This program began in the mid-1980s and accelerated in the past 20 years (Wheeler, 1974, Can. Entomol. 106: 897-908). Crown vetch is now thoroughly naturalized in Pennsylvania as a common component of old-field successional vegetation; it has also spread to adjacent southeastern New York and northern Maryland and Delaware. Wheeler (loc. cit.) conducted an insect survey of the plant and found two butterflies breeding on it (counties unspecified): Colias eurytheme Bdv. (Pieridae) and Erynnis baptisiae (Forbes) (Hesper-iidae). He did not consider either to be of potential economic importance.
Shapiro (1966, Butterflies of the Delaware Valley, p. 53) judged E. baptisiae to be "locally common" in southeastern Pennsylvania but did not find it on Coronilla, although C. eurytheme was recorded on that plant (p. 38). In 1966 and 1967 it was noted as singletons in the vicinity of Coronilla in Montgomery and Chester Counties.
From 10-12 July 1978 I collected intensively in areas of Montgomery, Delaware, and Chester Counties, Pennsylvania which I had often visited from 1955 through 1966. In many of these localities I found E. baptisiae the commonest butterfly, a situation never previously observed. Where Coronilla was abundant E. baptisiae usually outnumbered all other butterflies and skippers combined. Numerous ovipositions on crown vetch were observed, and, notably, male "territoriality"—which is very conspicuous in low-density populations of E. baptisiae—was much reduced or even absent. Thirty specimens were collected in an hour at a 0.5 ha stand of the plant in Marple Township, Delaware Co. '
This unprecedented abundance may reflect an upward shift in the carrying capacity of the environment for E. baptisiae in the presence of a newly adopted, exotic host. A precisely parallel situation is believed to exist with populations of Pieris napi micro-striata Comstock (Pieridae) on introduced watercress in California (Shapiro, 1975, J. Res. Lepid. 14: 158-168). Ongoing monitoring of the range and population levels of E. baptisiae where Coronilla occurs would be most desirable.
Arthur M. Shapiro, Department of Zoology, University of California, Davis, California 95616.
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 33(4), 1979, 258-260
DOES HESPERIA JUBA (HESPERIIDAE) HIBERNATE AS AN ADULT?
The life history of Hesperia juba Scudder is very poorly known. The early stages were described by MacNeill (1964, Univ. Calif. Publ. Entomol. 35: 67-77), who observed that "the adults are present from April through October, with some variation according to locality; evidently emergence is rather continuous and there are no distinct seasonal broods." This was inferred from the data on 769 specimens from hundreds of localities, not incorporating long series from single places. For southern California, Emmel and Emmel (1973, Butterflies of Southern California, p. 84) record two broods, April-June and August-September. This is closer to the picture which emerges when