The text below is grayed out because it is not intended to be read. It is a necessarily imperfect OCR of the original and is only used by a search engine.
176
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
Five of the females that emerged were mated, and eggs were collected in paper bags each night thereafter until death occurred. Later, the bags were cut open and all eggs were counted. To determine total egg complement the abdomen of each female was dissected after death and eggs remaining in the ovaries were counted. The average egg complement was 232.40 ± 42.76; the average number of eggs deposited was 216.2 ± 53.14. Thus, on a percentage basis the females deposited an average of 92.95 ± 13.48 percent of the eggs they emerged with. The only known information on R. forbesi egg production is the report by Collins and Weast (1961, Wild Silk Moths of the United States, Collins Radio Co., Cedar Rapids) that one female laid "all" of her eggs (156) in one night. In the R. forbesi studied here, the average longevity after mating was 7.80 ± 0.84 nights; most of the deposited eggs (>80 percent) were laid during the first three nights after mating. None of the females deposited all eggs in any one night. The three-night average for eggs was 57.92 ± 11.42. There was a positive correlation between egg complement and the three-night average for eggs (r = 0.70), which is described by the following regression equation, where Ed3 = three-night average eggs and Et = egg complement:
Ed3 = 25.35 + 0.15Et
The oviposition pattern for R. forbesi (Fig. 1) is similar to patterns known for other giant silkworm moths (Hyalophora cecropia (L.), Tashenberg & Roelofs, 1970, Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer. 63:107-111; Hyalophora gloveri gloveri (Strecker), Miller, 1978, J. Lepid. Soc. 32:233-234; Callosamia promethea (Drury), Miller & Cooper, 1977, J. Lepid. Soc. 31:282-283; Antheraea polyphemus (Cramer), Miller & Cooper, 1980, J. Lepid. Soc. 34:256-259).
The author acknowledges with gratitude the assistance of R. S. Peigler, who collected the Rothschildia forbesi pupae at Harlingen, Texas, in January 1981. The opinions contained herein are those of the author and should not be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Department of the Army.
Thomas A. Miller, U.S. Army Medical Bioengineering R&D Laboratory, Fort De-trick, Maryland 21701.
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 37(2), 1983, 176-177
OCCURRENCE OF MEGISTO CYMELA (SATYRIDAE) AT FLOWERS, WITH A BEHAVIORAL NOTE
Most Satyridae are thought not to normally utilize nectar sources (Emmel, 1975, in Howe (ed.), The Butterflies of North America, p. 80). Megisto cymela (Cramer) to my knowledge has never been recorded visiting flowers. On 9 July 1980 and 5 July 1981 I observed repeated nectaring by this species on staghorn sumac, Rhus typhina L., in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The habitat is a burn area dominated by the grass Andropogon scoparius. There are many clumps of trees and shrubs invading this area, such as gray birch (Betula popu-lifolia), bigtooth aspen (Populus grandidentata), hawthorns (Crataegus spp.), cherries (Prunus spp.), and staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina). It is surrounded by a climax Transition Zone woodland which is part of the Wissahickon Creek Ravine in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. This burn scar, where the butterflies were seen, is actually at the top of part of this ravine about 104 m above sea level.
Megisto cymela is univoltine here, emerging in mid or late June, with worn individuals being found in August. These common butterflies are usually found flying near the ground in their characteristic weak dancing or skipping manner, moving in and out
Volume 37, Number 2
177
of shrubs or thickets of small trees. On 9 July 1980 a single individual was seen nec-taring on the yellow-green inflorescence of Rhus typhina. On 5 July 1981 at 1400 h, two individuals were seen nectaring on this flower species in a shaded thicket. The day was cloudy and very humid with the air temperature about 29°C. The first individual was observed for over 15 min, moving slowly from one blossom to another before disappearing out of view. The second one was found in another clump of these trees but nectared at the flowers only briefly. The first butterfly seen on 5 July 1981 had initially been found resting on the leaves of Rhus typhina with its wings open and flat, very much like a geometrid moth. Later, another individual was also found resting on leaves of these trees in this manner, certainly very uncharacteristic of members of this family.
Other butterflies of interest found in this area include Parrhasius m-album (Bdv. & LeConte), Satyrium liparops (LeConte), Harkenclenus titus (F.), Atrytonopsis hianna (Scudder), and Hesperia metea Scudder. The latter, however, may have been recently extirpated here.
Thomas S. Williams, 2366 Rosemore Ave., Glenside, Pennsylvania 19038.
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 37(2), 1983, 177-179
THE "WHITE MALE" VARIANT OF COLIAS (PIERIDAE): TWO NEW RECORDS FROM COLORADO
Male Colias butterflies with their ground color white or near-white, in contrast to the typical yellow and orange phenotypes, are extremely rare. Such "white males" have been reported in at least seven Colias species (see review by Remington, 1954, Adv. Genetics 6:403-450). Wild captured white males are few; they occasionally segregate out of inbred laboratory strains and mass cultures of these pierids. Here I report captures of two more white male Colias, one being from a species in which this variant has not previously been recorded.
On 8 July 1977 I collected a white male C. meadii Edw. (Fig. 1) at the Mesa Seco, elev. 3590 m, 8 km west of Lake City, Hinsdale County, Colorado. I am not aware of other captures of white males for this Colias species. The specimen was initially mistaken for an "alba" female as it flew down a steep grade. C. meadii "alba" females are themselves uncommon in Colorado (Remington, 1958, Proc. X Intl. Congr. Entomol. 2:787-805; Ferris, 1972, Bull. Allyn Museum 5:1-23) and have never been captured at Mesa Seco during a decade of mark-re capture studies by Watt's Stanford research group (W. B. Watt, pers. comm.).
I also collected a white male C. philodice eriphyle Edw. (Fig. 2) on 3 August 1977 in an alfalfa field near State Route 92, elev. 1645 m, 8 km west of Hotchkiss, Delta County, Colorado. The "alba" phenotype frequency in C. p. eriphyle females in some of these agricultural populations is in the neighborhood of 15 percent or less. Here, as in much of North America, positive identification of some white females to species is hampered by the presence of migrant C. eurytheme Bdv. (whose "alba" frequencies in western Colorado are generally below 10 percent) and concomitant introgression. Rearings of "alba" females from pure yellow C. p. eriphyle (and the reciprocal) taken in fields near Montrose, Colorado, demonstrate that "alba" does occur in pure C. p. eriphyle and not just as a result of introgression with C. eurytheme.
It should be noted that the coloration of "white male" Colias differs significantly from that of their white female counterparts. White males, and some of the white