Phyciodes in CT

Tue Mar 29 17:57:48 EST 2005

FW: RI BUTTERFLY FLIGHT CHART from Harry Pavulaan may also be of value for
CT/Ma butterfliersClay,

I took all my crescents to Don Lafontaine last summer and he identified both
Phyciodes cocyta and P. tharos from Connecticut.  And, of course, a bunch
that didn't sort well one way or the other.  Interpretation of the
mitochondrial sequence data for northeastern Phyciodes is far from straight
forward--haplotypes are floating over species boundaries and the
two/three/four species are not always distinct (to my eye).  For now, I am
happy just to call them all tharos species complex.  To my mind they are not
behaving as good species here.  I could be wrong...not much of a fan of
single-character taxonomy...antennal club color does not a species make.

  -----Original Message-----
  From: owner-ctleps-l at lists.yale.edu
[mailto:owner-ctleps-l at lists.yale.edu]On Behalf Of Clay Taylor
  Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 1:42 PM
  To: agrkovich at tmpeng.com; CTLEPS-L at lists.yale.edu
  Subject: Re: RI BUTTERFLY FLIGHT CHART from Harry Pavulaan may also be of
value for CT/Ma butterfliers

  All -

      Regarding Alex's #3, the listing of Pearl Crescents in all weeks is
doubtless due to staggered timings of broods seen over a series of "early"
and "late" emergence years.  There are always periods during a particular
year when there are none to be found since they are between broods.

      As for the lack of Northern Crescent in RI, I am not aware of any
specimens recorded in CT (Dave, anybody?...), which would make a RI record
even less expected.

  Clay Taylor
  Moodus, CT
  ctaylor at att.net
    ----- Original Message -----
    From: Grkovich, Alex
    To: CTLEPS-L at lists.yale.edu
    Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 12:55 PM
    Subject: FW: RI BUTTERFLY FLIGHT CHART from Harry Pavulaan may also be
of value for CT/Ma butterfliers

    -----Original Message-----

    From:   Grkovich, Alex

    Sent:   Tuesday, March 29, 2005 12:49 PM

    To:     'kingarthurarthur at yahoo.com'; blackstone valley

    Cc:     'Pavulaan at aol.com'

    Subject:        RE: RI BUTTERFLY FLIGHT CHART  from Harry Pavulaan may
also be of value for CT/Ma butterfliers

    Arthur, harry et al,

    This is a very interesting and also very informative source...A few
comments/questions:

    1. I note that the Zebra Swallowtail, a) is recorded from RI during
mid-July, and has been reported, according to this, from mid-April through
late August (all weeks) and into mid-September (CT and/or s. NY - I doubt
that it has been taken in Mass. although the USGS shows a record from Essex
Co. in northeast Mass which I would doubt)...That the Zebra has been
recorded so frequently in presumably CT and NY is surprising...I understood
that southeast Penn. is as far north as it breeds (also the northeastern
range of its host); and the Zebra is also not a wide-ranging species, it
"hangs" mostly around its host...Where and when has it been recorded in CT,
RI or NY???...While living in Plymouth, MA a bunch of years ago I always
expected to find it in the dilute southeastern pine forests in the area, but
never did...

    2. "Canadian Tiger Swallowtail" recorded in April, may, early June and
then again in mid-July and early August (!)...Hmmm...something is "fishy"
here (Harry and I have talked many times about this and both feel this
way)...sounds like something "else" is present in RI...I am quite certain
that I have taken the Appalachian Tiger Swallowtail (P. appalachiensis*) at
Wachusett Mountain, MA and in Westchester Co., NY in early June...and after
examining vouchers that I have of supposedly "canadensis" in northern New
England, I'm not even sure of some of those anymore...Much more field work
is required here... And anyone who happens to have the book "Butterflies of
Canada" (layberry et al) should carefully note how closely the male "Eastern
Tiger Swallowtail" (*P. glaucus*, on PLate 5, I believe from memory)
resembles the Western Tiger Swallowtail (*P. rutulus*) figured below it on
the same plate...

    3. Pearl Crescent recorded all weeks, and Northern Crescent confirmed in
no weeks, in RI, is also strange...How could the one be present non-stop,
and the other not present at all? By the way, what has been typically
"passed off" as "Northern Crescents" in eastern MA (including by myself) do
not in fact look at all similar to (confirmed by DNA) actual Northern
Crescents (*P. cocyta*) that I have taken in west-central Maine and in
northern NH...and a male "Northern Crescent" that I have taken in
northeastern MA in early September looks EXACTLY like the "Mimic Crescent"
(*P. incognitus*) illustrated on the front page of Ron Gatrelle's recent
paper in which he described this new species (see The International
Lepidoptera Survey, tils-ttr.org).

    4. Records for "Little Wood Satyr - Type 1" and "Type 2" agree with my
observations in eastern MA. The two seem to occupy slightly different
habitats (the second in more shaded and brushy environments than the first)
and also behave differently in the field.

    Just a few observations...there are other "quirky" things as well, that
raise suspicion, such as Edwards' Spring Azure, recorded form late
Oct./early Nov....but enough for now...Hopefully others out there will offer
their own comments and other questions...

    Alex

      -----Original Message-----

      From:   owner-ctleps-l at lists.yale.edu
[SMTP:owner-ctleps-l at lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Arthur M. Plitt

      Sent:   Saturday, March 12, 2005 10:45 AM

      To:     blackstone valley

      Subject:        RI BUTTERFLY FLIGHT CHART  from Harry Pavulaan may
also be of value for CT/Ma butterfliers

        This chart shows the adult flight periods of all butterflies
recorded in Rhode Island & a few that come really close in MA or CT. You can
access this file at the URL:
      <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ButterflysocietyofRI/files/RI_brood%20c
hart.XLS>

      May all your 'journeys have the spirits of our roundtable with you!!
                 ><../'/_/ KingArthur/_//<>

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