FW: AGGRESSIVE MALE NORTHERN CLOUDYWING

[Grkovich, Alex]

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Grkovich, Alex 
> Sent:	Thursday, June 28, 2001 11:31 AM
> To:	'MassLep at listbot.com'
> Subject:	FW: AGGRESSIVE MALE NORTHERN CLOUDYWING
> 
> 
> 
> Harry Pavulaan wrote me to update me on recent taxonomic studies involving
> the eastern subspecies of Common Wood Nymph. According to Harry and his
> research associate, Ron Gatrelle, the subspecies which will be assigned to
> most of southern New England and not just the coastal areas (as formerly)
> will be the Maritime Wood Nymph (subsp. maritima). The Northern Wood Nymph
> (nephele) will continue to represent northern and montane populations.
> Maritima will also be assigned to darker populations with the orange FW
> band along the upper midwest (my own observations of specimens from
> southern Ontario, for example, support this). The Blue Eyed Grayling
> (subspecies alope) is being assigned as a synonym only of the Southern
> Wood Nymph (subsp. pegala), due to their relative similarity and the fact
> that it is recognized that the Type Localities of both were geographically
> close along the southeastern Coastal Plain. So therefore, we here will
> have to occupy ourselves with only two subspecies and not three (although
> specimens that I found last summer along the Mt. Wachusett ski trail are
> lighter colored with a more yellow (than orange) FW patch, suggestive more
> of alope than maritima.
  
> Alex 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Grkovich, Alex 
> Sent:	Tuesday, June 26, 2001 5:12 PM
> To:	'MassLep at listbot.com'
> Subject:	AGGRESSIVE MALE NORTHERN CLOUDYWING
> 
> I observed, on Saturday 23 June, an instance of extreme and noticeable
> aggression displayed by a male specimen of Northern Cloudywing at the top
> of the (abandoned) ski trail at the Boston Hills Ski Area near N. Andover,
> MA off of Rt. 114. The butterfly was perching on the ground and on low
> leaves of nearby poplars, oaks etc. in a clearing along a trail, and then
> darting at high speed at its neighbors, which included a group of several
> Eastern Commas, a Mourning Cloak, etc. I think this is noteworthy because
> there has been a tendency recently to regard all such "aggressive acts" as
> males seeking to identify potential mates, and therefore moving rapidly
> from a perch in the direction of the other. From my own observations, I'm
> sure this is often or most of the time actually the case, but very
> clearly, it was not the case this time. This butterfly, even after
> repeated darts at the same "neighbors", continued to attack them and
> follow them, displaying almost a vicious attitude. 
> 
> I have noticed that Klots remarks about the "pugilistic tendencies of
> males of this species" on page 213 of his 1951 Field Guide.
> 
> Red Spotted Purples in this area are partial hybrids with the White
> Admiral, displaying a partial white FW band and the bluish iridescent
> sheen of the HW converted into distinct spots, which are the beginning of
> the development of the white bands on the HW. On the undersides of thew
> wings, there is a tendency here toward the reddish ground color of the
> White Admiral.
> 
> The "Common Wood Nymph" season is approaching. I wanted to point out the
> fact that there are three distinct subspecies of this subspecies that
> occur in southern New England: 1. The Blue Eyed Grayling (or Common Wood
> Nymph), which is the most typical form, probably found most anywhere
> except otherwise as described, and which has the typical yellow/orange FW
> band enclosing the two large dark spots; 2. The Maritime Wood Nymph, which
> is found only along the coast (the Type Locality [the locality where the
> taxon was named and original described] is on Martha's Vineyard (Matt, you
> no doubt see this one). The ground color is darker, deeper brown than the
> first, with the FW patch being more deeper orange. 3. The Northern Wood
> Nymph, which lacks the light yellow or orange FW band, but the spots are
> present, and is otherwise darker. This is the northernmost form, which I
> associate with the Canadian Zone (mountain areas in s. New England and
> pretty much everywhere in n. New England). The fourth is a very curious
> form that I have found in the past (in isolated specimens only) along and
> near the South Shore (for example, at Norfolk) and which looks like the
> Blue Eyed Grayling or Maritime WN, but has the LOWER FW dark spot in the
> light band SMALLER and reduced in size in the males. This is important
> because this is an important characteristic of the Southern Wood Nymph,
> which occurs in typical form only as far north as Virginia, with a blend
> zone supposedly extending up to the coast to New Jersey.  The occurrence
> of this would indicate that the blend zone with the southernmost form
> extends further up the coast than has commonly been described. I would be
> interested to hear about such specimens. This is, of course, NOT the
> Southern WN (which is usually larger and brighter, and also has the dark
> spot on the HW very large) but still....
> 
> I sent a post yesterday about the "two Little Wood Satyrs". Is anyone
> interested in this? I noticed last evening, while out at 5:30pm in a
> wooded field in Melrose, that there were no "Little Wood Satyrs I" (as
> Glassberg refers to them) flying in an area where there have been at least
> several hundred of them during their flight this month (starting about May
> 26). 
> 
> Alex Grkovich, P.E.
> TMP Consulting Engineers, Inc.
> 52 Temple Place
> Boston, MA 02111
> 617.357.6060 X329
> 617.357.5188 FAX
> agrkovich at tmpeng.com
>