Guiffrida Park- Meridan.. Falcates

Grkovich, Alex agrkovich at tmpeng.com
Tue Apr 28 15:47:38 EDT 2009


This is the place, Larry...and we actually did look in several spots in the habitat along the (what's left of) the "creek" but we did not see any sign of the species anywhere in the area...We also did note that there WAS some of the host still around (including some on the roadsides near the parking lot)...but not much of it at all...

My reference to "long gone" was not meant to indicate a long period of time; I have been there in late April of 2002 and 2006; there were a number of specimens flying in the habitat (still very healthy) in 2002, and it was obviously between April 2002 and April 2006 that the habitat was altered, and in 2006 (April 30) I managed to find only one male, and things were already pretty barren even then...But the habitat appears to be in even worse shape now than when I was there in 2006...

But the species is certainly doing very well in other locations in W Mass. And S VT...And note that Matt did encounter a single specimen beneath (north of) the Hanging Hills in Meriden in late April 2008...

Alex

-----Original Message-----
From: Gall, Lawrence [mailto:lawrence.gall at yale.edu] 
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 3:35 PM
To: Grkovich, Alex; ctleps-l at lists.yale.edu
Cc: mothman617 at aol.com; Patrick Sweeney
Subject: RE: Guiffrida Park- Meridan.. Falcates

Hello folks, regarding the "North Branford colony" of west Virginia White (Pieris virginiensis): is this in reference to the well-known population off Reeds Gap Road off Route 17?  If so, the sentiment that the butterflies are long gone is incorrect, as this afternoon (28 April 2009) I observed a fresh male (in my net, released) during a brief botanical reconnaissance with Patrick Sweeney, my colleague in the Botany department here at the Peabody Museum.  It is certainly true that the habitat is altered substantially from its condition in the 1980s and 1990s, but on each occasion that I have returned to Reeds Gap since I started going there in 1979 (which is not every year, more like every 2-4 years) I have always encountered at least one and sometimes several adult Pieris virginiensis.  Both larval hosts (Cardamine concatenata and Cardamine dentata) are still present, and were in flower today, albeit also in reduced numbers from prior decades.  My guess is this is a metapopulation with other spots along Totoket Mountain harboring concentrations of the butterfly.  Regrettably, I admit to having done virtually no further exploring along Totoket Mountain to see if that is the case.  Best, Larry


- - -

Lawrence F. Gall, Ph.D.

Head, Computer Systems Office
Informatics Manager, Entomology
Executive Editor, Peabody Publications
Lepidoptera Section Editor, Zootaxa

Peabody Museum of Natural History
P.O. Box 208118, Yale University
New Haven, CT 06520-8118 USA
http://www.peabody.yale.edu

email: lawrence.gall at yale.edu
phone: 1-203-432-9892
FAX:  1-203-432-9816


-----Original Message-----
From: Grkovich, Alex [mailto:agrkovich at tmpeng.com]
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2009 10:02 AM
To: ctleps-l at lists.yale.edu
Cc: mothman617 at aol.com
Subject: RE: Guiffrida Park- Meridan.. Falcates +

My friend Matt Arey submitted this report to TILS-Leps-talk last night, on our field trip of yesterday to the Hanging Hills of Meriden, CT, with a brief side-trip to North Branford to examine a West Virginia White colony. Sadly, the Whites appear to LONG GONE, due to the ugly alteration to the habitat. When I was last there, on April 30, 2006, I noted that someone had been cutting down trees in the habitat, and that as a result of the excessive solar radiation reaching the surface, the habitat had noticeably dried up; not only this, but the fallen logs have just been left there for some reason, to further pollute and crush the low vegetation. Today this former beautiful lush shaded Transition Zone habitat is a barren wasteland of "pricker bushes" and dead leaves - and the Whites, as I stated above, are for certain history at this location...

Really ugly...disgusting...and needless...

Matt is right also in his discussion about the habits and habitat of the trap-rock ridge colonies of Falcate Orange Tips in southern Connecticut and adjacent southeastern new York. I've long felt that these isolated CT/NY populations should be separated subspecifically from typical deciduous forest populations further south. One could not imagine catching a fast-flying and erratic CT Falcate with his hands; but in the past I have had little problems doing so in Tenn., Ohio etc. The North Carolina populations to which Matt refers (coastal NC to Georgia) ARE in fact a distinct subspecies (nominate midea) which feature a much more extensive FW orange patch in the males, a larger black FW spot, much more iridescence above and below and stronger marbling below, and the females often have yellowish-gray at the FW apex; they are larger also...Anyone who has not observed specimens of this interesting subspecies should make an effort someday to do so...They peak typically in early April in coastal North Carolina...(I know, by the way, an exact location of one big NC colony if anyone is ever interested)...

And Matt definitely DID encounter a single specimen of West Virginia White at the Hanging Hills, just above the reservoir along the road to the peak; there is a stream along the south side of the road and some of the hostplant there...The specimen was in that habitat... 

Alex
Peabody, MA

April 26, 2009

>>>[By Matt Arey]Sunny and hot again (near 90 deg.F)

Hanging Hills - Meriden, CT (New Haven Co.) Myself and fellow Lepidopterist Alex Grkovich. 

Falcate Orange Tip (Anthocaris midea annickae) around 15 or so, all males.
Cabbage White (P. rapae) several
West Virginia White (Artogeia virginiensis) - 1 possible as it was not as large as P. rapae, was in wrong habitat and different flight behavior. It was also located in the same area where W. Va. White was definitely observed last year.
Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice) 1
Red Admiral (V. atalanta) 1
Mourning Cloak (N. antiopa) a few
Eastern Comma (P. comma) 1 or 2
Juvenal's Duskywing (Erynnis juvenalis) 1 Spring Azure (C. ladon) 10+ Eastern Black Swallowtail (P. polyxenes asterius) 2 or 3 males Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (P. glaucus) 2 males

We made a quick detour south to North Branford, CT where a supposed West Virginia White colony existed. To our dismay, the extensive wooded area was thinned of trees and much of the crucial understory was removed.
Much of larval host and other wetland vegetation was destroyed. The habitat was altered so no W. Va. White. Years ago this was an area thick with this species. 
The Falcate Orangetips at the Hanging Hills were not nearly as plentiful as last year (4/24/08) where dozens including many females could be observed within a brief walk along the ridge escarpments. This year the peak flight is occurring later than expected. The populations of A.
midea are somewhat different here than those observed in let's say New Jersey, Ohio, North Carolina and eastern Texas. They are smaller and fly much more rapidly in a zig-zag pattern in comparison. Those from other locales according to Alex, H. Pavulaan et al. have a more feeble flight.
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