Ferretting out Feniseca

John Mathew jmathew at mcz.harvard.edu
Fri Jul 17 22:46:47 EDT 1998


Dear fellow lepidopterists,

In this year of unusual El Nino weather, we have started work on Feniseca 
tarquinius, the "Harvester," an equally enigmatic and fascinating 
butterfly. The Harvester is interesting to us on account of its 
carnivorous larval stage and complex life history, which involves aphids 
and several species of attendant ants. By sampling many different 
populations throughout the range of the species, we hope to collect 
enough data to conduct a population genetic survey. The project will 
answer questions about how closely related individuals are within and 
among populations, and how much gene flow exists among them. We also 
hope to collect detailed information on the distribution and density of 
Feniseca throughout its range. Like other highly specialized species of 
Lycaenidae, we believe that Feniseca is particularly susceptible to the 
effects of habitat destruction. This study will establish a baseline for 
future work on population dynamics that will provide insight into the 
biology of the species and garner vital information for conservation 
purposes.

As you may know, the Harvester and its prey can be quite elusive. They 
are distributed throughout the eastern United States, but are present 
only in patches and often at very low densities. We are writing to you in 
order to enlist your support and expert knowledge in our quest for these 
scattered populations. If you do possess any information as to where 
Feniseca has been collected in the recent past and/or know anyone who 
might, we would be most grateful if you could take some time to respond 
with the relevant information and additionally afford to us a contact 
telephone number so as to enable us to contact you in the future. 
You can also reach us by telephone at (617)495-4012 (John or Mike) or 
(617)495-2576 (Naomi), fax at (617)495-5667, or at any of the given e-mail 
addresses appearing at the end of this posting. If you do know of sites and 
would like to become directly involved in this project by collecting adults 
and/or larvae for us, we would be happy to send you a collection kit and 
instructions. We plan to begin active collecting of the Harvester as soon as 
possible.

As is the case with all sleuthing, even a fragment of information or a 
promising lead could become vital to our search. Thank you in advance for 
any assistance you might be able to contribute to this effort.

Sincerely yours,

John Mathew 
Graduate Student, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
jmathew at mcz.harvard.edu

Mike Canfield 
Biology Teacher, Friends Central School, Philadelphia, PA
mcanfield at oeb.harvard.edu

Naomi Pierce
Professor, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
npierce at oeb.harvard.edu



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