Parnassian quandary

[Cris Guppy & Aud Fischer]

Ken Philip has already commented on the species issue, so I will not comment
on it further. I agree with the species that Ken lists, but not everyone
does.

Parnassius smintheus was found for the first time on Vancouver Island (on
Mt. Arrowsmith) in the 1960s by my uncle, Richard Guppy. In the late 1960s
the Mt. Arrowsmith population was named as subspecies guppyi. Subspecies
guppyi is now considered a synonym of subspecies olympianus, which had
previously been named from the Olympic Mountains of Washington State. The
world distribution of subspecies guppyi is the Olympic Mountains and
Vancouver Island.

At the present time additional Vancouver Island populations are known from
Strathcona Provincial Park (Mt. Becher in Forbidden Plateau, Mt. Albert
Edward east of Forbidden Plateau, Flower Ridge above the south end of Buttle
Lake, and Cream Lake southeast of Buttle Lake). It is likely that additional
populations occur in Strathcona Park and other mountains on northern
Vancouver Island.

----- Original Message -----
From: "D Marven" <marven at home.com>
To: <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Sent: August 3, 2000 12:37 PM
Subject: Parnassian quandary


> Hi Leps
> Yesterday I spent the day on Mt.Arrowsmith on Vancouver Island, B.C. and
> I observed what I belive to be two different species of Parnassian's on
> the lower reaches and the road up to the ski hill Clodius Parnassian
> (Parnassius clodius) was quite evident, but at the higher elavations a
> much whiter Parnassian was observed. This species showed some faint red
> spots on the upperwing and flew much slower than Clodius. Most specimens
> were quite worn and I must admit I foregot to look at the antennae to
> see if it was ringed or not. The problem is that The Butterflies of
> Canada suggests that it is Rocky Mountain Parnassian (parnassius
> smintheus), but the Checklist of North American Butterflies from NABA
> does not list this species. Any help you guys could give me would be
> much appreciated as this is possibly a new species for me. Derrick
>
> Derrick Marven
> Duncan, B.C.
> Canada
>
>