Rare skipper needs attention.

Ron Gatrelle gatrelle at tils-ttr.org
Wed Oct 11 00:22:24 EDT 2000


    A few years ago I was doing some sub-contract work for the US F&WS. I
was helping with the Atrytone arogos arogos assessment. I had heard of an
area near the coast in Horry County, SC that sounded like arogos habitat. It
was late in the season (October) so I figured arogos would not be out there
but at least I could check the habitat. I visited this site a couple times
and did not find arogos but did find several other interesting skippers
including Hesperia attalus.
     The attalus were pretty common and I took a few voucher specimens.
After mounting them I noted that they were all very dark. In 1999 I ended up
describing this disjunct semi-dune population as new subspecies Hesperia
attalus nigrescens in The Taxonomic Report 1:10. In the article under
comments, I recommended that this new subspecies be given some special
attention since it is known from only this single isolated relict colony.
The site in near the Sandy Island Wildlife Refuge and I mentioned in the
paper that I suspected that it might occur there also. I also stated that
there were coastal areas south of Myrtle Beach to Georgetown between the
beach and the intracoastal water way which looked like suitable habitat. We
send TTR to several people in the Nature Conservancy and F&WS. Nothing came
of these comments in the original description.
    Thus, this year I directly contacted top people with F&WS and the Nature
Conservancy asking them to help provide  possible protection for this unique
skippers habitat and consider requiring an impact survey for all development
south of Myrtle Beach relative to this skipper.  I didn't even receive a
polite "we got your letter" from either of these entities.
    I was able to make it back to this site (on private property) this year.
I found the site unchanged and the subspecies still common. I collected four
more pairs which, like the pervious sample, are very dark. Since most of you
do not subscribe to or receive The Taxonomic Report, I present this
information here to give a broader awareness of this unique subspecies which
inhabits one of the most quickly developing areas in South Carolina. If it
is in the Sandy Island Refuge it is safe. If not, one housing development
will cause its extinction.
There are many more species/subspecies in North America in immensely more
need of attention relative to "potential extinction" than the common
monarch.
    Bo Sullivan (of south coastal N.C.) told me that attalus is not know on
the N.C. coast. Steve Hall of the N.C. DNR has seen our museum's paratypes
of this subspecies and told me he has seen nothing like this in N.C.
    Subscription/membership to The Taxonomic Report is currently $50 for US
and Canada. $65 non North America. The 2001 Vol. 3 subscription will be $45
and $55. Vol. 1 is available on CD for $25. We only mail 1st class domestic
and Air Mail overseas. Our web page is www.tils.ttr.org. When we get the
site fully operational we will have pictures of all the taxa described in
TTR. You can contact us through our web site, my address on this email, or
via Harry Pavulaan at hpavulaan at aol.com.


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