Subspecific contact.

[Ron Gatrelle]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris J. Durden" <drdn at mail.utexas.edu>
To: <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2001 12:32 AM
Subject: Re: Subspecific contact.


> Have you ever compared the male genitalia of *P. eubule* with *P. sennae
> marcellina*. They sure look specifically different to me. Also check the
> range geometry of *P. sennae* on the Northern Plains Website. Looks like
> eastern "*sennae*" has a different ecological tolerance from western
> "*sennae*". Here in Central Texas we usually have *marcellina* sometimes
> only *eubule* and sometimes both.
> ..............Chris Durden

No, I have not checked the genitalia of eubule and marcellina. Charleston
SC is the (assumed) type locality of eubule. This has always interested me
as I am still not sure if eubule is actually a breeding resident here. It
is usually found on warm days all through the winter. But in the spring it
seems to disappear. IF (big if) this is so, it shows that eubule adults can
endure some brief below freezing conditions, but dies out in spring as its
host(s) are unavailable for egg laying and larvae. This has been the
coldest winter on record for this coastal part of SC. I haven't seen an
eubule for about two months. I will be very interested to see if they begin
showing up now that it is warming up again.

On a related matter, I am also very curious to see how the local B.
isophthalma insularus did this winter. If they are out here this spring it
surely proves that this subspecies (or perhaps sibling species) is a
coastal resident here.

Ron

In some groups the genitalia are not worth much. In some, like
Atrytonopsis, many of the species have the same basic male genitalia. In
other groups, like Mitoura, the genitalia vary even among subspecies.


 
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