Fw: Northern Spring Azure (Celastrina lucia) confirmed in Virginia

[Chris J. Durden]

If all this is correct, and I think it probably is. The records of 
*Celastrina* from Travis Co. Texas need to be changed from *ladon* to 
*neglecta*.
    I suspect that the New England and Appalachian *lucia* are not that, as 
*lucia* was described from northern Manitoba where there lives a muskeg 
specialist that ranges east to Ontario, Quebec and probably northern New 
England. In Ontario and Quebec both these "species" have been determined as 
*lucia*. A larval food of one is *Nemopanthus mucronatus*, and of the other 
is *Spiraea latifolia*. It is possible that the *Nemopanthus* feeder is 
distinct from true *lucia* which may feed on *Vaccinium* spp. in the 
Hudsonian Zone.
................Chris Durden

At 12:45 AM 6/2/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>The following post was sent to several lep groups but not this one. I am
>forwarding it as it is very important for several reasons.  I will add that
>one of the many rare and odd butterflies I have found this May in Clay Co.
>NC is an odd male Celastrina with very checkered margins that may well end
>up proving to be the C. lucia below and extend this range even farther
>south.  But this remains to be shown. Ron
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Harry Pavulaan" <harrypav at hotmail.com>
>Subject: Northern Spring Azure (Celastrina lucia) confirmed in Virginia
>
>
>      On 5/5/01, while conducting Azure research under permit in Shenandoah
>  National Park, near Big Meadow in Page County, I collected several Azures,
>  including several typical Celastina ladon.  One of these specimens
>perfectly matched individuals found much further north in Pennsylvania and
>New Jersey.
>    This was determined to be a state record Celastrina lucia (Northern
>Spring Azure) for Virginia.  Specimen is a female, deep, dusky variety of
>the "marginata" form (note: "marginata" is a form described from a Maine
>  specimen of C. lucia and has also been applied by authors to a similar
>  margined form of C. ladon).  The reason specimens are collected is to
>obtain detailed or microscopic analysis of subtle features which are not so
>readily apparent to someone who is simply watching butterflies.
>
>      Celastrina ladon, the Spring Azure, possesses a unique male wing scale
>  structure which can generally only be seen with the aid of a microscope or
>  very strong pocket scope with a magnification greater than 40x).  Females
>do not possess this structure and must be determined by overall general
>  appearance which is not always reliable, but can be told from other Azures
>  by their deep violet color.  Through breeding experiments, it has been
>  proven that C. ladon is a single-brooded spring species that does not
>  produce a summer form.  Artificially-bred summer individuals of C. ladon
>  still contain the unique scale structure which is not present in the close
>  relative, C. neglecta, the Summer Azure.
>
>      Celastrina neglecta, the Summer Azure, differs from C. ladon by
>several features, including wing scale structure, overall coloration,
>hostplant choices, and life history.  Neglecta is a multivoltine species
>emerging in May in the Washington D.C. region and producing multiple broods
>throughout the summer.  It is also capable of producing a spring flight
>which Dr. David Wright and I are studying.  This spring flight does not
>consistently occur wherever the summer broods fly, and may fly with C.
>ladon in some places or completely replaces C. ladon in others.  Thus,
>observers have no clue which species they are actually seeing as the two
>appear almost identical to each other.  Only examination of the uppersides
>reveals the subtle but consistent differences in the males, and the
>strikingly different females. Spring  brood neglecta females are brilliant
>metallic blue compared to violet colored ladon females.
>
>      Celastrina lucia (Northern Spring Azure) males do not possess the
>unique wing scale structure of C. ladon.  Their scales are "typical" for
>Azures. However, they can be told from other Azures in this region by their
>overall appearance and their hostplant preferences.  Lucia is also a
>single-brooded spring species.  Artificially-produced summer individuals
>look very similar to the natural spring form and look nothing like the
>related C. neglecta. These "false summer brood" individuals possess one key
>feature: heavily checkered wing margins.
>
>On 4/29/01, I captured a female Azure near the summit of Reddish Knob, on
>  the Virginia side in Rockingham County.  This female, being worn, was
>  undeterminable to species but picked my interest.  She was brought back to
>  lay eggs in captivity to produce an artificial summer brood (Black Cherry,
>  an almost universal Azure host, was chosen and she laid several eggs on
>the unopened flower buds).  The caterpillars fed on the plant but were
>still undeterminable as to species.  Today, 6/1/01, several of the
>chrysalids emerged, producing several very distinct C. lucia adults, with
>several displaying strongly-checkered wing margins and a tendency for the
>underside markings to be enlarged in about half of the specimens.  This
>confirms the earlier state record of lucia from Shenandoah National Park
>and extends the range of lucia further south.
>
>      This find is more important than most people realize, as there is
>still debate over whether C. ladon and C. lucia are distinct species or
>just subspecies of the same species.  Some "experts" feel that subspecies
>can fly together.  However if this were the case, then they would
>interbreed
>over time and any differences would be absorbed in the population and the
>subspecies differences would essentially be erased.  Subspecies are
>essentially geographic races and do not fly together, thus the presence of
>phenotypically-differentiated lucia so far south into the mountains of
>Virginia is proof that it is not a subspecies of ladon, but rather a
>high-altitude species that flies along with the closely-related ladon
>without interbreeding.  Were they to interbreed, lucia would not survive
>in such small numbers on the mountain ridges.  This is a rather elementary
>biological concept.
>
>      This also confirms the importance and value of scientific method, even
>  today.  After hundreds of thousands of years of existence, and two or
>three hundred years of collecting in the Virginia mountains, this has only
>just now been discovered!  With only simple observation, we would never
>know this to be.  Knowing this information, we are now aware of the
>presence
>of lucia on some of the higher mountain ridges of northern Virginia and can
>take measures to protect the species including the avoidance of using
>pesticides in these areas.
>
>  Harry Pavulaan
>
>
>
>
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