Report from 64 45'N

[Chris J. Durden]

Now Ken, remember to just watch the mosquito and when he is done let him 
fly off so others may enjoy him too.
...................Chris Durden

At 12:58 AM 6/10/2001 -0800, you wrote:
>         Yesterday (9 June) the first _Clossiana chariclea_ (Arctic
>Fritillary) of the summer turned up in the bog. Some workers maintain that
>this is conspecific with what has been called _C. titania_ in North America.
>Since _titania_ flies in late summer every year in these bogs, while the
>clearly different _chariclea_ flies (for a rather short period) in the same
>bogs in early summer on odd-numbered years only, I prefer to think the
>story is more complicated. For the time being, I consider these two taxa
>as representing different species--one of which ('_titania_', which may not
>be the same as the palaearctic _titania_) flies only in taiga, while the
>other (_chariclea_) flies in taiga and tundra both, being an early-summer
>species in taiga, a mid-summer species at and near treeline, and a late-
>summer species at high elevations (or on the North Slope).

My *C. titania grandis* specimens from Ontario and Quebec look very similar 
to *C. titania* specimens I have from Austria. I agree that they are very 
distinct from *C. chariclea* which itself probably includes two cryptic 
species - one arctic and one hudsonian, that fly together a places like 
Churchill and the Labrador coast.
............Chris

>An interesting
>situation...
>
>                                                         Ken Philip
>
>P.S. The mosquitoes are out as well. As someone said recently in a cartoon,
>if you sit really still they'll come up and eat right out of your hand...
>
>
>
>
>
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