USGS Neonympha update

[Ron Gatrelle]

Mark and all.
A couple days ago Mark Walker popsted one of his usual very interesing
collecting accouts.  The report was from coastal Mississippi. One of the
species he noted was Georgia Satyr - Neonympha areolata. I asked him about
the possibility of it being N. helicta. He wanted some more info - so I
sent a post to him and leps-l.  I noted today in checking out a couple
things on the  USGS site that they have now stated that there are two
species now recoginzed N. areolata and N. helicta (my paper being the
reference). Here is the URL

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/usa/130.htm

The photo at the top of the "areolata" page is quite likely a helicta. My
hesitation is that the red ring around the eyespots is very areolata-ish in
that it is "closed".  It looks more like a helicta with rounder wings,
lacks white on the anal angle and has more roounded eyespost. This specimen
is dark and in shadow - but the color is more like helicta subspecies
septentrionalis found in New Jersey. Occasional specimens of helicta
(subspecies helicta and septentrionalis - but not dadeensis) have more
elongate eyespots and can only be told apart 100% by dissection of the
genitalia - location helps too. On the other hand  areolata seems to me
much less variable in the way it  looks throughout its range. For those who
do not subscribe to The Taxonomic Report the best thing to do is
familiarize yourself with  these two species based on the photos at the
TILS web site http://tils-ttr.org  Here are a couple characters to look
for.

The wings of helicta are rounder - tip of FW and anal angle of HW.  You can
pick this up easily on the web photos.

Areolata's flight is lower, slower and more darty. It tends to fly within
the grasses and sedges in its typical "wet" environs. Helicta is often
found in dry areas and typically flies just above the grasses in a much
straighter pattern.

The inner margin of the hindwing of areolata tends to be white-ish. This is
especially noticeable the farther south one goes - it becomes so definite
in south Florida that it might warrant a subspecific name. I discussed this
in my paper but left that open and up to Florida lepsters as there are
several problems to be looked at before something like that was done.

For those of you in North Carolina on carolinaleps - all the material I
have seen from the upper coastal plain are helicta. All the specimens I
have examined from the NC coast are areolata. There is a long series
(scores) of NC specimens in the FSCA, Gainesville, FL. Nearly all of these
were collected by Bo Sullivan and are easily separated to species.

The presence of helicta in Lousiana or Texas needs to be determined. Those
of you in Texas should compare your areolata with the typical areolata
phenotype on the web site.  I have not seen a lot of Texas specimens but
they tend to have very well developed eyespots and bold markings.

Here is another example of a common eastern "species" - areolata - that in
reading the popular literature collectors/watchers would think is "all
figured out".  One that would surely have been placed on the
no-more-need-to-collect-this  list (if there was one).  It is not the rarer
taxa that "need" to be studied most taxonomically - it is many of the
common ones where siblings are going undetected - and if rare, extinct.

Ron




 
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