Late Zebra Swallowtail in West Virginia USA

Ron Gatrelle gatrelle at tils-ttr.org
Tue Nov 13 17:06:34 EST 2001


----- Original Message -----
From: "Hilton, Rob" <rhilton at CSA.com>
To: <LEPS-L at lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2001 1:46 PM
Subject: Late Zebra Swallowtail in West Virginia USA


> A friend emailed me today, November 13, and said:
>
> "My son and I hiked to the top of North Fork Mountain in Hardy County
> this past Saturday.  While we were up there (about 3800 feet) a Zebra
> Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus) flew by.  Isn't it rather late in the
> year for them and isn't that almost too high for them?  Three of the
> guides I referenced showed that Zebras weren't around past September.
> Glasberg showed a very thin line into Oct., but nothing past that.  I
> still wanted someone's opinion though who was familiar with the area."
>
> Has anybody seen the species this late or that high?  I only know the
> butterfly from the area around Washington, DC, which is not far above
> sea level, where I normally see it in April/May and around July.
>
> I will forward him any responses.
>
> Thanks,
> Rob Hilton
> rhilton at csa.com
> Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
>

To be honest.  This "record" strikes me as bogus.  First, there would be no
E. marcellus around anywhere in mid November in West Virginia - not even in
October.  It would be very odd for there even to be a late P. glaucus (E.
Tiger) out then.  Whatever they saw -- was surely something else that they
thought was a Zebra.  A very faded and worn glaucus is marginally
possible - but I don't think that was what they saw either.  Frankly, it is
very possible that the critter was a worn Mourning Cloak (Polygonia
antiopa).  Don't laugh.  I have personally been fooled by worn late
specimens of this in the NC mountains and here in Charleston, SC in
"perceiving" them as swallowtails at first.  It is not uncommon for one to
think they see something and then upon catching it (in net, or at rest)
finding it was totally something else.

Second, this sighting is so far outside of the time and space parameters
for marcellus that it renders the sighting so suspect as to be dismissed.
Yet, if this same "record" with no photo and no specimen had been turned in
in July it would be accepted - yet the actual visual ID would still be
wrong.  One is only left to wonder how many hundreds (thousands?) of
incorrect sight records (esp. by beginners) are accepted each year among
the watcher faction in North America.

The reference for WVA butterflies is "The Butterflies of West Virginia and
their Caterpillars" by Tom Allen.  Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 1997.  I
would hope this was one of the three guides the friend consulted.  It is
the only reference necessary for someone dealing with W VA butterflies.

Ron G


 
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