EASTERN SPEYERIA

Ron Gatrelle gatrelle at tils-ttr.org
Wed Oct 10 15:49:18 EDT 2001


----- Original Message -----
From: "Grkovich, Alex" <agrkovich at tmpeng.com>
Subject: EASTERN SPEYERIA


> Hi, all
>
> Not that I wanted to stoke up some old fires that have long since gone
out,
> but I couldn't help relaying this discussion to everyone.
>
> My good friend and colleague Ron Gatrelle and I were having a long
> conversation on the taxonomic problems involving the eastern Speyeria
(not
> the western, mind you) and the problems associated with an overall lack
of
> published accounts of eastern subspecies of S. cybele, aphrodite, and
> atlantis etc. I pointed out how I am finding, for example, cybele in
> northern NH that do not look like nominate cybele, but look like
subspecies
> novascotiae or pseudocarpenteri etc. neither of which are listed anywhere
as
> occurring in NH; Ron then pointed out how Paul Grey had told him that the
> aphrodite and atlantis of the southern Appalachians are worthy of being
> assigned separate subspecific status, and how since the passing of Paul
> Grey, there really is no Speyeria expert to consult. Etc. Etc.
>

    I originally began looking for ahprodite in north Georgia area in order
to supply Paul with specimens for a type series and his intent to describe
this population.  One has to remember that in the "old days" ( 25 years
ago)  this butterfly was considered hard to find in n. GA and adjacent NC
and SC.  Today we know it is "all over" that area at proper elevation.  By
the time I located populations Paul was fading and after he passed I ended
up describing S. aphrodite cullasaja.   I have conversed several times over
the last several years with Tom Allen of VA encouraging him to describe the
atlantis pop in West VA which Grey also recognized as distinct.
    A few days ago I got an email from James Scott in which, among many
other thing, he mentioned the southern Apps population of the huge and very
dark cybele found in the southern Apps region.  He recalled that at one
time someone was going to describe this.  This jolted my memory of the same
thing.  Anyone out there remember who this was?   Is anyone still looking
into this?   The problem with this cybele is that is very broadly clinal
and only a phenotypic subspecies (which is the weakest kind).  It would be
rather hard to delimit this even though it has a wide range into the non
montane south. The TL of nominate cybele in New York - and at the
phenocenter the southern entity is very very different from the nominate.

SNIP

> Just in Massachusetts all summer, I saw not one single "watcher's"
reference
> to the Northern Crescent (P. cocyta) having been observed, and I saw them
in
> Massachusetts by the dozens; is this because nobody was collecting them
and
> properly observing what was being seen? Or are people totally unconcerned
> about whether or not a specimen is being properly identified? Also, the
> authors of "The Butterflies of Canada" state their suspicion, now that
we're
> on the subject of Phyciodes, that there is very possibly a second Pearl
> Crescent species, hiding undiscovered behind the "mask" of P. tharos.

    All year I have been "bothered" by many of the "tharos" I have been
finding in the course of the TILS field survey for the Forest Service on
the serpentine barrens of Clay Co. North Carolina.  I now need to send some
of these to Wahlberg.  (The problem here is that DNA only helps when it is
different.  Where phenotype, genitalia and DNA are "too close to call" one
must return to rearing and larval morphology and test hybridization.)
These are unlike northern cocyta in the collection here. They are also
unlike tharos.  Light to medium red tipped antennae; very solid red ground
on venter of FW; spring to fall similar ventral HW of light tawny with
light brown striations; orange not black veins in apical area of dorsal FW
and median area of HW.   What makes things worse (in determining things) is
that I now see that some years ago I collected a couple cocyta looking
specimens in mid summer in Orangeburg Co. South Carolina -- this would be
wayyyyy out of the range of cocyta - as currently understood.
    Not only have subspecies historically be "recognized" largely just on
how they look to humans - but species also.   Today we are finding that
there are many cryptic species AND subspecies and among what we used to
think were just some common widespread taxons.  And this is right here in
the eastern US.   I have  5 undescribed  likely _species_ of eastern
butterflies in the collection here.  How many dozens of undescribed taxa
are there of eastern US moths?

Ron Gatrelle, presidnet
The International Lepidoptera Survey
http://www.tils-ttr.org


 
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