Field report

[Ron Gatrelle]

October 11, 2001. Determined I was, so even though it was noon I made it
out of Charleston by 12:15 (with my noninterested-in-leps son for company)
and headed for Horry County, SC.  We were back home by 5:30.  An hour and a
half in the field was enough to provide the info I was looking for.

I had been wanting to get to the type locality of Hesperia attalus
nigrescens near Myrtle Beach, SC all year -- I had missed the early summer
brood and time was running out for the fall brood.  This disjunct coastal
population is the only known colony of this subspecies which I described in
Dec. of 1999.  It flies in company with H. meskei.  Lots of areas I'd like
to check up the coast between Georgetown and Myrtle Beach -- including
Sandy Island -- I just never have the time.

I found only one male nigrescens which was not a surprise this late in the
year.  What was a surprise is that I saw no meskei there.  Meskei has
always been pretty common there this time of year.  Back to nigrescens.  I
netted about all the small dark skippers I saw (22 netted) to make positive
IDs and not waste time.   21 were Clouded Skippers (L. accius)  and the one
nigrescens.  A very few accius were fresh enough that one could tell what
they were at rest and these were not netted.  However, the others were very
worn and needed to be checked closely.  For those who have seen how dark
faded male accius are in the field you can relate to know that this is how
dark the nigrescens look too - esp. when they also are worn.  The fulvous
is very reduced on the upper forewings of nigrescens males when fresh and
they look all black on the wing and at nectar when worn. (paratypes of
nigrescens are figured at http://www.tils-ttr.org. )

I did not pay a lot of attention to general leps as I was there for a very
specific purpose.  But I did note the following

1   very worn P. palamedes

2   P. rapae (Cabbage White)
tons of P. s. eubule (Cloudless Sulphur)
2    E. lisa  (Little Yellow)
several E. nicippe (Sleepy Orange)

several  P. tharos  (Pearl Crescent)
3   J. coenia (Common Buckeye)  one of these was the largest female I have
ever seen.
1   A.v. nigrior (Gulf Frit.)

Many L. accius (Clouded Skipper)
1   Hesperia a. nigrescens
2   A. clarus (Silver-spotted Skipper)
1   Urbanus probably proteus (Long-tailed) did not get a good look at all.

Ron


 
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