tyche in North America ?

Jaakko Kullberg jaakko.kullberg at helsinki.fi
Wed Oct 24 10:21:18 EDT 2001


"Kenelm Philip" <fnkwp at aurora.alaska.edu> wrote in message
news:Pine.OSF.4.33.0110232328460.2136-100000 at aurora.uaf.edu...


Hi there,

> This is an interesting story--I believe I commented on it earlier,
> but here goes again.
>
> In _The Butterflies of Canada_ by Layberry, Hall, and Lafontaine,
> Booth's Sulphur is called _Colias tyche_ (de Boeber, 1812), rather than
> it's traditional name: _Colias boothii_. _Colias thula_ is included as
> well. In addition, although not mentioned in that book, the Fennoscandian
> _Colias nastes werdandi_ is now assumed to belong with _tyche_ rather than
> with _nastes_.

In Magadan region next to Alaska both tyche (=more rounded wings) flies
together with nastes. In Fennoscandia people were happily unaware about the
"other green" species existing in the east. The fact that ssp. werdandi is
actually belonging to tyche were discovered in the same time in Finland
(Jukka Jalava) and Russia.
There has "always" been problems to join separate population of both species
"correctly" together. In Russian Butterflies Tuzov (ed.) 1997 gives this:

Colias nastes Bsdvl. - (Lowland and mountain tundras, also alpine meadows at
2200-2700 m a.s.l.), July-August.
ssp. mongola Alph., 1897 - (a big southern ssp., earlier recognized as a
species of it's own ), Altai & Sayan Mts.
ssp. streckeri Grum-Grshimailo, 1895 - N. Siberia, Chukotka.
ssp. jacutica Kurentzov, 1970 - Far East (Russia).

Colias cocandica Erschoff, 1874 - Pamir, Tian-Shan, Tibet, mts of Central
China. High-altitude meadows (2400-4500 m), June-August.

Colias tyche (Boeber, 1812) - Humid water meadows, grassy humid mts slopes
and foothills up to 2600 m, shrubby tundras, June-July.
ssp. werdandi Zetterstedt, 1840 - (N.)Fennoscandian mts.
ssp. herzi Stgr, 1901 - N. Siberia.
ssp. relicta Kurentzov, 1970 - Chukotka, Far East (Russia).
ssp. montana Verity, 1911 - Altai and Sayan mts.
ssp. ludmilla Hemming, 1933 - Amur reg.

also C. Asian C. sieversi, Grum-Grshimailo, 1885 & C. alpherakyi Staudinger,
1882 belong to the same group.


>
> At the end of the _tyche_ section in _The Butterflies of Canada_
> is the following note: "Research on this species in Russia, where it also
> occurs with _hecla_ and _nastes_, further supports its status as a
> separate species and has shown that the correct name for the species is
> _tyche_ (Mikkola, in litt.)." So I sent Mikkola e-mail asking for a copy
> of the paper he was presumably working on--and got a reply saying the
> paper had never been written, because he was unable to come up with
> a set of reliable characters for the new grouping.

There is no "good" differences in the vesica, BUT most of the populations
are relatively easy to put two groups (=species). As both nastes and tyche
fly "happily" in next to Alaska it would be quite amazing if these fast
flying butts would represent different species. Atleast I think that there
two holarctic species there. How the things go in the rest of new continent
is "your business".

>
> _C. "nastes" werdandi_ _looks_ like _thula_, not _nastes_. In a
> book on Scandinivian butterflies I acquired a year ago, I read that
> _werdandi_ emerges early in the summer, before _hecla_--which is exactly
> what _thula_ and _boothii_ do--and prefers to fly in valleys--which again
> is what _thula_ and _boothii_ do. _C. nastes_ prefers xeric habitats and
> is often found on rocky ridges, and also flies (with _hecla_) later in the
> summer.

I fully agree, and note: here in Finland tyche and hecla have even got
intermediates! In Magadan tyche and nastes do not fly together in the same
place in the same time. However area is rich in other species too: C.
viluiensis Ménétriés, 1832; C. hecla; C. hyperborea Grum-Grshimailo, 1899 -
these are same colour as hecla; C. palaeno (L.) and closely related C.
chippewa Edwards, 1872.
>
> I know practically nothing about _tyche_, but it is plausible that
> _werdandi_, _thula_, and _boothii_ are conspecific. Plausible is, however,
> hardly a solid demonstration of that idea. People who wish to use the
> names _thula_ and _boothii_ are certainly free to do so, until someone
> comes out with a taxonomic papaer on this group.

I think you might like an interesting book with excellent colour
photographs:

Tuzov et al. 1997: Guide to the Butterflies of Russia and adjacent
territories. Pensoft, Sofia - Moscow. Part 1.

It includes also good lepidofanatic history of  Russia, habitat pictures
from different parts of former Soviet union. In plates there is several
specimens of each subspecies. Includes synonyms etc.

> Ken Philip
>
jaska
--
******************************************
Jaakko Kullberg, M. Sc. (Biology)
Collection Manager
Finnish Museum of Natural History
Division of Entomology, P.O.Box 17
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
Phone: 358-9-191 28825
FAX:   358-9-191 28843
Mobile:    050-3288886
e-mail jaakko.kullberg at helsinki.fi
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