BUGS: RE: Speyeria Shenanigans and Pieris

Fri Sep 7 14:33:56 EDT 2001

Alex,

The "LOOK" is the IMPORTANT key to identifying it.  But to gain the "look"
you must first know precisely what you are dealing with and how to look at
it.

Sorry about the birding example but that is my forte.  I know instantly the
identity of a Hairy or Downy Woodpecker that I see.  Students see two very
similar birds.  By giving them the handle that the bill of one is (I think)
half the length of the head and that of the other is 3/4 the length of the
head - I always have to check these numbers with a picture before that
class. The students have  something concrete with which they  can correctly
identify the bird when encountered and start to build their knowledge of the
look.  It makes it so that when the classic field mark is obscured you still
know what you are looking at.  My silly answer when faced with a photo of a
bird or one in hand which has the classic field marks obscured is that I
know what it is by the way it smells because I do not honestly see what part
of the "look" I am using.  I usually have to stew on the problem for some
time until I think  see how I am differentiating it from similar species.

Field marks are not easy things to work out.  Birders have been at it for
years and years and still with the publication of the latest field guide
many new good marks have been introduced.  When the Dowitchers were split
many long time birders thought that there was no way to differentiate them
in the field or in hand.  Now there are excellent field marks developed to
not only differentiate the species but the subspecies of these birds.

Barb Beck
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Barb.Beck at ualberta.ca

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-albertabugs at majordomo.srv.ualberta.ca
[mailto:owner-albertabugs at majordomo.srv.ualberta.ca]On Behalf Of
Grkovich, Alex
Sent: September 7, 2001 11:18 AM
To: 'barb at birdnut.obtuse.com'; Norbert.Kondla at gems3.gov.bc.ca; 'lepsl';
'altabugs'
Subject: BUGS: RE: Speyeria Shenanigans and Pieris

Someone asked me not long ago about how I distinguish a Northern (cocyta)
from a Pearl (tharos) Crescent. I gave a brief account of the field marks I
use (which I believe to be quite reliable), qualifying my  description with
1. The males are much easier than the females, and 2. The field marks are
much easier to distinguish in fresher than in worn specimens. But, I should
have also pointed out that the field marks of cocyta males "add up to a
look", which is exactly the terminology used by Klots to describe the field
marks of Boloria freija. So again, sometimes it is better to see the forest
rather than the trees, so to speak. Remembering that the "look" is sometimes
the key and then learning to recognize it is useful.

By the way, has anyone out there seen recently or know of a locality in New
England for the Silvery Checkerspot? I last saw one in 1980 in Lewiston,
Maine.

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Barb Beck [SMTP:barb at birdnut.obtuse.com]
> Sent:	Friday, September 07, 2001 12:55 PM
> To:	Norbert.Kondla at gems3.gov.bc.ca; 'lepsl'; 'altabugs'
> Subject:	RE: Speyeria Shenanigans and Pieris
>
> Thanks Norbert for the pages on Pieris and Speyeria.
>
> Question to Norbert and others.  I can see differences in the butterflies
> pictured but being a novice cannot differentiate individual variation from
> variation between the species/subspecies/whatever.  The references I have
> are somewhat confusing.  Specifically what field marks are you using to
> differentiate these butterflies?
>
> My question about field marks is not just for my own curiosity but because
> even with my limited knowledge of these insects I am involved in teaching
> others how to identify them in the field
>
> I fully appreciate that my question is hardest to those of you intimately
> familiar with these butterflies.  You just know the butterfly because it
> simply looks like that butterfly.  You no longer have to think in terms of
> field marks that beginners must use to get a handle on the butterfly
> before
> they can identify the butterfly by "looks".  I am struggling hard
> preparing
> a learning CD of bird sounds from my recordings for my students. I am
> unfortunately to the point where a song just sounds like the song of a
> particular species.  My student need pointers to listen for until they
> reach
> that level... which they are never going to do if I do not quit looking at
> butterflies and get the earphones back on so I at least have the first CD
> cut for them on Monday.
>
> Barb Beck
> Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
> Barb.Beck at ualberta.ca
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-leps-l at lists.yale.edu [mailto:owner-leps-l at lists.yale.edu]On
> Behalf Of Kondla, Norbert FOR:EX
> Sent: September 6, 2001 1:24 PM
> To: 'lepsl'; 'altabugs'
> Subject: Speyeria Shenanigans
>
>
> I ran into some interesting Speyeria in southern BC this season. I have
> put
> an image and a request for comments on http://www.norbert.eboard.com under
> the heading of "BC Speyeria". This is not an easy group of butterflies to
> deal with, in part due to the usual conflicting descriptions and
> interpretations presented in the literature and possibly also due to
> inadequacy in presently recognized species-level taxonomy. The image is
> large when viewed on the web site. Right click on your mouse to copy the
> image into your system and resize it to suit your tastes and to see all
> four
> specimens in one view. Enjoy.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Norbert Kondla  P.Biol., RPBio.
> Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management
> 845 Columbia Avenue, Castlegar, British Columbia V1N 1H3
> Phone 250-365-8610
> Mailto:Norbert.Kondla at gems3.gov.bc.ca
> http://www.env.gov.bc.ca
>
>
>
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