Speyeria Shenanigans and Pieris

[Mark Walker]

I spent three seasons in Vermont, covering virtually the entire state, and I
never came across a single specimen of Chlosyne nycteis (Silvery
Checkerspot).  Lots of Chlosyne harrisii, though.  It was in Tennessee that
I ran into my first Silvery.  I was like a kid in a candy store.

Mark Walker.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Grkovich, Alex [mailto:agrkovich at tmpeng.com]
> Sent: Friday, September 07, 2001 10:18 AM
> To: 'barb at birdnut.obtuse.com'; 
> Norbert.Kondla at gems3.gov.bc.ca; 'lepsl';
> 'altabugs'
> Subject: 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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