museum 'poachers' - Ringlet

[Grkovich, Alex]

I found it near Sudbury, Ontario, during early June 1970.

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Chris J. Durden [SMTP:drdn at mail.utexas.edu]
> Sent:	Wednesday, April 10, 2002 10:47 PM
> To:	leps-l at lists.yale.edu
> Subject:	Re: museum 'poachers' - Ringlet
> 
> *C. inornata* was in the Ottawa (Ontario) region in the fifties at least
> as 
> early as '53. It was not in the Montreal area in the late fifties and
> early 
> sixties, or in the northern Adirondacks or northern Vermont at that time. 
> It was polymorphic in the Ottawa region with dark and light forms and with
> 
> upland meadow and sedge bog ecotypes in late spring and early summer. 
> Munroe assured me he had found it in the Gatineau hills as late as August.
> 
> Shortly after this a new race/subspecies/species was described from the 
> Thousand Islands. The polymorphism was very noticeable and quite unlike
> the 
> monomorphic populations of Hudsonian muskeg around James Bay, which looked
> 
> almost Skandinavian in facies.
>     What change in land-use practices, or what genetic introduction 
> prompted this rapid spread of an Hudsonian-Canadian Zone species,
> southward 
> into the Transition Zone. Could this be in response to the effects of
> "acid 
> rain" and its effects on grassland habitat? We never found it in the early
> 
> sixties in Massachusetts, Connecticut or northern New Jersey. A canvassing
> 
> of collections might produce data for the construction of a range-change
> map.
> .................Chris Durden
> 
> At 02:57 PM 4/10/2002 -0400, you wrote:
> >I was intrigued that Alex suspected that the Ringlet had been in the
> >Canadian Zone of New England for a long time.  It certainly has invaded
> >NJ only in the last few years.  In fact it has spread rapidly down the
> >Hudson Valley (perhaps leapfrogging enroute), so it seems entirely
> >reasonable that it wasn't around 30 years ago.  It was already
> >widespread in Orange County (southern NY) by 1994 when the first NJ
> >specimens were obtained.
> >
> >It is now common and widespread in the northwest. It is mainly a
> >farm-field roadside butterfly here.   MIKE GOCHFELD
> >
> >"Grkovich, Alex" wrote:
> > >
> > >         Martin Bailey wrote:
> > >
> > > > So I pose this question to you:  Why must you add to your collection
> > > > specimens that you will never get enough examples of to make
> meaningful
> > > > comparative analyses? Where the addition of that specimen to your
> > > > collection
> > > > will not advance our knowledge of the species in question.
> > > >
> > > > Martin Bailey,
> > > >
> > > > greetings from:  Weyburn, SK., Canada.
> > > >                          49.39N  103.51W
> > > >
> > >         [AG]  Excellent question. Why collect either "trash bugs" (to
> quote
> > > Norbert, I laughed and howled at this term of his), and what exactly 
> > defines
> > > a "trophy"?
> > >
> > >         First, in the late 80's and early 90's, I collected, for
> example, a
> > > good series of "Common" Ringlets (Coenonympha tullia inornata)
> (correctly
> > > referred to as Inornate Ringlets)  from central NH and Maine. Some
> years
> > > later, I finally got around to spreading most of them. Then I added a 
> > number
> > > of specimens from Mass and a few from VT. As they were essentially, as
> I
> > > said, "trash bugs", I could have just as easily just "given" them away
> or
> > > just let them sit there endlessly in stamp envelopes.
> > >
> > >         Then the question occurred to me not that long ago: The
> "Common"
> > > Ringlet has quite recently expanded its range into southern New 
> > England. (It
> > > is not even mentioned by Klots as occurring at all in New England,
> although
> > > I suspect that is oversight- it probably has occurred n the Canadian 
> > Zone in
> > > New England all along) From where did it expand into say, eastern MA?
> From
> > > the north or from the west? I have begun to arrange my series of this
> > > butterfly to at least get a preliminary clue about this, if possible.
> I
> > > suspect (without having examined enough specimens to date) that it MAY
> have
> > > come from the west, from central New York.
> > >
> > >         What seems interesting is that, while the species has recently
> > > spread into southern New England, it has apparently not done so in the
> 
> > Upper
> > > Midwest; for example, while occurring abundantly in the Canadian Zone
> of
> > > northern Michigan and Ontario, I have never found it or heard of it
> from
> > > southwestern Ontario, southern Michigan etc.
> > >
> > >         By the way, an excellent compilation of photographs of the
> various
> > > taxa of C. t. inornata, heinemanii, macissaci   etc.(I trust I've
> spelled
> > > the names correctly - I don't have the books here with me) from the
> > > northeast (Quebec, northern New York, Maritime Provinces etc.) can be 
> > fouind
> > > in Louis Handfield's book, "Le Guide des Papillons du Quebec" (Mark, I
> > > recommend this book!).
> > >
> > >         Also, my two specimens of Papilio polydamas, from St. Thomas,
> USVI,
> > > would probably qualify as a "trophies" to many people. I will probably
> 
> > never
> > > utilize them in any "research" (but who knows). But my purpose (or
> > > motivation or interest) is to build as complete a reference (or
> > > "scientific") collection as possible. And anyway, I chased the first 
> > one for
> > > about 4 hours before I caught it, (once tripping badly, while running,
> on a
> > > big rock that was hidden in the deep grass) so perhaps I have earned
> the
> > > "trophy".
> > >
> > >         Alex
> > >
> > > >
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