Buckeye photo/ Goose Island SP

Chris J. Durden drdn at mail.utexas.edu
Thu Jan 24 17:12:03 EST 2002


Andy,
    Thanks for the input. I did not mention those wonderful dark red 
buckeyes from lowland Chiapas, Veracruz and Oaxaca. I have seen nothing 
like those in Rondonia, Madre de Dios or Loreto. The only buckeyes I have 
seen that are easy are those east of the Rocky Mountains and north of the 
southeastern evergreen forest - typical *coenia* as we suppose. This never 
produces the dark form or the rusty/red form, but does produce the pink/red 
winter/wet-season form rosa.
    In Central Texas our spring Buckeyes all seem to be "eastern *coenia*". 
In a summer without severe drought we have apparent strays of "Texas 
*nigrosuffusa*" in late summer and fall. In dry years with fall moisture we 
have both "eastern *coenia*" and "western *coenia*" easily distinguished by 
antennal color (dark or light), but there are underside hindwing pattern 
differences as well. The "western *coenia*" are most frequent in upland 
plateau grassland and oak-savanna sites on the Edwards Plateau. In addition 
there are occasional light complexion  with small anterior eyespot dhw that 
with or without the emarginate hindwing or apical cream fadeout one 
associates with Florida/Gulf *zonalis*, those without looking like fairly 
ordinary *evarete*. I have only found *genoveva* at the Texas Coast from 
Ingleside southward but very local, and never inland. Other than the Black 
Mangrove-feeding-*genoveva*, I cannot tell if we have 1, 2, or several 
species although it is possible to match number and distribution of apical 
teeth on the male valva with pattern phenotype as noted by Thorne some 
years ago in J. Res. Lep.
....................Chris Durden

At 05:24 PM 1/23/2002 -0800, you wrote:
>What a mess- those Junonia.  I have never known how to treat these.  From
>what I have seen, nigrosuffusa and coenia appear to be conspecific.  I
>have a nice series from Greenlee Co. AZ (S side of the White Mtns) that
>contains individuals that can be called pure nigrosuffusa, to pure coenia
>(AZ type anyway) with all intermediates.  Throughout Mexico, I see
>"coenia" at elevations above about 1600m., generally get nigrosuffusa
>types (which vary all over the place, some with blue on the dorsal
>hindwing as is occasionally seen in TX) from 1600 down to about
>500-1000m., and then get "genoveva" or "evatete" types (these names are
>hopelessly confused outside of the Caribbean Islands, I believe), from 500
>m down to sea level.  Sporadic nigrosuffusa types, or individuals showing
>some nigrosuffusa traits, can be found from sea level all the way up to
>about 2000m. (never seen dark Junonia above this altitude in MEX).
>However, these altitudinal "belts" are very approximate and extensive
>blending between the forms is seen in as you pass from one belt to the
>other.  In Sinaloa, on the W coast, a light genoveva type is found at sea
>level up to about 200 m. or so.  From about 200 m. to about 1000m (as you
>head up Hwy. 40 from the coast), a blend of the light coastal traits and
>montane nigrosuffusa is seen (making for some dramatically colored
>specimens), then "pure" nigrosuffusa occur above about 1000m.  In central
>Durango, above about 1600m., the "coenia" take over, but continue to show
>traces of nigrosuffusa traits to about 2000m.  Even more variation is seen
>in southern and eastern Mexico, where very orangish phenotypes occur at
>low elevations.  I have seen this type of altitudinal variation also in
>Michoacan and Jalisco, although more and more orange phenotypes occur as
>you head farther south.  The greatest diversity of Mexican Junonia
>phenotypes apparently occurs in eastern Oaxaca (based on the large series
>of Junonia in the collections in Mexico City).  I once sat down to try to
>sort these Mexican specimens into three species and failed miserably (had
>to move specimens from one series to the other each time I took another
>look at them)- much to the amusement of my Mexican colleagues who are
>also baffled beyond explanation by the variation seen in these bugs in
>Mexico.
>
>Rearing studies are BADLY needed to further elucidate the relationships
>between these forms.  As far as Mexico is concerned, I sleep best at night
>when I consider only a single species of Junonia, with various forms.  I
>am convinced there are two Caribbean species (a widespread, weedy-habitat
>bug and a mangrove bug).  There is NOT a mangrove obligate in western
>Mexico.  I don't know about E Mexico, but I suspect that there is no
>Junonia restricted to mangroves but that the bizarre variation seen is due
>to blending between lowland "genoveva or evarete" orangish and pale
>phenotypes with nigrosuffusa stock just above it.
>
>Or from another view, perhaps nigrosuffusa is a hybrid form between the
>high elevation coenia and the lowland bugs.  But I don't know if I could
>define a typical "nigrosuffusa" (AZ and TX types tend to differ), or for
>that matter a typical coenia (CA differ from AZ from E USA, as Durden has
>noted).
>
>For now, I think of continental Junonia as a mongrul population consisting
>of a single species, since no other explanation seems to account for the
>variation seen when a large enough series is accumulated from any single
>locality...  But again, some good rearing studies on the right stock could
>answer all of these questions.
>
>still baffled but lumping for now...
>
>Andy Warren
>
>
>On Wed, 23 Jan 2002, parides wrote:
>
> > Nick writes:
> >
> > >Charlie, I am sure you had the most extensive experience with this
> > >difficult group. Have you done some rearing?
> > >To avoid possible confusions, I would like to state clearly that the
> > >specimen on Matt's photo IS a form *nigrosuffusa*. What species
> > >this is, is another question. I am not sure than anyone can answer that.
> >
> >
> > Unfortunately I have not done any rearing of Junonia mainly because I am
> > not properly configured to rear specimens, I lack the patience, and I spend
> > entirely too much of my life couped up in a lab.  Furthermore the
> > difficulty of getting into and out of the nigrosuffusa habitats in one
> > piece is another obstacle.  Thats correct, Nick.  Matts photo is
> > unquestionably a form of nigrosuffusa.  And yes all we can do right now is
> > speculate about its true genetic identity.  My preferred approach to
> > sorting out this group would be by chemistry/genitalia examination.
> >
> > >http://nitro.biosci.arizona.edu/zeeb/butterflies/figs/Butterflies/Nymphali
> > dae/Nymphalinae/J_nigrosuffusa.jpg
> > >http://nitro.biosci.arizona.edu/zeeb/butterflies/figs/Butterflies/Nymphali
> > dae/Nymphalinae/J_coenia.jpg
> >
> > >Charlie, does this hold for your specimens? I am not sure how to
> > >appreciate cream/orange difference, I've seen typical coenia without
> > >cream.
> >
> > Yes I agree with your forewing ID tips, Nick.  My described cream and
> > orange differences are very evident in these clear cut photos.  I wish they
> > were all this clear cut and easy.  For nigrosuffusa - No orange evident in
> > the hindwings, no cream surrounding the eyespots, and reduced eyespots in
> > the forewing are very typical of nigrosuffusa.  For coenia - Orange bands
> > in the hindwings and the creamy area on the forewings that enclose the
> > eyespots are textbook coenia in my book.  Coenia also have HUGE eyespots.
> > If theres no cream in your coenia forewing but orange in the forewing
> > around the eyespot its probably J. evarete.
> >
> >
> > Youre welcome,
> >
> > Charlie
> >



 
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