Tailed Cecropian @ Port O'Connor, TX - July 21, 2007

[Mike Quinn]

This is mostly a recap of what was posted to the TX-Butterfly list
over the last few days... Mike Quinn, Austin

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TEXAS: Calhoun County
east Port O'Connor
22-VII-2007, at bait
Brush Freeman, photo

photo record of butterfly
http://homepage.mac.com/johnribble/PhotoAlbum12.html

goooogle map of location:
http://tinyurl.com/2u4kjf

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Natural History note

Both the Tailed Cecropian (Historis acheronta) and the Orion Cecropian
(Historis odius) are accepted in the Opler & Warren, and NABA
checklists. I believe the reason neither are in Brock & Kaufman field
guide is that they required two specimen and/or photo records before
including a species. Apparently, there weren't two such records for
either spp. when they went to press in 2002. The Orion Cecropian is
treated in Glassberg et al.s (2000) Florida guide with references to
vague FL records.

The two Historis spp. are named for their host plants, Cecropia spp.,
Cecropia Family Cecropiaceae which thrives in disturbed areas. (RGV
anyone??)

Muyshondt & Muyshondt (1979) discuss the life history of both species
of Cecropians, even though they only collected one adult and one 5th
instar larva of the Tailed Cecropian in 18 years of collecting in El
Salvador! DeVries (1987) also notes that the Tailed Cecropian in
comparison to the Orion Cecropian is "decidedly less common, and it
may be rare in many areas."

DeVries writes of the genus: "The adults feed entirely on rotting
fruits and dung, and are very sensitive to small quantities of fruit
on the forest floor. This is best demonstrated by placing a small
quantity of banana on the fruit in a light gap and returning about one
hour later. It here are *Historis* in the area, they will be sure to
find it."

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USGS

Historis acheronta (shows Presidio Co. record only)
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1817

Historis odius (no county records shown)
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1816

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Lep Soc Season Summary - U.S. returns for Historis spp.

Nymphalidae, Historis acheronta, ARIZONA, Apache County, along Little
Colorado River, 5 mi W Eagar, 7,200 feet, 8/8/2004, T. Carr & J.
Tuttle, STATE RECORD; bait trap; only other confirmed U.S. capture is
Presidio Co., Texas (Bull. Allyn Mus., 1984, vol. 86:1-50)

Nymphalidae, Historis odius, TEXAS, Cameron County, Santa Maria NWR,
7/12/1999, Charles W. Bordelon, Jr., STATE RECORD

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Mariposas Mexicanas

Tailed Cecropian - Historis acheronta
http://www.mariposasmexicanas.com/historis_a_acheronta.htm

Orion Cecropian - Historis odius
http://www.mariposasmexicanas.com/historis_odius_dious.htm

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Refs:

Anonymous. 2001. North American Butterfly Association (NABA) Checklist
& English Names of North American Butterflies. Second Edition. North
American Butterfly Association, Morristown, NJ. 59 pp.
http://www.naba.org/pubs/enames2.html

Bordelon, C. & E. Knudson. 2003. Pub. 9: Checklist of the Lower Rio
Grande Valley, Vol 1: Butterflies. Texas Lepidoptera Survey, Houston.
(Private). 51 pp., 20 plates, append.

Brock, J.P & K. Kaufman. 2003. Butterflies of North America. Houghton
Mifflin Co., Boston. 384 pp.

DeVries. P.J. 1987. The Butterflies of Costa Rica and Their Natural
History: Volume I: Papilionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae. Princeton
University Press, Princeton, NJ. 456 pp.

Glassberg, J., M.C. Minno & J.V. Calhoun. 2000. Butterflies through
Binoculars, A Field, Finding, and Gardening Guide to Butterflies in
Florida. Oxford University Press. 256 pp.

Kendall, R.O., & W.W. McGuire. 1984. Some new and rare records of
Lepidoptera found in Texas. Bulletin of the Allyn Museum 86:1-50.

Muyshondt, A., Jr. & A. Muyshondt. 1979. Notes on the life cycle and
natural history of butterflies of El Salvador. III. C. Historis odius
and Coea acheronta (Nymphalidae-Coloburinae). Journal of the
Lepidopterists' Society, 33(2): 112-123.
http://tinyurl.com/2kkvkt

Opler P.A. & A.D. Warren. 2002. Scientific Names List for Butterfly
Species of North America, North of Mexico. Gillette Publications, Fort
Collins. 83 pp. http://texasento.net/scinames.htm



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