LIFE HISTORY of CALLOPHRYS S. SHERIDANII (LYCAENIDAE) and NOTES on OTHER Speciesl
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VOLUME 27, NUMBER 4 279 LIFE HISTORY OF CALLOPHRYS S. SHERIDANII (LYCAENIDAE) AND NOTES ON OTHER SPECIESl CLIFFORD D. FERRIS2 College of Engineering, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82070 Although Callophrys sheridanii sheridanii (Edwards) (see Brown & Opler, 1970, concerning authorship) was described in 1877, little was known until recently about its life history. Eff (in Brown et al., 1957) reported the foodplant as Eriogonum umbellatum Torr. The type locality for this butteIfly is "Big Horn Mountains," near Sheridan, Wyoming. The present study is based upon live material collected in the vicinity of Pole Mountain (East of Laramie), Medicine Bow National Forest, ca. 8500', Albany Co., Wyoming, April-May, 1971-72. A few ova of C. sheridanii were secured in the field. Live females were captured and caged over the hostplant. Very few additional ova were obtained in this manner, however, as the females were very reluctant to oviposit in captivity, even when placed with the foodplant and various nectar sources in a large breeding cage out of doors. Females appear to oviposit selectively upon E. umbellatum. No ova or signs of larval feeding were observed upon two other species of Eriogonum, E. flavum Nutt. and E. subalpinum Greene, which are sympatric with E. umbellatum. In the field, ova were found on the largest of the plants only. Only one or two eggs were found per plant. In April and May, when the ova are deposited, E. umbellatum is a low growing trailing plant. Some plants spread out to a foot or more in diameter. The rosettes are not yet well developed, and the foot-high flower stalks do not appear until June and July. The plant is quite common on open hillsides in the Transition Zone in various areas of Wyoming. Description of Immature Stages Ovum: Eggs a very pale green, oblate spheroids approximately 0.8 mm in diam eter; laid singly at the base of a leaf rosette, on the upper surface of the stem; color blends with color of new buds on the plant. Depending upon temperature, eggs may remain up to a week before hatching. Prior to emel'gence of larva, ova turns a milky white. First Instar: First ins tar larvae pale greenish-white and covered with long fine black hairs; head light green. Larvae do not eat egg shells. Stadium one lasted 2-3 days and larvae increased in length from about 1-3 mm. 1 Published with the approval of the Director, Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station, as Journal Article JA 560. 2 Research Associate, Allyn Museum of Entomology, Sarasota, Florida. 280 JOURNAL OF THE LEPIDOPTERISTS' SOCIETY ...• < , ••••• • • I • • • h !!• Fig. 1. Callophrys s. sheridanii and its foodplant: (a) E. umbellatum (in situ) as it appears in April; (b) leaf damage (in situ) produced by sheridanii larva; (c) larva-damaged leaves; (d) ovum of C. s. sheridanii; (e) early 4th instar larva; (f) pupa; (g) mature (4th instar) larva, dorsal view; (h) same, lateral view, scale divisions are I mm; (i) dorsal and lateral views of late third instar larva. Second Instar: Stadium two larvae a uniform green, covered with short, stiff black-tipped spines; black dots visible at bases of spines. This stage lasted from 3-4 days and larvae increased in length to 5 mm. Third Instar: Third instar larvae similar to second instar, but stiffer spines, pink at base. As larvae matured, two rows of luminous white spots appeared (Fig. I, i); VOLUME 27, NUMBER 4 281 (a) (b) (c) Fig. 2. Callophrys s. sheridanii: (a) 1st instar larva feeding, and cross-section through a middle segment; (b) lateral and dorsal views of 2nd instar larva, and cross-section through a middle segment; (c) dorsal view of 3rd instar larva, and cross-section through a middle segment, also lateral view of head (black) tucked under frontal segment. not surface spots, but appearing to be well below skin surface. Stadium three lasted approximately two weeks and larvae increased in length to 0.9-1 cm. Fourth Instar: Fourth instar larvae similar to third, but white spots attenuated and gradually fading as larvae matured. Green color approximately matched that 282 JOURNAL OF THE LEPIDOPTERISTS' SOCIETY of fresh leaves of foodplant. Including prepupal stage, stadium four lasted about three weeks, and larvae increased in size to about 1.5 em. Pupa: Pupae medium brown color and covered with short brown hairs. No other distinguishing characters. Measured 0.8-0.9 em. Pupation occuned on the earth in debris at bottom of rearing container. The larvae exhibited rather peculiar feeding habits. Rather than con suming the leaves of the foodplant from the edges or tips, they ate holes from the under or upper surfaces of the leaves into the leaf centers. On the untouched sides, the leaves appeared to have been attacked by leaf mining insects, but when turned over, the larvae-produced holes could be seen. Fig. 1 (b,c) illustrates leaf damage. This characteristic feeding pattern, which persisted through all larval instars, aided in dis covering larvae in the field. Larvae were not observed to spin silken mats prior to moulting, as do some other Theclinae larvae, nor did they eat the cast-off skins. During rearing, larvae were maintained at 20° C, which is a somewhat higher temperature than that of the natural habitat. Notes on Other Species It was observed that two other genera of Lepidoptera use E. umbel latum as a larval host. While collecting ova of C. sheridanii in May 1971, a mature lycaenid larva was found feeding on E. umbellatum. It was a medium green color with a lateral pink and white stripe. At first this was thought to be a mature sheridanii larvae, as ova can be found throughout the month-long flight period of the adults. The larva pupated and a male Plebe;us (Icaricia) acmon lutzi Klots emerged in July 1971. Apparently this species must overwinter in the third or fourth instar, as adults are not on the wing until June in the Pole Mountain area, and very cold weather prior to collection of the larva precluded development from an egg. As mentioned previously, larvae of C. sheridanii were field-collected in 1972 by looking for the characteristic leaf damage they produce. It was also found that a moth larva produces the same sort of damage. Efforts to obtain adults from these larvae were unsuccessful. They were leaf rollers and spun a light silken network in their feeding area. They had black heads and were about the same color as sheridanii larvae. On 11 July 1971, females of Callophrys sheridanii neoperplexa (Barnes and Benjamin) were observed ovipositing on Eriogonum umbellatum var. dichrocephalum Gand. on the rocky hillsides about 1-2 miles southeast of Galena Summit, ca. 8200', Blaine Co., Idaho. The ova were similar to those of C. s. sheridanii. Rearing was not attempted. VOLUME 27, NUMBER 4 283 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Appreciation is expressed to Dr. John M. Reeder, University of Wyoming, Laramie, and to Dr. James L. Reveal, University of Maryland, College Park for determining the species of Eriogonum cited, and to Mr. Michael M. Ellsbury, Ft. Collins, Colorado, who assisted in the care of the larvae and provided the photographs shown in Fig. 1 (e and i). LITERATURE CITED BROWN, F. M., EFF, D. & B. ROTGER. 1957. Colorado Butterflies. Denver Museum. Denver, Colorado. BROWN, F. M. & P. A. OPLER. 1970. The types of the lycaenid butterflies described by William Henry Edwards. Part II-Theclinae and Strymoninae. Trans. Amer. Entomol. Soc. 96: 19-77. DOWN-VALLEY FLIGHT OF ADULT THECLINI (LYCAENIDAE) IN SEARCH OF NOURISHMENT JAMES A. SCOTT 60 Estes Street, Lakewood, Colorado 80226 Down-valley movement of adult Theclini was reported by MacNeill ( 1967) for Satyrium saepium Boisduval. In this paper I will report down-valley flight of four additional species and will show the presumed flight pattern (Fig. 1) and the purpose of the down-valley flight. There are two types of mate-locating behavior among males of butter flies (Scott, in press). In perching species, males sit at characteristic sites and dart out at passing objects in search of females, often returning to or near the previous spot after an investigative flight. Virgin females fly to these mating sites after emergence. In patrolling species, males fly almost constantly in search of females. Down-valley flight is defined as continuous rapid flight predominantly in a down-valley direction. Such flights can occur for several reasons, including migration. In patrolling species, male patrolling may appear similar to down-valley flight, but differs in that males investigate fe males, flight upstream occurs about as frequently as downstream, and males usually patrol on hillsides in addition to valleys. Females may have different flight behavior in the two situations. In this paper I show that down-valley flight is part of a feeding response (Fig. 1). .