VOLUME 29, NUMBER 1 9

LITERATURE CITEDl

JORDAN, K. 1908. Indo-australian butterflies. Page 17 in A. Seitz, The Macro­ of the World, 9.

1 This article was already in press when we learned that inagines was the population we studied and that it had recently been described as a new subspecies borchi Haugum and Low (Entomol. Rec. J. Var., 1974, Vol. 86 (4): 109-114). We do not recognize the validity of this taxon and consider the population we worked on as a mere local race of the typical subspecies that will better remain unnamed.

NOTES ON COLLECTING DUOVATA () Between 16 and 20 September 1974, while vacationing in West Yarmouth, Barn­ stable Co., Massachusetts, I collected 12 specimens, all males, of Papaipema duovata Bird (Nocturidae). This species is generally considered to be very rare and local, in part because of its restriction to Seaside Goldenrod ( L.) as a larval foodplant. As the present specimens were taken in an unexpected manner, a brief account of their capture may be of some interest. My cottage was located on an inlet, some quarter-mile from the ocean, and was surrounded by blooming patches of Seaside Goldenrod. Each evening a 15-watt fluorescent blacklight was operated on the east side of the cottage, but no specimens of P. duovata were ever found at this source. Rather, the 12 specimens were taken in the vicinity of a small, 40-watt incandescent bulb which was located near the front door on the south side of the cottage. It also seems noteworthy that none of the moths came to rest within three feet of the bulb itself, and that most were found resting at distances of from 6-12 feet from the bulb. These two particulars, i.e. that the moths came to a relatively weak incandescent light, and that they then rested some considerable distance from the source, suggest that the species might have been missed, had only the usual bulbs (blacklight, mercury vapor) and traps (funnel) of the modern collector been used. These observations raise the possibility that certain species may be considered rare only because they are rarely taken by the collecting methods currently in vogue. One should be particularly aware of this possibility when a species that is apparently rare at the present time was considered more common by earlier collectors. Perhaps we have lost more than the romance of collecting with candles and lanterns-some moths might better be drawn to a flame! It also seems worth noting that all 12 specimens of P. duovata came to the bulb during a one-hour period from shortly after 2200 to shortly after 2300 (EST).

THEOV')RE D. SARGENT, Department of Zoology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01002.