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D. G. SEVASTOPULO, F.R.E.S., P.O. Box 95026

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D. G. SEVASTOPULO, F.R.E.S., P.O. Box 95026 VOLUME 27, NUMBER 2 157 ABNORMALITIES AND HEREDITY Mr. Manley's paper, "Two Mosaic Gynandromorphs of Automeris io (Saturniidae)," (1971, J. Lep. Soc. 25: 234-238), has, to me, a most surprising omission-he does not mention whether or not the two specimens he describes came from the same brood. Many abnormalities, spiral segmentation for example, would appear to have some hereditary basis, and Ford (1955, Moths, p. 39) quotes a case where a brood of H emerophila abruptaria Thnbg. (Geometridae) contained no fewer than four gynandromorphs. This phenomenon appears to be far more common, or far more often observed, in Great Britain than in America, to judge from reading Mr. Manley's paper. Hardly a year goes by without there being some reference to one or more cases in the various British entomological journals. Cockayne, in a paper published in the Transactions of the Entomological Society of London in 1916, illustrated no fewer than twenty-one gynandromorphs of the lycaenid Lysandra coridon Poda. Reverting to my remarks on spiral segmentation, the only two cases which have come to my personal knowledge have both involved more than one individual in a brood. In one case, a brood of the nymphalid Euxanthe wakefieldi Ward bred by a friend, the majority of the larvae died of disease before developing the characteristic and revealing dorsal markings; out of the five or six that reached maturity, two were examples of spiral segmentation, and it is more than probable that there were other examples undetected among the larvae that died earlier. The other case was in a brood of the noctuid Leucania irregularis Wlk., which contained at least four examples of spiral segmentation. Unfortunately the brood, which was divided into three batches at an early stage, suffered severe casualties; two of the three batches were wiped out by virus disease when still small, and a large number of the third batch was used to provide live food for some insectivorous birds before the abnormalities were detected, so that, here again, it is more than probable that a considerably larger number of spirals were actually present in the brood. Might I end on a note of criticism of Mr. Manley's paper. Surely it is incorrect to write (top of p. 235) "Thus cells of the male with ZZ chromosomes are expressed as yellow, while those of the female with a ZO chromosome complement are rosy brown." Would it not be more correct to state that the scales and hairs arising from cells with ZZ chromosomes are yellow and those from cells with ZO chromosomes are rosy brown? It is unfortunate that the figures are too dark to allow the pattern of the 'broken eye blotch' to be seen. D. G. SEVASTOPULO, F .R.E.S., P.O. Box 95026, Mombasa, Kenya. HOST RECORDS FOR BREPHlDlUM EXILIS (LYCAENIDAE) The Western Pygmy Blue, Brephidium exilis Boisduval, is generally recorded as feeding on Chenopodiaceae, but specific host identifications are few. Downey (19{H, in Ehrlich & Ehrlich, How to Know the Butterflies) lists, "Atriplex bracteosa (lamb's tongue), Chenopodium (pigweed), Petunia parviflora." Petunia is in the Solanaceae, a most unusual group to be fed upon by a Lycaenid; one species, P. violacea Lindl., is recorded as toxic to various insect larvae (Shapiro 1968, Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer. 61: 1221). This paper presents infonnation on host plants for B. exilis in lowland central California; plant names are from Munz & Keck (1970, A California Flora). 158 JOURNAL OF THE LEPIDOPTERISTS' SOCIETY Chenopodiaceae Atriplex patula L. "SSp. hastata (L.) Hall. & Clem." (= A. hastata L.) .-This abundant plant of brackish marshes and moist alkaline situations is the only known host for the large population of B. exilis in the marshes along Suisun Slough near Fairfield, Solano Co., California. It is probably tbe principal host in salt marshes throughout tbe range of B. exilis and is also used locally in the interior, e.g. in tbe Sacramento Valley east of Woodland, Yolo Co. The larvae feed on leaves, flowers, and fruit. Atriplex rosea L.-An abundant weed of dry, alkaline, usually disturbed soils throughout interior California; nahualized from Eurasia. The most frequent host of B. exilis throughout tbe Sacramento Valley. Larvae feed on buds, flowers, and fruit and can only be found near tbe tips of branches. Atriplex cordulata Jeps.-Occasional native species of dry, compacted alkaline soils; used by B. exilis north of Davis, Yolo Co. Atriplex semibaccata R. Br.-Occasional weed of alkaline or subsalinesoils and roadsides; naturalized from Australia. Fed upon by B. exilis at Fairfield, Solano Co., and north and west of Davis, Yolo Co. Larvae on leaves and (especially) tbe female flowers. Suaeda fruticosa (L.) Forsk. (= S. moquini Greene) .-Local but often common, a perennial weed of dry alkaline and subs aline situations as at the Davis municipal landfill and along the levees at Willow Slough, Yolo Co. B. exilis larvae abundant on the plant, feeding on inflorescence, fruit, and upper leaves; seemingly preferring Suaeda to Atriplex rosea where the two occur together. Populations of larvae are so dense on this plant as to constitute a potentially significant threat to its seed produc­ tion, at least locally. Brephidium exilis has not been found feeding or ovipositing on any of tbe following Chenopodiaceous weeds, altbough all are common within its range and often in close proximity to Atriplex or Suaeda bearing many larvae: Salsola kali L. var. tenuifolia Tausch. ("Russian tbistle"); Cycloloma atriplicifolium (Spreng.) Coult.; Cheno­ podium ambrosioides L. and its varieties anthelminticum (L.) Gray and vagans (Stand!.) Howell; C. botrys L.; C. californicum Wats.; C. album L.; C. murale L. Larvae taken from Suaeda fmticosa accepted Chenopodium californicum and C. murale but refused C. ambrosioides and C. botrys. They also accepted Cycloloma and Kochia scoparia (L.) Schrad. One larva taken from Atriplex rosea accepted C. botrys flowers. I have not seen B. exilis oviposit on any species of Chenopodium, but have taken females hovering around C. murale (banks of the Sacramento River) and C. botrys (Cache Creek, Yolo Co.), once each. Records on Chenopodium may well be due to misidentification of Atriplex rosea, which resembles tbat genus strongly. Altbough the Eastern Pygmy Blue, Brephidium pseudofea Morrison, is recorded as feeding on Salicornia (Downey 1961, op. cit.), B. exilis showed no interest in S. virginica L. in tbe Suisun marshes where extensive patches of it are near colonies of Atriplex patula ssp. hastata, and no larvae were found by sweeping. Larvae of tbe Western Pygmy Blue pupate on the host pIaL(. As many of the hosts are tumbleweeds, passive dispersal of pupae on the plants in fall and winter may be a significant factor in tbe colonizing ability of the insect. Solanaceae Petunia parviflora Juss. was not available for testing, but leaves, buds, and flowers of two horticultural varieties of P. violacea were completely unacceptable to 23 larvae of mixed sizes taken from Suaeda. Although less viscid than the garden species, P. parviflora is glandular-puberulent and should be suspected of the same toxic properties as its congener until shown otherwise. ARTHUR M. SHAPIRO, Department of Zoology, University of California, Davis, California 95616. .
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