A Note on Habitat and Geography

166 JOURNAL OF THE LEPIDOPTERISTS' SOCIETY A NOTE ON HABITAT AND GEOGRAPHY Based upon correspondence and conversations with collectors around the country, it would appear that many lepidopterists have only vague ideas concerning butterfly habitats in regions other than their home areas, unless they have traveled widely. The purpose of this note is to point out that for a given species, extensive habitat variation may occur as a function of geography. To understand butterfly distribu tions and subspeciation, collectors need to be aware of the interrelations among latitude, longitude, and altitude, as well as the more obvious factors such as annual mean temperature, rainfall and vegetation. A useful reference in these areas is Carpenter's book (1956, An Ecological Glossary, Hafner, New York). To emphasize my point, several anecdotes and experiences are presented herein. It was once remarked to me that Laramie, Wyoming, my present home, with its elevation of 7100 ft. should be rich in arctic-alpine (tundra) species. When I asked why, the reply was that the top of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire is tundra at 6200 ft. and is populated by such species as Oeneis melissa semidea (Say) and Boloria titania montinus (Scudder). My eastern friend had neglected several factors. Laramie is a few degrees in latitude south of Mt. Washington and unlike New Hampshire, has an annual average rainfall of from 10 to 14 inches. The life zone is Upper Sonoran Desert or Bush-Steppe, Northwest Semi-Desert with mixed grasses and sagebrush as principal vegetation types. At Wyoming's latitude (4P to 45° N), tundra or paramos occurs only above 10,000 ft. As one travels north along the Rocky Mountains, tundra appears at lower elevations: about 6500-7000 ft. near Banff, Alberta (ca. 52 ° N) and 3000 ft. north of Fairbanks, Alaska (ca. 65° N). In this region of the Northwest, the longitude variation is from 105.5° W at Laramie to 145° W at Eagle Summit, north of Fairbanks. By contrast, along the northeast coast (64° to 72° W), tundra occurs on Mt. Washington (6288 ft., 71.25° W, 44.25° N), Mt. Katahdin, Maine (5268 ft., 68.9° W, 45.9° N), Mt. Albert, Gaspe, Quebec (ca. 4700 ft., 66° W, 49.5° N). At Churchill, Manitoba, arctic tundra occurs at sea level (ca. 94° W, 59° N). The various subspecies of Oeneis melissa are tundra dwellers, whether they be found at high altitudes in the Rocky Mountains, or low altitudes in the Northeast and Far North. One cannot always make habitat projections of this nature, how ever. In Maine and Quebec, and west through Minnesota, then North to the Northwest and Yukon Territories into Alaska, the subspecies of Oeneis jutta (Hubner) are generally associated with muskeags (bogs), although in some areas of Alaska, jutta flies on the tundra above timberline. In Colorado and Wyoming, however, O. jutta reducta McDunnough is found in dry lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Englem.) forests flying in the deadfall. Occasionally specimens are taken on flowers at the forest edge as reported by Ferris (1970, J. Lepid. Soc. 24: 306- 307). An even more striking example of habitat variation occurs in Speyeria nokomis ( Edwards). In the United States, nokomis is associated with very wet areas, either sloughs or moist alpine meadows where the larval foodplant, Viola spp., grows in the understory (Ellis 1969, J. Lepid. Soc. 23: 62-26; Ferris & Fisher 1971, J. Lepid. Soc. 25: 44-52). In Mexico, S. nokomis coerulescens (Holland) is found in a completely different habitat. The butterfly flies in Chihuahua and Durango in dry pine woods. During its flight season (late August and September), frequent rains maintain an almost bog-like condition of the pine needle and duff layer on the forest floor. Violets grow in this layer (L. P. Grey and J. R. Mori, pers. comm. ). Adult nokomis are found in some nearby meadows, but only because of a concentration of thistles and other nectar sources. Latitude can play a major role in determining where butterflies of a given species are found. Two of many possible examples are: Papilio i. indra Reakirt and Lycaena VOLUME 28, NUMBER 2 167 cup reus snowi (Edwards). The fonner butterfly is nOlmally associated with ridge tops in foothill areas. This is certainly the case in the eastern Sierra Nevada and in Colorado and Wyoming. Occasionally specimens are taken at lower elevations at puddles following a rain shower. My initial experiences with indra and other subspecies confirmed that they occupy the barren ridge habitat where certain of the larval foodplants, Umbellifereae, grow. During the summer of 1972, I found that i. indra is a moist meadow flier in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. Specimens were taken flying and nectaring in Transition Zone meadows at 7100 ft. The Idaho locality was about two degrees further north in latitude than the most northern point in Wyoming where I have taken indra. Lycaena cup reus snowi is recorded in Colorado only from above timberline (ca. 10,000 ft. and above) where it flies next to the snow fields (Brown et al. 1957, Colorado Butterflies, Denver, Colo.). Just to the north, in Wyoming, the butterfly is generally taken in the Upper Transition and Canadian Zones in open meadows. I have taken a few specimens at timberline in the Wind River Mountains and on the Beartooth Plateau, but most specimens have been taken at much lower eleva tions. In the Sawtooth Range in Idaho, I have found snowi relatively common in open meadows at 7100 ft. In conclusion, I would make three points. First, different subspecies of a butter fly may be found in widely disparate habitats, in different parts of North America. Second, based upon observations from one locality, one cannot make inferences concerning other regions without a thorough knowledge of all of the environmental variables involved. Third, in some instances, "micro-environments" may be the dominant factor controlling species distributions, as in the Mexican race of Speyeria nokomis. (This note is published with the approval of the Director, Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station, as Journal Article JA 595.) CLIFFORD D. FERRIS, College of Engineering, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82071. (Research Associate, Allyn Museum of Entomology, Sarasota, Florida; Museum Associate, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, California) LEPIDOPTERA FEEDING AT PUDDLE-MARGINS, DUNG AND CARRION I would like to make a few additions to J. A. Downes' paper under this title (1973, J. Lepid. Soc. 27: 88-99). I discussed this question on more than one occasion with Collenette, and he often said that he was of the opinion that the attraction of damp mud lay in the mineral salts in general, and probably in the sodium chloride in particular, contained therein. I have two pieces of evidence that would appear to support this opinion. When collecting at Lech-am-Arlberg in Austria in 1958, it was noticed that, whilst the damp mud surrounding puddles fonned in the mountain paths after a storm were highly attractive to butterflies, the damp mud at the side of permanent trickles of water crossing the same paths were always completely deserted. Presumably the mud round the puddles would be heavily impregnated with mineral salts leached out of the surrounding soil, whilst mud beside pennanent trickles would have had everything washed out. Again in Africa it is noticeable that the attraction of damp mud increases with the distance from the sea. In the Shimba Hills I have only found Anthene lasti Sm. & Kby. ( Lycaenidae) at damp mud; the nymphalids that feed at damp mud are the same species that are attracted to fermented fruit baits and, as both sexes are present, the attraction is obviously juices from rotten fruit that has fallen from the trees bordering the path. In the actual coastal forest at Jadini, situated within a mile .

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