Volume 48, Number 3 Autumn 2006 O~rrERI8~ ~<J s. q & ~ ~ ,." O F THE ~ to ;; LEPIDOPTERISTS' ~ J SocrtTY :~w~~p~?~~ Inside: Presidential Profile: William E. Conner 2006 Annual Meeting Photos Introducing The Conservation Committee A Melanic Colias eurytheme Actias luna and Antheraea polyphemus in South Texasl Diversity in a Suburban Preserve Aberrants: Not Your Normal Lepidoptera Marketplace ••• Metamorphosis••• Membership Update••• ••• and more! Contents Volume 48, No. 3 Autumn 2006 The Lepidopterists' Society is a non-profit Presidential Profile: William E . Conner 67 educational and scientific organization. The Announcement: New Membership Directory Coming Soon: Is your object of the Society, which was formed in Listing Current? 67 May 1947 and formally constituted in De­ 2006 Meeting Photos 68, 69 cember 1950, is "to prom ote internationally 57th Annual Meeting Butterfly Field Trips, Gainesville, FL 2006 70 t he science of lep idopterology in all its Get in the Swing of Things with a Society T-Shirt!. 71 branches; to further the scientifically sound and progressive study of Lepidoptera, to is­ Introducing The Conservation Committee. J ohn Shuey 72 sue perio dicals an d other publications on Minutes of the 2006 Annual Business Meeting. Ernest Williams 73 Lepidoptera; to facilitate the exchange of Announcement: Nominations for William D. Winter Service Award 74 specimens and ideas by both the professional Announcement: We Have Lost Your Email Address worker and the amateur in the field; to com­ (if it is on this list) 74 pile and distribute information to other or­ Membership Update. J ulian Donahue 75 ganizations and individuals for purposes of Resolutions: Oh The Connections We Will Make 76 education and conservation and appreciation A Melanic Colias eurytheme from of Lepidoptera; and to secure cooperation in Northern California. Arthur M. Shapiro 77 all measures" directed towards these aims. Announcement: Basic Techniques Manual (Memoir #5) 77 (Article II, Constitution of The Lepidopter­ Metamorphosis 78 ists'Society.) The Current Membership Crisis. J ohn Masters 79 The News ofthe Lepidopterists' Society In Quest of Actias luna and Antheraea polyphemus (Saturriidae) (ISSN 0091-1348 ) is published quarterly by in Southern Texas. Robert D. Weast.. 80 Th e Lepidopterists' Society, c/o Los Angeles The Marketplace 82 County Museum of Natural History, 900 Ex­ Butterfly Diversity in a Suburban-yard Arthropod Preserve position Blvd., Los Angeles, CA90007-4057, USA., and includes one or two supplements in Eastern United States Compared to each year. The Season Summary is pub ­ Regional Diversity. Edward M.Barrows 84 lished every year as Supp lement Sl and is 2006 Meeting Group Photo 88, 89 mailed with issue 1ofthe News. In even num­ Corrections. Steve Fratello 91 bered years a complete MembershipDirec­ From the Editor's Desk. Dale Clark 91 tory is published as Sup plement S2 and is Aberrants, Not Your Normal Butterflies (photos) 92 mailed wit h issue 4 of that volume of the More Photos from the Annual News. Please see the inside back cover for in­ Meeting of the Lepidopterists' Society 93 structions regarding subscriptions, submis­ Backpages: sions to, an d deadline dates for, the News. Membership Inform ation, Dues Rates, Journal of the Lepidopterists' Periodicals Postage paid at Los Angeles , CA Society, Change of Address?, Our Mailing List?, Missed or Defective and at additional mailing office (Lawrence, Issue?, Book Reviews, Submission Guidelines for the News 94 KS). Executive Council 95 POSTMASTER: Pl ease se nd address Season Summary Zone Coordinators 95 changes to News ofthe Lepidopterists' '06 Meeting Photos 96 Society, c/o Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History,900 Exposition Blvd., Los Issue Date: September 26, 2006 ISSN 0091-1348 Angeles, CA 90007-4057. Front Cover: Copyright © 2006 by The Lepidopterists' So­ ciety. All rights reserved. The statements of A female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus), one of many species found contributo rs do not necessarily represent the in a "suburba n yard arthropod preserve" like the one discussed on pp. 84. This views of th e Society or the editor and the specime n was ph otogr aphed in Glenn Heigh ts, Dalla s Co., TX, on August 24, Society does not warrant or endorse prod­ 2006 by Dale Clark. ucts or services of advertisers. Autumn 2006 News of the Lepidopterists' Society Presidential Profile William E. Conner Department ofBiology, Wake Forest Univers ity, P O. Box 7325, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109-7325, USA con n er@w fu .ed u Last J une when I donned the antennae ecology of Utetheisa and eventually Lepidoptera is that you get to visit some and coremata at the Gainesville figured out their courtship. wonderful spaces and call it work. meeting I became the president of our Since those early days with Utetheisa I Mindy and I have had the pleasure of great society. I am delighted to serve a have not strayed far from tiger moths. visiting the cloud forests of mainland society filled with so many interesting For me it was exciting to study tiger Ecuador, Iguassu Falls in Brazil, the an d friendly people. I know many of the moth courtship in a comparative way. great barrier reef off Australia (not regulars at our yearly meetings, but I Each new species had an interesting many leps there but it was worth thought I would let the rest of you know way to find and seduce its mate. Along looking) and recently we have enjoyed a bit about your new president. the way my students and I enjoyed the the Galapagos Islands with my sexual exploits of Syntomeida epilais, collaborator Lazaro Roque. I still see I have not been interested in Utetheisa practically everywhere I go. Lepidoptera from birth as some of my Empyreuma pugione, Cosmosoma predecessors. I first got seriously myrodora, Cycnia tenera, Estigmene Of course the hard work gets done by interested in t hem in 1975 when my acrea and others. Although I started students. My stories of tiger moths graduate mentor Tom Eisner "the bug studying chemical signals, pheromones, ca nnot be told without mentioning man ofIthaca" captured and introduced the moths quickly led me to sound. Yes, Harry Itagaki, Kate Loudon, Mark me to my first arctiid, Utetheisa they communicate acoustically using Sanderford, Becky Simmons, Ruth ornatrix. He gently squeezed the male high pitched squeaks and clicks. They Boada, Reed Johnson, Nicho lay exposing its coremata and said even answer bats, the current focus of Hristov, Jesse Barber, Alex Jordan, and something like "I think that this insect my laboratory in the Department of Sarah Garrett and a raft of others. has an interesting story to tell". Boy Biology at Wake Forest University in They are the ones who have made the was he right! I studied that species for Winston-Salem, NC. We have goo d discoveries and they all still study the next four summers at the Archbold evidence that their sounds warn bats Lepi doptera. Biological Station near Lake Placid, that they are distasteful much like the So next time you see a tiger moth in the Florida. I also met my future wife bright coloration of a monarch warns field give it a little squeeze or hold it to Mindy during the first summer and birds of bad taste. Some tiger moths your ear. You never know what you together we chased Utetheisa through may also "jam" the echolocation sonar might learn and where it might take the fields of Crotalaria in the surrounds of bats. The jury is still out on that one . you. of the Station. We studied the chemical One of the great things about studying See you in the field . Bill Conner Announcement New Membership Directory Coming Soon: Is Your Listing Current? A new Membership Directory will be published towards the end of 2006. Do you have a new area code, a new phone number, or a new e-mail address? Have you r interests changed? Have you changed your mind about having all or part of your listing omitted? If any of these is true, update your information by sending an e-mail to Julian Donahue (J u lia n@Don ah u e .n et ) or mailing the information to him at 735 Rome Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90065-4040. Mis­ placed your Membership Directory or not sure what your present listing is? I can send you a "screen shot" of your membership record on request. Volume 48, Number 3 67 News of the Lepidopterists' Society Volume 48, Number 3 2006 Meeting Photos 1) Matt Douglas with a hitchhiking Caligo in the McGuire Center's butterfly conservatory; 2) Martha Weiss, Eric Lind, Deane Bowers and Bob Pyle ; 3 ) Outgoing President Felix Sperling speaking to the members; 4) Robert and Rachel Tippit enjoying the gathering of lepidopterists from all over the world; 5 ) Louise Fall, John Masters, Ken Fall and Malcom Douglas; thanks to Louise and Ken and BioQuip for hosting the reception; 6 ) Becky Simmons presenting the Dave Winter Service Award to Assistant Secretary Julian Donahue; 7 ) Mindy Conner and Lee Miller. 68 Autumn 2006 Autumn 2006 News of the Lepidopterists' Society More photos from the S7th Annual Lepidopterists' Society meeting••• 8) Brian Scholtens in search of leps during the field trip to the Ordway Preserve; 9 ) the presentation of the "butterfly ties"; 10 ) Fred Stehr plucks a specimen from his net at the Ordway Preserve; 11 ) a table of "joyous" revelers; 12) Linda and Byrum Cooper; 13) the women showing off their butterfly wardrobe. All photos by Ranger Steve. Volume 48, Number 3 69 News of t h e Lepidopterists' Society Volume 48, Number 3 S7th Annual Meeting Butterfly Field Trips, Gainesville, Florida 2006 Ranger Steven J. Mueller 13010 Northland Drive, Cedar Springs, MI 49319-8433 USAf [email protected] Forty four species were encountered by in the Kathryn Ordway Preserve/Karl butterfly encounters.