Volume 50, Number 2 Summer 2008 Inside: An Aberrant Urbanus teleus (Hubner, 1821) Conservation Matters: Rearing Mitchell's Satyr at the l'oledo Zoo Two Trips to Taman Negara l4ational Park, Malaysia Artificial hybridization and natural sUbspeciation in Cercyonis pegala A False Head on California Tortoiseshell larvael 2008 Karl Jordan Medal Award Recipient: Gaden S. Robinson Marketplace••• Mailbag••• Membership Update••• ••• and more! NEWS ~,<f>~ERI8~8'~ ~ ,OF TI-IE ~ ~ c;:. LEPIDOPTERISTS' ~ j Contents SOCIETY CST.,9.1 Volume 50, No.2 Summer 2008 Th e Lepidopterists' Society IS a non-pront educational and scientific organization. The Two Heads Better Than One? A False Head in California object of the Society, which was formed in Tortoiseshell Larvae David G. James 35 May 1947 an d formally constituted in De­ Lange's Metalmark Butterfly: Success in Small Packages. cember 1950, is "to promote internationally U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Release 37 t he scie nce of lepidopterology in all its 2008 Karl Jordan Medal Award Recipient: Gaden S. Robinson branches; to further the scientifically sound Jacqueline Y. Miller 38 an d progressive study of Lepidoptera, to is­ Notes on the Red-Spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax) in sue periodicals and other publications on Michigan. Dale L. Clayton 39 Lepidoptera; to facilitate the exchange of New Service Available on the Lepidopterists' Society Website 39 specimens and ideas by both the professional workerand the amateur in the field; to com­ An Aberrant Urbanus teleus (Hiib n er, 1821) (Hesperiidae: pile and distribute information to other or­ Eudaminae) George T. Austin and Andrew D. Warren .41 ganizations and individuals for purposes of Conservation Matters: Rearing Mitchell's Satyr at the Toledo Zoo -A education and conservation and appreciation first step towards eventual re-introduction in secure habitats. of Lepidoptera; and to secure cooperation in Peter Tolson 42 all measu res" directed towards these aims . Two Trips to Taman Negara National Park, Malaysia. (Article II, Constitution of The Lepidopter­ Steve Fratello 44 ists' Society.) Announcement The News ofthe Lepidopterists' Society The 2nd Asian Lepidoptera Conservation Symposium 2008 47 (ISSN 0091-1348) is published quarterly by The Marketplace 48 The Lepidopterists' Society, c/o Los Angeles Announcement County Museum ofNatural History, 900 Ex­ The Lepidoptera Research Foundation Announces Aware Program position Blvd., Los Angeles, CA90007-4057, For Student Research Grants 50 USA., and includes one or two supplements First Arctic Alaskan Collections of Compton Tortoiseshell (Roddia each year. The Season Summary is pub­ vaualbum) Made in November 2007 J ordan S .Metzgar 51 lished every year as Supplement Sl and is Artificial hybridization and natural subspeciation in Cercyonis mailed with issue 1of the News. In even num­ bered years a complete Membership Direc­ pegala (Nymp h alid a e , Satyrinae) Andrei Sou rakov 52 tory is published as Supplement S2 and is Membership Update. Julian Donahue 54 mailed with issue 4 of that volume of the Metamorphosis. Julian Donahue 54 News. Please see the inside back cover for in­ New Membership Directory: Is Your Information Correct? 55 structions regarding subscriptions, submis­ Moth Book Wins Prestigious Medal Edward D. Edwards 55 sions to, and deadline dates for, the News. Executive Council/Season Summary Zone Coordinators 58, 59 Periodicals Postage paid at Los Angeles, CA and at additional mailing office (Lawrence, KS). P OSTM ASTER: Pl ease send address changes to News ofthe Lepidopterists' Society, c/o Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA90007-4057. Copyright © 2008 by The Lepidopteris ts' Society.All rights reserved. The statements Issue Date: September 30, 2008 ISSN 0091-1348 of contributors do not necessarily represent Front Cover: the views ofthe Society or the editor and the Society does not warrant or endorse prod ­ Graphium eurypalus, on urine soaked sediment, Tahan River, Malaysia. Photo ucts or services of advertisers. by Steve Fratello. See article on pp. 44. Summer 2008 News of the Lepidopterists' Society Two Heads Better Than Onel A False Head in California Tortoiseshell Larvae David G. James Department of Entomology, Wash ington State University, Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Cent er, 24105 North Bunn Road, Prosser, Washington 99350. david ..ia m es @wsu. ed u Mimicry used as a strategy to deceive predators to t he le ss vulnerable tail the fourth instar (pp. 36). In the fifth predators has presumably evolved via end. Striking examples of caterpillar instar, a profuse covering of white setae selective pressures from predators that 'false heads' occur in the Notodontidae covers the body including the posterior hunt primarily by sight. A familiar and Noctuidae. Larvae of Dasylophia segments, effectively masking the 'false example of this among the Lepidoptera anguina (J. E . Smith) and D. head'(pp. 36 ' ). is that of the ventral wing pattern and thyatiroides (Walker) have swollen The distinctive 'two-headed' appearance behavior of many adult lycaenid terminal segments, bear black 'eyespots' of third and fourth instar N californica butterflies. The presence of spots or and have elongate prolegs that resemble larvae has not been reported previously. spot-like markings at the anal angle, antennae (Wagner, 2005). Mature Edwards (1876), Reinhard (1981) and usually accompanied by the presence of larvae of Phosphila turbulenta Hubner Scott (1992) made no mention of 'tails', are considered to resemble eyes have a terminal 'head' that is larger sclerot ized posterior segments or the and antennae, respectively (Salt , 1931, and more boldly marked than the real ' fals e head' appearance of t h ese Robbins, 1980, 1981). The putative head (Wagner, 2005 ). segments in their detailed descriptions 'head' at the posterior end of these Here, I show by illustration, the of N. californica larvae. However, two lycaenids is expected to deflect predator appearance of a 'false head' on the recently published books contain attacks from the real head and Robbins terminal abdominal segments of larvae images of third instar N. cal ifornica (1980, 1981 ) obtained data consistent of the California Tortoiseshell butterfly, larvae and both show an apparent with this hypothesis. Nymphalis californica Boisduval. 'head' on each end of the body, similar A number oflepidopteran larvae possess Larvae of N. californica were reared to the images presented here (Guppy eyespots at the head end, but these, from eggs laid by a captive female in and Shepard, 2001 , Allen et al. , 2005 ). along with swelling, serve to emphasize , June 2006 , as part of research on the Some other species in the Nymphalidae rather than deflect interest from the identification and biology of immature also appear to have a tendency towards head, creating a ' fr igh t en ing' stages of Washington State butterflies darkening of the terminal abdominal appearance. This presumably helps to (J ames and Nunnallee, in prep.). segm ent. For example, instars 2-4 of ward off visually-searching predators Images (taken using a Canon EOS-1 Ds Vanessa cardui (L.) have a sclerotized by mi micking some larger, more Mark II digital camera equipped with a plate on the terminal segment but this fearsome (and better defended) creature! MP-E 65mm macro lens) of larval doesn't extend to the whole segment Examples of this occur among late instars 1-5 are shown in Figure 1. The and adjacent one as it does in N. instar larvae of certain papilionid two posterior abdominal segments of all califarnica . Consequently, the posterior butterflies (e.g. Papilio rutulus Lucas) instars are dark/black colored segments do not take on the appearance and sphingid moths (e.g. Deil ephila increasing in intensity and in their of a larval head capsule in larvae of this elpe nor (L.», which mi ght resemble resemblance to a larval head cap sule as species (J ames, unpubl. obs.). snakes from a bird or small mammal's the larva matures from the first to Confirmation t hat the ' false head' perspective. A 'false head' deflection fourth instar. In the fir st instar there appearance of N. califarnica larvae is st r at egy against visually-orienting is a sclerotized black plate situ at ed indeed a strategy to divert the attention predators also occurs in some dorso-posteriorly on the terminal of vi sually searching predators like caterpillars. Caterpillars of a number of segment. The remainder of the segment birds away from the real head, awaits danaid (e.g. Danaus plexippus (L» and and the adjacent one are darker colored appropriate experimental testing. Early some papilionid (e.g, Battus philenor than the rest of the body. In the second (1-3) instars of N. californica feed and (L.» species possess filaments on or in star, the two posterior segments rest communally and the appearance of near the terminal segments (Allen et al., darken further, becoming fully t wice the number of 'heads' in a 2005). These may be used to ward off sclerotized and shiny black in the third community may reduce the ri sk that insect parasitoids by waving them instar. The sclerotized po sterior real heads are attacked by a predator. around (Wells and Wells, 1995), segment s mo st closely resemble the How ever, an appro aching predator is alternatively, they may serve as false appearance of a larval head capsule in usually met with a communal 'head- antennae directing the attention of Volume 50, Number 2 35 News of the Lepidopterists' Society Volume 50, Number 2 jerking' reaction (Edwards 1876, experimental testing of the defense Reinhard 1981). This may be a second hypothesis has been conducted for any tier of defense with 'confusion' the first. species. Most moth caterpillars with The 'false head' of N califarnica larvae 'false heads' are aposematic (e.g, is most apparent in the fourth instar Dasylophia, Phosphila), and may use (below), coinciding with loss of deception in combination with chemical communal behavior, which may also defense.