________________________________________________________________________________________ Volume 54, Number 1 Spring 2012 www.lepsoc.org ________________________________________________________________________________________ Inside: Notes on Megathymus yuccae as illustrated by Boisduval & LeConte Unusual flight behavior of the noctuid moth Psectraglaea carnosa Paul A. Opler: Newest Honorary Life Member Growing Degree Days: predicting flight for Euphydryas gilletti A Pitcher for a Pieris 2012 Election Results New host plant record for Autochton cellus Membership Updates, Metamorphosis, Marketplace, Announcements (lots)... ... and more! ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Contents ________________________________________________________www.lepsoc.org A New Larval Host Plant for the Golden Banded-Skipper ____________________________________ (Autochton cellus: Hesperiidae: Eudaminae) in Florida Volume 54, Number 1 Mark C. Minno and Marry Ann Friedman. ............................................. 3 Spring 2012 Results of the 2012 Election, The Lepidopterists’ Society. ................... 5 The Lepidopterists’ Society is a non-profit ed- Conservation Matters: An Essay to the Future ucational and scientific organization. The ob- John Shuey. .............................................................................................. 6 ject of the Society, which was formed in May Notes on Megathymus yuccae as illustrated by Boisduval & 1947 and formally constituted in December LeConte [1873], with remarks about the holotype of M. cofaqui 1950, is “to promote internationally the sci- John Calhoun. .......................................................................................... 8 ence of lepidopterology in all its branches; to Growing Degree Days: A Method to Predict Butterfly Emergence further the scientifically sound and progres- sive study of Lepidoptera, to issue periodicals Mike McInnis and Loran Gibson. .......................................................... 14 and other publications on Lepidoptera; to fa- Another Dasychira Discrepancy cilitate the exchange of specimens and ideas John Calhoun. ......................................................................................... 15 by both the professional worker and the am- Paul A. Opler: the Society’s Newest Honorary Life Member ateur in the field; to compile and distribute Dave Wagner. .......................................................................................... 16 information to other organizations and indi- Announcements: ............................................................................................ 18 viduals for purposes of education and conser- Summer Class/Workshop on California Butterflies/Moths, Join the vation and appreciation of Lepidoptera; and Membership Committee, National Moth Week, Joint Meeting of the Lep to secure cooperation in all measures” direct- Soc and Societas Europaea Lepidopterologica, Visit the Gillette Museum ed towards these aims. (Article II, Constitu- tion of The Lepidopterists’ Society.) Collection after the Lep Soc Meetings, Corrections to “Diana Still Reigns in Arkansas” by Gary Noel Ross, Locality Data needed for Moth Photo- The News of the Lepidopterists’ Society graphers Group Website, The 2012 Lepidoptera Course, Lepidoptera (ISSN 0091-1348) is published quarterly by Research Foundation The Lepidopterists’ Society, c/o Los Angeles Notes on Unusual Behavior of the Uncommon Noctuid Moth County Museum of Natural History, 900 Psectraglaea carnosa Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007- Steve Johnson. ....................................................................................... 20 4057, USA., and includes one or two supple- John C. Downey (1926 - 2005): A Remembrance ments each year. The Season Summary is published every year as Supplement S1 and Jacqueline Y. Miller. .............................................................................. 21 is mailed with issue 1 of the News. In even Membership Update numbered years a complete Membership Julian Donahue. ....................................................................................... 25 Directory is published as Supplement S2 The Marketplace. ........................................................................................ 26 and is mailed with issue 4 of that volume of Metamorphosis the News. Please see the inside back cover Julian Donahue. ...................................................................................... 27 for instructions regarding subscriptions, A Pitcher for a Pieris submissions to, and deadline dates for, the Arthur M. Shapiro. ................................................................................. 28 News. From the Editor’s Desk. ............................................................................ 29 Periodicals Postage paid at Los Angeles, CA Membership Information, Dues Rates, Journal of the Lepidopterists’ and at additional mailing office (Lawrence, Society, Change of Address, Our Mailing List, Missed or Defective KS). Issues, Book Reviews, Submission Guidelines for the News. ............... 30 Executive Council/Season Summary Zone Coordinators. ................ 31 POSTMASTER: Please send address chang- es to News of the Lepidopterists’ Society, Issue Date: March 1, 2012 ISSN 0091-1348 c/o Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007-4057. Copyright © 2012 by The Lepidopterists’ So- Front Cover: ciety. All rights reserved. The statements of Neumogenia poetica (Noctuidae), 2011 Lep Course, Southwestern Research contributors do not necessarily represent the Station, near Portal, Arizona, August, 2011, Hugh McGuinness (see p. 19 views of the Society or the editor and the So- for 2012 course info and back cover for more pictures) ciety does not warrant or endorse products or services of advertisers. _____________________________ __________________________________________________________ Spring_______________________________________________________________________________________ 2012 News of the Lepidopterists’ Society A New Larval Host plant for the Golden- Banded Skipper (Autochton cellus: Hesperiidae: Eudaminae) in Florida Marc C. Minno1 and Mary Ann Friedman2 1600 NW 35th Terrace, Gainesville, FL 32607 [email protected] 2807 Weeden Island Drive, Niceville, FL 32578 [email protected] During a field trip of the North American Butterfly Associ- The leaves of Thicket Bean are similar to Hog Peanut. ation Hairstreak Chapter on May 21, 2010 to Florida Cav- However, Thicket Bean is a more robust vine and gener- erns State Park, we found a few young hesperiid larvae on ally has larger, wider leaflets. Thicket Bean grows on the an undetermined vining legume (Figure 1D). The park is ground and vigorously climbs into shrubs and other sup- located just north of Marianna in the Florida Panhandle ports. A key character differentiating Thicket Bean from (Jackson County). The site was along a trail through me- Hog Peanut is the twisted keel petal of the flowers (Wun- sic to xeric hardwood forest. The larvae were too young derlin and Hansen 2003) (Figure 1E). There are two dif- to identify. The Long-tailed Skipper (Urbanus proteus) ferent varieties of Thicket Bean in the southeastern U.S., and Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) are com- typical and Phaseolus polystachios var. sinuatus which mon Florida butterflies that use many different legumes has deeply lobed leaves and is found is very dry habitats. as host plants. Young larvae of these skippers are difficult to distinguish from those of the Golden Banded-Skipper. Thicket Bean is locally distributed in Florida and much However, on June 12, 2010 we returned to this site and of the eastern U.S., except northern-most states (U.S. De- found two last instar larvae of the Golden Banded-Skipper partment of Agriculture PLANTS Database [http://plants. (Autochton cellus) on the same plant (Figure 1C). This usda.gov/java/]). In Florida it has mostly been reported observation was noted by Schweitzer et al. (2011). Here from northern and central regions of the state (Florida we discuss the new host plant and its use by the Golden Atlas of Vascular Plants website [http://florida.plantatlas. Banded-Skipper in greater detail. usf.edu/]). At Florida Caverns State Park we only know of the one site for Thicket Bean, but others are likely to Prior to our observations, the Golden Banded-Skipper occur there. has only been known to use Hog Peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata) as a larval host in the eastern U.S. (Clark 1936, The eastern U.S. population of the Golden Banded-Skip- MacNeill 1975, Burns 1984, Opler and Krizek 1984, Scott per has declined over the last few decades (Schweitzer et 1986, Opler and Malikul 1992, Glassberg 1993, Allen 1997, al. 2011). In Florida, this rare butterfly had populations in Glassberg 1999, Glassberg et al. 2000, Brock and Kaufman the Panhandle (Leon and Liberty counties) and disjunctly 2003, Cech and Tudor 2005, Minno et al. 2005). However, in and near Gainesville (Alachua County) in north-central the southwestern population uses many legumes as larval Florida (Kimball 1965). There are other records of the hosts including Phaseolus filiformis (formerly Phaseolus Golden Banded-Skipper for Columbia, Jefferson, Suwan- wrightii), Phaseolus pedicellatus var. grayanus (formerly nee, and Volusia counties (Butterflies and Moths of North Phaseolus grayanus),