[TN-Butterflies] Re: FW: review of duskywing photo
- From: "Steve Stedman" <birdsongteam@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <ritavenable@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 06:52:32 -0500
Rita,
As with so much else regarding the more uncommon (and even some of the more
common) 'flies, there is some confusion out there in guideland about the
Mottled Dwing.
The Glassberg BTB East Guide shows only one overly darkish photo of an unsexed
(but probably male) individual; it doesn't speak to a size or color difference
between the broods or sexes.
The Kaufmann and Brock guide has a better photo (not sexed but also probably a
male) but doesn't discuss the size or color difference of the broods.
The Cech and Tudor guide offers one photo (unsexed but probably female); it
says the first brood is smaller and darker than the later brood, which seems at
odds with what is stated about color in the WV guide that you cite (below).
One reason why, perhaps, there are so few records of this species in TN
involves the lack of consensus about its basic size and color brightness.
Most of the photos of Mottled females (or at least of darker individuals) show
the inner half of the forewing above to have a well-marked "figure" in the
shape of a fat, somewhat wavy tuning fork with the base of the fork at the back
of the wing and the two tines of the fork ending at the front edge of the
forewing; this is the case for Allan's individual, for the individual in the
Cech and Tudor guide, and the individual in the Mary Anne Friedman photo at the
BAMONA website. Some female Horace's have this feature in a much more muted
form (as in the Cech and Tudor guide), usually with one of the tines of the
fork not quite attached to the rest of the fork.
Allan is to be congratulated on this rare find, which may have done more to
advance our understanding of this species' presence in TN and i.d. characters
than any other sighting on record; Julius Basham can probably add a lot to what
I have briefly covered, so I hope he will weigh in on this one in the same
erudite manner with which he weighed in on the Zarucco recently.
Steve Stedman
Cookeville (Putnam County)
[Remember that TN-Butterflies requests that you give your full name and
location at the end of each message.]
----- Original Message -----
From: Rita Venable
To: SStedman@xxxxxxxxxx
Cc: tn-butterflies@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2010 9:06 PM
Subject: [TN-Butterflies] Re: FW: review of duskywing photo
Steve,
Thanks for double-checking on this. I also just read in the Allen book
"Butterflies of West VA and Their Caterpillars" that spring adults have more
white scaling and are smaller than the summer brood. So the first photo on the
BAMONA site is the male and the second (by Marianne F.) is the female? I wonder
why many of the field guides only show one season and one sex when there are
some noticeable differences in coloration, brightness, etc.?
RV
On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 2:07 PM, Stephen Stedman <SStedman@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Although a near unanimous consensus developed among state butterfliers that
Allan Trently’s Lewis County duskywing was a Mottled, just to be extra careful
I sent the photo to John Burns of the National Museum of Natural History.
John’s reply (below) confirms what many believed to be the case. Note that
Allan’s individual was a female; the more brightly whitish individuals I have
seen or seen photos of previously have all been males, so it was good to see
what a female looks like for comparative purposes.
John also attached a PDF of one of his recent papers on a topic—false eyes
on caterpillars--that may interest TN-Butterfliers.
Good butterflying, Steve Stedman
Cookeville (Putnam County)
From: Burns, John [mailto:BURNSJ@xxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2010 12:58 PM
To: Stephen Stedman
Subject: RE: review of duskywing photo
Steve, that’s a female Erynnis martialis.
For fun, I’m attaching a pdf of a recent paper that may interest you.
Best,
John
From: Stephen Stedman [mailto:SStedman@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2010 12:24 PM
To: Burns, John
Subject: review of duskywing photo
Hi John,
Please review this photo and verify species and please give sex, if
possible.
Thanks, Steve
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