[TN-Butterflies] Saturday in Polk County
- From: "J. Basham" <jbasham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: tn-butterflies@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:48:46 -0400
Well, I'm sure it's not a Jalapus Cloudywing, even though it has the
faintest hint of short stubby tails. What it does mean however, is
that it is either a worn Funereal Duskywing stray, or a Zarucco with a
very white fringe. As you probably know, some Lepidopterists consider them to be one species, while others maintain that they are separate. This little jewel was very dark, sort of a brownish black, with a fringe that appeared to be very white on the hindwing, and very gray on the forewing. The photos don't show the fringe to be as white as it looked out in the sunlight. When you look at the underside photo, you can see it a little better.  If I zoom in you can see it much better, ( His left antennae is bent , like he ran into something.)  The wings are long and pointed, shaped like both species. There is very little white over the eyes, like a Horace's would display. The forearm patch is all light tan to brown. The patch is fairly prominent. According to Rick Cech, the stronger the patch, the more likely it would be a Zarucco. According to Glassberg and Kaufman the opposite is true, who both show individuals with very strong forearm patches, on the Funereal, in their illustrations.  A couple more observations would be to point out that the upper hindwing has virtually no markings at all. It is all inky dark in the photos, and was even more so out in the sunlight. This would indicate Funereal, as all the descriptions and illustrations of the Zarucco show a dark chocolaty brown upper hindwing with light spots present. The other marks of note are the various white speckles and outlines on the upper forewing, between the shoulder and the forewing patch. This would also indicate Funereal. The female Zarucco sometimes shows some white marks in this area, but she is always much browner overall and has lots of light markings in the upper hindwing. Either species would be a County record for Polk. This bug was photographed on September 5th, 2009 in Polk County Tennessee. I am aware of the white fringe Zaruccos in south Florida, and the atypicals in Georgia. What do you folks think? Thanks, Julius Basham |
Other related posts:
- » [TN-Butterflies] Saturday in Polk County - J. Basham
