The Canadian Entomologist, Vol. XII., No. 2, February 1880Various
Science
The Canadian Entomologist, Vol. XII., No. 2, February 1880
Various
Entomology -- Periodicals; Insects -- Periodicals
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The Canadian Entomologist.
VOL. XII. LONDON, ONT., FEBRUARY, 1880. No. 2
ON CERTAIN SPECIES OF SATYRUS.
BY W. H. EDWARDS, COALBURGH, W. VA.
1. NEPHELE.—Kirby, Faun. Bor. Amer., 1837, described this species as
follows: “Wings brown; primaries both above and below with a paler
submarginal broad band including two eyelets; the upper ones surrounded
by a paler atmosphere, with a black iris and white pupil; on the under
side the atmosphere of the eyelets is most distinct and forms a kind of
glory round them,” etc. Nothing is said of the sex, but apparently this
is the description of a female. The wings of the male are blackish-brown,
usually of uniform shade throughout—that is, in the typical male,
corresponding to the female of Kirby. But there is a frequent departure
from this type in the direction of _Alope_, the “pale atmosphere” about
the ocelli appearing in the male, and in both sexes gradually widening
and becoming less obscure till it culminates in a clear yellow band. When
this is reached we have _Alope_, Fabr. So that _Nephele_ intergrades
completely with _Alope_. But this is not everywhere and always. The
metropolis of the typical _Nephele_ is in Canada and northern New
England, that of _Alope_ in the States south of New York. There is a line
running about with the southern boundary of New York, or it may be, in
Pennsylvania, below which _Alope_ holds sole possession, and no tendency
is discoverable towards _Nephele_. In the extreme northern area, if there
is any departure from typical _Nephele_, it is the exception, not the
rule.
Mr. Scudder, in his essay on The Distribution of Insects in New
Hampshire, 1874, says of _Alope_: “This insect is tolerably abundant,
sometimes very common, in the southern half of New England. The most
northern localities … are Norway, Me., Thornton and Shelburne, N. H.,
and Sudbury, Vt.” Thornton is just south of the White Mountains, and
Shelburne is close by the mountains on the north-east. Of _Nephele_
he says: “It is found over the whole northern half of N. E. in
great abundance. The only locality in which I have met with it is
in Massachusetts, in the elevated region about Williamstown,” &c.
This place is in the north-west corner of the State, next the Vermont
line, and the elevated region spoken of is a continuation of the Green
Mountains. So it appears that _Nephele_ comes down to the Massachusetts
line and _Alope_ flies as far as the White Mountains. In the intervening
district the intergrades fly just as in New York.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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