P. glaucus - intergrades or hybrids?

[lgk43120]

I picked up a small riker of a group of the common Eastern Tiger (all caught in the Columbus, OH area ca 1950s)

Normally I see these as either yellow or black forms but never in the mixed intergrades in this riker. Are these in fact intergrades or are they hybrids with something else? The top three look like normal yellows, the two small ones in the middle two rows look like normal darks and the one on the bottom left possibly a mosaic gyn?

Thanks!
Larry

[Adam Cotton]

I agree that the specimen at bottom left has a mosaic of male scales on the right forewing.

Adam.

[leptraps]

I saw these on an auction site last summer (I think?). I made a bid but not near enough.

These are not hybrids. What other species would they mate with. These are color aberrations/variations. I have several from the time when I lived in SW Virginia I collect one or two for several years. I only found them in July and August. I have only collected two in Kentucky since 2000. Although I have seen others, most in the same area. All in July and August.

If these are the specimens from the Proxibid website, there were about 50+ display case's. They looked like Riker Mounts.

Once the bidding started, it got expensive in a hurry. For some reason, possibly money, I lost interest.

[lgk43120]

I think these are probably from the same source. I got this through a proxy bidder (my wife is the daughter of a local dealer in that area who did the actual bidding.) Like you said, things got expensive really fast and I quickly bailed out after only 3 of the rikers and some discreetly muttered "WTF's" ;o) She did say some of the moth rikers (which I don't collect) went for a song. The other two I ended up with was one full of Limentis arthemis astyanax and Colias philodice/eurytheme - nice range of variations but still all common stuff vs what they ended up costing so I'm trying to convince myself the cost includes the fact someone had to chase and spread all of these and it wasn't me! (the Colias riker alone had 55 specimens jammed into!)

Thanks to both of you for the help and insights!

[leptraps]

I ask a about collecting data, Proxi bidder told me it was on the back of each display case.

Did you get collecting data with the Swallowtails?*

[lgk43120]

The collecting data is pretty vague. My understanding is it was a father/son hobby and these were all locally caught. The son and his wife are now in their 80s and downsizing. The back of the three rikers simply say "Ohio, 1930s" (for the Red-spotted purples) or "Ohio, 1950s" for the Colias and Glaucus. I'm just learning that they were old customers of my in-laws and are currently living in Canton, OH (though that doesn't necessarily mean they were in that part of Ohio in the 1930s-1950s). So when they decided to downsize the collection it was my mother-in-law who recommended the ProxiBidder site to them. Since she seems to know the family I'm trying to get their contact info to see if I can get anything more specific than a state and decade But at a minimum it would be Ohio from the 50s for the swallowtails. Even though these were auctioned in the summer my mother-in-law did a local pickup since she lives in that area and is now down for the holidays so I'm only now getting a chance to look at these directly and start the research on the previous owner. I have a feeling the best I may get is a more specific collecting location but without any other dates.

[leptraps]

Give us a round number of the final bid. Just curious! ( And nosey!!)

[lgk43120]

$330 + 15% BP (so rounds to $380). Divided by 12 specimens it works out to $31.67 per so not TOO bad when you break it down.

[beetlehorn]

What you have there is a collection of intermediate forms of female P. glaucus. They come in different varieties of shades, sizes and intensities. Some have more blue in the hindwings, and in some individuals the blue within the marginal band extends into the forewing. I have a whole series of these that I collected throughout the years. They are amongst the most interesting swallowtails to collect and study in my opinion. Nice collection....thanks for sharing.