Inter-specific hybrid - Limenitis

[boogtwo]

Thought some of you may enjoy seeing this specimen, a naturally occurring hybrid from the Eastern US.

Limenitis arthemis astyanax X Limenitis archippus archippus hybrid form rubidus

During the 1980's I collaborated with Dr. Austin Platt (Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland Baltimore), who was doing ongoing work on the naturally occurring hybrids involving Limenitis archippus and its congeneric species. Since I was located in the western US, I concentrated on locating and rearing all the western Limenitis species and subspecies for several years to add data and material for his project/resulting papers published.

Some are very rare in nature and have only been collected once or twice, some only a few times. So laboratory crosses of some were also done for the project in order to document the purported wild hybrid specimens.


EDIT - So much for the attachment working... try this:



LARGER

wildcalls2k.com/1l/rubidus-83.jpg

[leptraps]

The is a location in western Kentucky, Hickman, Fulton County, 1/2 mi. S. of the Bunge Facility on the Mississippi River. T believe that a total of "four" we collected and another photographed in a 8 year span. All were collected in early September. The Society of Kentucky Lepidopterists held field meetings every September for over twenty years and all were collected during those meetings.

I attended many of those meetings and set out Bait Traps along the river. One male hybrid was collected in one of my traps. Actually, all the specimens at this location were collected in bait traps produced by Leptraps!! All the specimens are in the possession of Dr. Charles Covell at the McGuire Center in Gainsville, Florida.

An article was published on the subject but for the life of me I cannot find it.

[boogtwo]

I am not current on new finds concerning this complex, most of what I did concerning it was in the 80's with Platt. But I used to run with the Lepidopterists' Society when Covell was at the Dept of Biology, University of Louisville and his specialty was the Lycaeniidae and Hesperiidae. So like some of those at the top back then he has moved on to the McGuire Center. Some are still there I've worked with, others have passed on.

[leptraps]

When all else fails, Google it!!

Dr. Charles V. Covell, Jr.: Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society; Vol. 48 No. 3, Pg. 199: Field Observations of matings between Female Limenitis Archippus and Male L. arthemis subspecies.

The article before the Covell paper is just as interesting as the above:

Austin P. Platt & James R. Maudsley: Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society; Vol. 48 No. 3: Pg 190: Continued Inter-specific Hybridization between Limenitis (Basilarhchia) arthemis astyanax
and L. (B.) archippus in the Southeastern U.S.

I actually re-read both articles. Maybe I make another run to Fulton County, Kentucky this fall.............You never know!!!!

[leptraps]

I forgot to add:

If anybody would like a copy of Covell's article, send me an email. I have scanned it into a PDF file. The article has some great color pics of hybrids.

[boogtwo]

Thanks for the link to Covell's, will check it out later.

I have all of Platt's original papers and publications, even personalized.

[boghaunter1]

A newer article in the latest Spring edition, Vol. 55, #1 of "News of the Lepidopterists' Society" by Monica Miller... 3 live photos of "rubidus" taken in 2010 in Pennsylvania...

John K.

[boghaunter1]

Oops!... article name: Manna from the field: wild Limentis archippus ab. "rubidus" (Strecker 1878)

John K.

[boogtwo]

A product of more known now about rubidus thanks to the pioneers doing the work - those who's work followed later, and more folks in the field looking.