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.
I made application to Canadian lepidopterists for information about the
occurrence of _Alope_, and soon ascertained by examples sent me that
_Nephele_ with a pale atmosphere, but not at all indicative of a band,
passed by the name of _Alope_. Thereupon I sent a typical _Alope_ to Mr.
William Murray, of Hamilton, who kindly offered to make inquiry of his
acquaintances in different sections of Ontario. He replies, 31st Dec,
1879: “I now send you my information. Of all my correspondents not one
has ever seen an _Alope_ that has been taken in Canada, but _Nephele_ has
been taken by all. I begin to think that _Alope_ is not to be found in
Canada at any point.”
Mr. H. H. Lyman writes from Montreal: “In July, 1876, I spent a couple
of days at a farm near Freligsburg. P. Q., one mile north of the Vermont
border, and found _Nephele_ very common. Most of the specimens taken
showed a yellow ring about the eye-spots on primaries, but one of them
shows on upper side a somewhat faint, but quite discernible, patch
corresponding to the yellow band of _Alope_. Was at same place in 1877.
_Alope_ was not seen either year.” Mr. Caulfield writes Mr. Lyman: “I
have never taken a specimen of _Nephele_ showing any tendency towards
_Alope_, nor have I seen any Canadian examples showing it.” Mr. Lyman
adds that at Portland, Maine, where he collected several summers, _Alope_
was common as well as _Nephele_ and all intergrades.
(To the west of New York, in the latitude of the belt spoken of, it is
believed that the two forms fly together at least as far as Wisconsin.
Prof. A. J. Cook writes that both are common in Michigan, south of
the latitude of Grand Rapids. At Toledo, Mr. John Wilson writes that
_Nephele_ is rare, and _Alope_ unknown, so far as appears. At Cleveland,
O., Dr. J. F. Isom informs me that _Alope_ is very rare, but that
_Nephele_ is abundant in some seasons. In south-west Ohio, Dr. H. K.
Landis, of Columbus, writes that he cannot learn that either form has
ever been taken. They are not mentioned in Mr. Dury’s list of butterflies
found about Cincinnati. But in northern Illinois _Nephele_ is abundant
and _Alope_ not found at all. So that somewhere between New York and
Illinois, in Ohio and Indiana, _Alope_ seems to disappear, while
_Nephele_ becomes the sole form; but whether the separation is abrupt
or gradual is not ascertained. As the information which I have been able
to gather is so meagre as regards the States west of New York. I shall
confine my remarks to that State and New England.[1])
We have therefore in these separated districts two apparently good
species, answering to any definition of that name. But between, there is
a belt of latitude passing through New York and southern New England,
where in one section or other both types are found and the whole series
of intergrades. In this belt _Alope_ and _Nephele_ are found to be
dimorphic forms of one and the same species. I formerly was of the
opinion that they were distinct species, though in some districts there
were intergrades. I thought these approaches of one to the other did
not bridge the whole space between. In a paper printed in Proc. Ent.
Soc. Phil, 1866, I gave my reasons therefor. But some observations
made in July, 1876, at Martha’s Vineyard, led me to suspect a closer
relationship between the two species or forms. In the open country back
of Oak Bluffs, I found these butterflies fresh from chrysalis, and in
considerable numbers. They were all very black, diminutive, and there was
every grade from what I had been in the habit of calling _Nephele_ to
unquestionable _Alope_, with a broad clear-colored band. The band was not
yellow, however, as in the typical _Alope_, but reddish-yellow like that
of _Pegala_, which Fabricius called _rufa_ in distinction from _flava_,
applied to _Alope_. Mr. Scudder took the same small reddish-banded form
on Nantucket, which island is about 30 miles from the mainland, Martha’s
Vineyard being about 7. I call this variety _Maritima_, but whether it
is restricted to the islands, or appears on the adjacent coast, I am not
yet advised. Mr. Mead obtained for me a large number of eggs of this
butterfly, while at the Bluffs shortly after my departure. They were laid
by the broad-banded females in confinement and mailed to Coalburgh. There
the larvæ hatched out, and these as well as the eggs were found to be
precisely like the same stages of _Nephele_ from Catskills. But none of
the larvæ survived the winter.
In the belt spoken of, _Nephele_ rather keeps to the highlands. It is the
prevailing form in the Catskills, if with it are classed the intergrades,
but full-banded _Alope_ may be taken in small numbers every season.
Along the Hudson River, _Alope_ is the common form, but I have received
intergrades very near to _Nephele_ from Mr. Hulst, taken at Hoboken, N.
J.; and a black _Nephele_ ♂ from Mr. H. Laitloff, which he writes me
was taken some five years since near Greenville, Jersey City. It was so
unusual a form that Mr. Laitloff sent it to me for name. At Coalburgh,
W. Va., _Nephele_ is never seen, but _Alope_ is the only form; and so on
southward.
2.—_Alope_ was described by Fabricius, Ent. Syst., 1793, as fuscous
(_fusca_) with a yellow (_flava_) band; with two ocelli on fore wings;
on hind wing one ocellus above, six below. The band is very broad in the
female, usually narrower in the male, pale yellow in both sexes. The
ocelli resemble those of _Nephele_ and vary in same manner. Usually they
are round, but sometimes oval; are either small or large, often equal,
but sometimes the upper is larger, at others the lower. Now and then a
third pupilled ocellus appears, and individuals have been taken with
but one ocellus (the upper). It is not very unusual to find examples in
which a black point, or what may be considered as a rudimentary ocellus,
presents itself. On the upper side of hind wing is often a small but
complete ocellus near inner angle, but in many cases it is partly or
wholly wanting; and occasionally there are one or two black spots in
addition. The males in the majority of examples have six small ocelli on
the under side of the hind wings; the females rarely have six, and often
none at all. At the north, _Alope_ is blackish-brown, more brown in the
female; but to the southward brown prevails in both sexes; and it is of
a lighter shade, while the under side has a tint of yellow more or less
decided over whole surface, often mixed with gray. The band is of yellow,
or with a slight ochrey tint. This is a description of the extreme
southern type, and to distinguish I call it var. _Texana_. All examples
from Texas which I have seen have a complete anal ocellus, and six ocelli
beneath, of pretty large size—larger than in northern _Alope_—in distinct
ochrey rings; the pupils white points with a few blue scales about them
in the larger ocelli. Of 70 _Nephele_ ♂ examined, 50 have 6 ocelli, 11
have 5, 3 have 4, 3 have 3, 2 have 1, 1 has 0.
Of 55 _Nephele_ ♀, 6 have 6, 1 has 5, 4 have 4, 13 have 3, 7 have 2, 13
have 1, 11 have 0.
Of 24 _Alope_ ♂, 15 have 6 ocelli, 3 have 5, 4 have 1, 2 have 0.
Of 25 _Alope_ ♀, 12 have 6, 1 has 4, 4 have 2, 4 have 1, 4 have 0.
Therefore of _Nephele_ ♂, 71 per cent. have 6 ocelli, 4 per cent. have
under 3; 1.4 per cent. have 0.
Of _Nephele_ ♀, 11 per cent. have 6, 56 per cent. have under 3, 20 per
cent. have 0.
Of _Alope_ ♂, 62 per cent. have 6 ocelli, 25 per cent. under 3, 8 per
cent. 0.
Of _Alope_ ♀, 24 per cent. have 6, 48 per cent. have under 3, 16 per
cent. have 0.
3.—The dark Satyrus which inhabits Illinois and westward has gone by
the name of _Nephele_, though differing somewhat from _Nephele_ of the
east. I was struck by the difference between a series sent me by the
late Mr. Walsh from Galena, years ago and when I first began collecting
butterflies, and a series of _Nephele_ taken in the Catskills, and I have
always kept the two apart in my cases, considering the Illinois form as
at least a well marked variety. Mr. Worthington has recently written me:
“I have received a lot of _Nephele_ from New Hampshire and am surprised
at the difference between them and the Illinois _Nephele_.”
The males of this last are almost black, the ocelli are very small and
without rings. But in some examples there is a faint russet or yellowish
tint about the ocelli, and perhaps on the space between them. On the
under side the rings are russet or ochraceous, on both wings. The females
are almost invariably and uniformly dark, and only occasionally is there
a paler shade over the extra discal area of fore wings. Out of a number
of females I find but one in which there is a clouded yellow space about
the ocelli, and only three on which there are yellow, though hazy,
ocellar rings. Of 16 ♂, 14 have 6 small ocelli beneath, 1 has 5, 1 has 2.
Of 19 ♀, 2 have 6, 2 have 5, 6 have 4, 2 have 3, 6 have 2, 1 has 1. This
form prevails exclusively to the Rocky Mountains. I have received it from
Nebraska, Montana, Colorado and New Mexico, but _Alope_ is unknown to me
from that region.
In CAN. ENT., ix., 141, 1877, I gave the history of _Nephele_, bred from
eggs laid by a typical female from the Catskill Mountains, Hunter, N.
Y. In fall of 1878, I wrote to several correspondents for eggs, and by
their good will obtained many. Prof. Lintner and Dr. Bailey sent eggs of
_Alope_ from Albany, N. Y. Rev. Mr. Hulst, with the zeal and kindness
which distinguishes him, crossed the rivers from Brooklyn to Hoboken,
and brought away females of _Alope_, from which he obtained eggs for
me. I got _Alope_ eggs here at Coalburgh from three females. A friend
at Hunter sent eggs of _Nephele_, and Mr. Worthington sent many of the
Illinois form from Chicago. In each case the parent was sent with the
eggs that the type might be noted. From Albany, Hoboken is 150 miles
south; Coalburgh 800 miles southwest; Hunter is 35 miles southwest of
Albany and of about 2,000 feet greater elevation. Chicago is about 800
miles northwest of Coalburgh and 1,000 west of Albany. So that the
five localities are separated by considerable distances, and there has
probably been no intercommunication at any time so far as these insects
are concerned.
The eggs of the six lots were kept apart and as the larvæ hatched (at
from 14 to 28 days from deposition, depending on the temperature), they
were placed on sods in separate pots and left in the coolest room in my
house. But some of the Illinois eggs were sent to Mr. C. P. Whitney,
at Milford, N. H., who offered to put them on ice. I wished to try the
effect of cold in retarding the hatching. Early in February I received
the boxes again and found a number of healthy larvæ, with a few unbroken
eggs. These last proved to be dead. The eggs had been sent in a paper
pill box which was within a flat tin box, and this was set directly on
the ice. The young larvæ when I received them were fixed to the rough
sides of their box and had not been attacked by mould, the enemy most to
be dreaded. Mr. Whitney wrote that he was notified in December that the
ice-house was empty, and he thereupon removed the tin box without opening
it, and placed it in a snow bank, where it remained till I sent for it.
The larvæ may have been emerging from the eggs when he first received
them, or perhaps did so in the interval between ice-house and snow. This
method of keeping larvæ which become lethargic immediately upon leaving
the egg will probably be found successful with all species of butterflies
which have that habit—as the large Argynnids—and make it possible to
breed them in numbers. I have been unable to find any other mode of
wintering such larvæ without a certain loss of most of them.
On 23rd Jan., 1879, I transferred such of the Satyrid larvæ as were
living (and this included some of each lot) to fresh sods, and 28th Jan.
noticed that several were feeding. One Hunter _Nephele_ passed 1st moult
23rd Feb’y, and before 4th March several of the same lot had passed the
moult. But the Illinois _Nephele_ and all _Alope_ lingered. One Coalburgh
_Alope_ and one from Hoboken passed 1st moult 7th March, by which date
the Hunter _Nephele_ spoken of was swollen for 2nd moult, which it passed
two days later. Two Illinois _Nephele_ passed 1st moult 8th March. To the
end some of the Hunter _Nephele_ were in advance of all, and some of the
Illinois examples lingered behind all. The stages of Coalburgh _Alope_
were as follows:
1st moult passed 7th March.
2nd ” ” 21st ” 1st to 2nd—14 days.
3rd ” ” 14th April. 2nd to 3rd—24 ”
4th ” ” 2nd May. 3rd to 4th—18 ”
In chrysalis 26th ” 4th to chrys.—24 ”
Imago issued 9th June. chr. to imago—14 ”