THE MAGROLEPIDOPTERA OF THE AMERICAN FAUNISTIC REGION

VOLUME V: THE MAGROLEPIDOPTERA of the AMERICAN FAUNISTIC REGION All rights reserved Introduction The giant continent of America, which extends from the eternal snows of the arctic polar region is better adapted than any other to the production of an inexhaustible wealth of the most varied animal forms Open almost everywhere to the moisture-laden east winds from further south than an}- other continent, the Atlantic, it admits the fertilising rains far into the interior, and thus develops an extensive and finely branched network of watercourses, which, in conjunction with the varying conditions of climate and warmth in the successive zones, call into being a fauna of quite unique variet3\ Originating from the circumpolar arctic fauna, the entire fauna from southern Canada to Texas acquires a character approaching that of Europe and central Asia Not only that the dominant animal forms in temperate North America Jielong, for the most part, to groups which also play a principal role in the temperate zone of the Old World the geographical distribution shows also here the most striking Among the Lepidoptera, Argi/nnis, Melitaea, Vanessa, Apatura, Arctiids and Gatocalas tigure analogies prominently in both, and as a single outstanding difference, the preponderance of the Hesperids in America, But as against the prevalence of Satyrids in the Old World, is manifest even on superficial consideration the sum total of the forms to be observed in the northern temperate zone is almost equal in both hemispheres, while one half of the eastern temperate lands corresponding roughly to the whole of the contains about the same number of Lepidoptera as that, namely about 6500 forms western This is changed as soon as we x'each the tropical zone in America Quite suddenly all resemblance to the fauna of the Old World vanishes The singular and highly characteristic Morpho, Ithoniia, MeJiuaea and Heliconius, Castnia and Gkmcopis, Pericopis and Cyllopoda, the wonderful forms of neotropical Erycinids the tailed Hesperids, etc., have no counterparts in the Old World They give to the South American fauna such a distinct individuality, even compared with that of the cooler parts of North America (north of Mexico), that the lepidopterous fauna of South America may well be designated the most characteristic of What its principal pecularities are, has already been pointed out in the introduction to this the world work, and will be further considered below That in spite of all this we have decided not to separate the North from the South American fauna, as has hitherto been done in zoogeography, under the terms Neotropical and Nearctic, is due to the fact that a basis for any sharp delimitation is wanting here, as it is between the Indian and Austrahan faunistic regions Just as the limits there drawn by Wallace are arbitrary, so also in America the otherwise applicable principle of faunistic division fails us Let us, for example, compare the conditions in America with those of the much more compact continent of Africa south of the Sahara there is no species of Euchloe, no Aporia, no Procris, no true Zygaena, no Vanessa, no Pa.rarge, no Ocnogyna, in short all the species are absent which in North Africa are the commonest, not to say the most obtrusive representatives of the butterfly world On the other hand the north has no Enphaedra, no Cymothoe or Euryphene, all the gi'oups of Papilio and Pierids which are distributed throughout the rest of Africa are wanting, we seek in vain for Amauris, which is so characteristic of the whole of tropical Africa, and so on In America there is no such insuperable barrier as is formed by the great Sahara desert of Africa, with its absence of vegetation Thus we find the otherwise purely South American Neotropids pushing northwards into California, the genus Heliconius into Florida, while Argynnis, Colias, Catocala, etc., extend their range southwards on the heights of the Andes; in a word, the two faunas so encroach upon one another that we prefer to draw no boundary at all rather than an artificial one; and we this so much the more willingly because these theoretical considerations fit in with a series of practical ones Among the characteristics of the lepidopterous fauna of America, which are most prominent in South America, we would mention its richness in species It used to be said that the double continent This comparison was of America alone contained about as many species as all the rest of the world applicable so long as we had not learned to distinguish all the numerous local forms of certain Malayan , — — : INTRODUCTION By Dr A .Seit/ and Indo - Chinese butterflies which result in the appearance of a single species on aU those larger and smaller islands of the Malaj^ Archipelago, in a dress similar, j'et with constant differences according to the But since the species of the Old World have been split up into such a large number of races or locality local varieties, or subspecies, rainy- and dry-season forms, mountain forms and those of the lowlands, the , , more compact South America, being season, has lost very much of its for the most part more regulai-ly tempered, without pronounced rainj' preeramence Now when one takes into consideration that any butterfly, of whatever species, would be able to Cape Horn without meeting with any direct, insurmountable obstacle neither such a sharplj^ defined desert as separates Northern from Central and Southern Africa, nor a sea, as between it is not easy to understand how it is that we find Castnias, Neotropids, Hesperids Australia and India or Catagrammas in almost every district of America in distinct forms, mostly unconnected with one another by transitions In this is manifest a creative energy of unusual richness, such as occurs in no other country to the same extent The lavish endowment of its species with brilliant and conspicuous colours is the second principal In India and tropical Africa there are also plent}' of gaj^ species, characteristic of the American fauna which fact we not leave out of account; but while the Old World ever3rwhere produces, side by side mth the gay and riclily ornamented forms, multitudes of others which are tawny, white or neutral brown in colour, manj;' of the open places in the South American woods are alive with the httle gold- and silvermarked Syntomids or the azure blue giant butterflies None of the Old World species can vie with Argopteron aiireipemih in its pure golden under surface, or show such rich adornment of silver as Bione moneta, or such briUiant blue ground colour as MorpJw cijpris And even those colours which have not the metallic or silky gloss are nevertheless extremely elegant and pleasing in their arrangement Very frequentljr they consist of bright red, orange or blue-green bands or longitudinal spots on a deep black ground, resulting in more quiet richness and fulness of colour than a stiffer, more overloaded scheme of markings Such crude contrasts of colour as occur in the Papilio agamemnon group, in Neurosigma and in Catphisus, though almost always onlj^ luiicolorous band suffices to make are rare in America A deeply coloured Epicalia, Clilorippe and Prepona, CaUicore and Adelpha the most beautiful forms which a refined taste tl}' from Canada as — far as to — , could imagine The phenomenon of raimicrj^ which was full}' discussed in the introduction to the first part of this work, appears in America in an altogether special and characteristically modified manner There are many localities in South America, often quite circumscribed in extent, in which almost all the lepidoj^terous species that occur in any numbers have one and the same wing-pattern indifferently, whether they be butterflies or moths, whether stoutly-built Swallowtails or weak Pierids or shy Nymphalids In Colombia one may see flying about a single flowering shrub a number of butterflies all coloured and marked ahke, but belonging to four entirely different groups They are all black with an obhque scarlet band on the forewings The first is a Piei'id (Pereitte leucodrosijme), the second a Heliconius (Heliconms melpomene), the third a Swallowtail (Papilio eutopiuns) and the fourth (Adelplia isis) a species of Nymphalid allied to LimeuHis In certain districts of Southern Brazil a yellow band on the forewing and dentated longitudinal stripes on a brownish j-ellow ground provide the general scheme, which is followed by Pierids (Perhyhris, DismorpJiid), Danaids (Lijcorea), Heliconians (Heliconius narcaea) and even some moths (Chetone) I have elsewhere spoken of a tendency of certain districts to produce uniformity in their inhabitants, and although kindred phenomena are not wanting in India, or particularly in Africa, they are far less conspicuous there than in America Just as the present mammalian fauna of South America is wanting in gigantic forms, so too its Lepidoptera are for the most part of only medium size Onlj' in CaUgo, Motpho, some Sphingids and the giant Noctuid Thysania agrippina we find great dimensions attained; there are no actual parallels to the huge Atfacus, or to Ornithoptera with its great uncouth females And as in size, so also in shape there is not the same tendency towards grotesque, unintelligible forms genera of the Old World, such as Lepfocircus, Sericinus, Drurya antimacluis , as one etc of tails in normallj- untailed families (Nyinpludidae, Erycinidac, Hesperidae) there in the aspect of the is is struck by in many Be5^ond the dcA'elopment little that is very strange American Lepidoptera, of the American fauna, some others which are not so there are no regular wet and dry seasons In the neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro sudden changes are possible on almost any day of the J'ear, and the rainless periods are variable both in their duration and in the time of their arrival Thus the conditions there as we have akeady briefly mentioned not lend themselves in tire same pronounced wa\- to the development of seasonal dimorphism as in many localities of the Old World, where the conditions of weather are perfectly regular, the rains and the heat of the sun being confined to certain months Polymorphism also does not seem in another respect to be developed to the same degree as in the Old World; namely, in its local conditions Although in Papilio hjsithous, for example, we observe the same conditions which obtain m many Indian species, namelj' that in different districts it mimics the different In addition difficult to explain to these peculiai'ities In a large number of districts, there are especially in South America, — — , , DSI INTRODUCTION in — P — the form lysithous, America as that of the Indian constant male form Smrz e g in South Brazil as P pomponins, mimicking P perrhehus, in yet without doubt such cases are wanting in copying P agavus memnon, in which some 30 different forms of female belong to one almost Aristolochia-Papilios which occur there Rio de Janeiro Bj' Dr A of Lepidoptera in America is easily explained by the pecuharities of the Like the Old World steppes, the prairies of North America and the Pampas of South America are not adapted to produce a great abundance of forms or even a modei-ate number of showy and elegant species Hence we find Morpho, the larger Nymphahds, Custnia etc., disappear rather suddenly from the district as soon as we leave the great Southern and Central American forest region Hence, which are either poor in forests or altogether devoid of them are far behind the also the West Indies neighbouring mainland in respect of their lepidopterous fauna, while conversely the East Indian Archipelago The conditions strict localisation of vegetation , , is , , especially rich in species It greatly surprises those who visit different parts of the American continent to notice the great resemblance between northern and southern districts which are separated by vast tracts of land differing entirely from both The x\rgentine pampas produce species altogether analogous to those of the United States, often even the same species, while they are absent from the whole of the Neotropical forest region which intervenes Almost at the same latitude where the last Morpho leaves us, whether northward or southward, we find Collar, Pyrameis carye and Deiopeia flying Euptoieta claudia occurs both in the United States and in Uruguay in hardlj^ distinguishable forms, while in the intervening tropical South America it is entirely absent being supplanted by the very different Enpf hegesia Nothing analogous is known in the Eastern Hemisphere the numerous Acraeas of South Africa vanish in the tropical zone and not reappear north of the Sahara; Jrgymiis, wliich in America appears again in Chili and Argentina after missing the , : tropics , vanishes finally in the East on reaching the tropical region ; neither South Africa nor Australia On the contrary the well-represented Precis, Amauris, etc., of South Africa not reappear in North Africa or in Europe, and of other characteristic genera of the Old World, such as Teracohis and Charaxes, scarcely one species in a hundred extends from one temperate zone across the tropics to the other The role which the individual families play in the American fauna will be easily seen from the special part; attention need only be called here to a few points which result from a comparison of the fauna of the New World with that of the Old The Papilios of temperate North America surpass those of the corresponding latitudes of the Old World .San Francisco, St Louis or Washington has two or three times as many species of PapiUo as Spain, Algiers or Asia Minor, while on the other hand Parnassius, rich as it is in forms in the Old World, has only a few somewhat scattered, subordinate forms in the New The Pierids are pretty equally represented on both sides of the Atlantic, especially since some have been transplanted during the last century possesses any species of the NymphaUd group, which is so plentifully represented in the North The Danaids show an extremely close parallelism With only a single species crossing the 40 th their number so increases in the tropics as to become dominant, and the number of xery closely related forms would be almost equally the same in the Western Hemisphere as in the Eastern de.gree of N latitude, we reckoned the Neotropids, about to be mentioned But the Satyrids are considerably less prominent in the temperate zone of the New World than in that of the Old In the tropics, where the Satyrids wane and tend to give place to other groups, the contrast becomes less Preeminent among American forms are the Ithomiidae, related to Danais, and which have been designated Neotropids, from their characteristic occurrence in the Neotropical region Even the earliest naturalists who made any adequate observations in South America, such as Bates and Wallace, were astonished at the enormous number of individuals, as well as the multitude of species which occurred together in small and circumscribed localities; Bates even wondered how the species, often deceptively similar to one another, managed to find out their right mates for copulation Haase, on morphological grounds, compares with this group, so rich in species, the genus Hamadryaf: of the Old World, which is equally poor in forms; from the biological standpoint it is better compared with Euploea The Nymphalids, as one of the most universal groups, occupy a prominent position in both hemispheres It is hard to say on which continent their preponderance over certain other famihes of Rhopalocera is the most conspicuous It is the Nymphahds which include most of the forms that are common to both hemispheres Vanessa antiopa, Pyrameis cardui and atalanta, Polygonia c-alhum, Arqynnis tricluris, freija, frigya, chariclea, etc., connect the American fauna with the eastern and to a certain extent if form a bridge The Erycinids of the Old World not come anywhere near the wealth and variety of forms to which this family attains in America To little over 100 species of the Eastern Hemisphere there are above lOrX) in the Western, and at the same time the former are comparatively uniform structurally while the latter show manifold differences America not only produces a number of original forms in this family, but INTRODUCTION By Dr A Seitz is also rich in examples of mimicr}', in which Erycinids copy members of the Nymphalids, Ithomiids and even protected Heterocera Thus Themone pais mimics a Mechaiiitis, Themone poecila a Phi/ciodes, Itlwmcln and Compsotheria copy Neotropids, Lyropteryx oUvia resembles in flight a Calodesma of quite the same colouring, and the little Syrmatia, with their quick, buzzing flight, bear, as they dash past one, more resemblance to flies than to butterflies The Lycaenids show, in the northern Nearctic region, man}' forms belonging to the genus Lycaena or nearly related thereto but as one proceeds further south Theda-YikQ forms increase, much as in the Old World These Neotropical forms greatly exceed in size and brilliance the Indian Arhopala it ; The most American group is unquestionably the Hesperids, which in manj' South occur in such a wealth of forms and individuals as to surpass, in variety and abundance, The long-tongued species appear to be the sole fertihsing agents for some all the rest of the Lepidoptera plants, and the picture of the white-flowered bushes thickly covered with black Eantis abides vividly in the memorj' of everyone who has collected in South America American interesting localities Among the Heterocera the Zygaenids are far less prevalent than the Syntomids, which are extremely well represented and often lavishh' adorned with metallic colours Here a wide field is opened The moths which are still commonly designated "Glaucopids" appear in the most wonderful for mimicry garb, some copying the predacious Hemiptera, others beetles, but the largest number Hj'raenoptera The strongest Hymenoptera in the world, the species of Pepsis, which wound bird-spiders with their sting and carry them otf as food for their offspring, are copied by a very large number of Syntomid species Under the name of "Marimbondo" this wasp is dreaded in America both by men and animals, on account of its terrible sting, so that in fact no better model could be found for protective resemblance Entire genera of Syntomids, such as Macrocneiiie, almost exclusively copy these giant wasps The Castniids present, in some measure, a transition from the moths to the Hesperids The true such as the genera Castnia, Gazer a, etc., are absolute^ confined to America and indeed to its tropical and subtropical parts see in them moths with entirely the habits of butterflies, which not only feed, like many day-fliers, at flowers which grow in the sun, but also station themselves on points of vantage at the extremities of the foliage where they drive off their enemies, play with their own kind, and lay wait for the passing females Gastniids, We pi'esent many similar forms to those of the Old World, several such as Arctia caja, Parasemia plantagiriis, Phragmatobia fuKginosa, being common to both hemispheres, without belonging to the holarctic polar fauna The specifically American forms not make their appearance in numbers till further south where they appear of an entirely different build and colour; as Ecpantheria and Hulesidotu, which are specialh' developed in Central America, and the curious Palustra, whose larva is aquatic But although the most singular forms of "tiger-moths" live in the tropics the gayest and most beautifully marked are found in temperate North America such as Apantesis, Platyprepiu, Haploa^ etc The Arctiids of North America and some genei'a species, , , , The Lithosiids, which Old World, are represented mostly by small forms, and of diurnal habits In North America itself scarcely 50 forms occur, they seem to reach the height of their development in the warm valleys of the Andes, just as in the East the slopes of the Himalayas have been shown to be particularly favourable to their production No species are known which are common to both hemispheres; indeed hardly any genera, if we follow Ha.mpson (as against Kirby and Dyar) in removing Utetheisa from the family Lithosiidae are often, in America, as in the especialh' in tropical America, brightly coloured The Liparids of America, in so far as we accept the present composition of this family, are than those of the eastern world Ocneria dispar, the "gypsy-moth", is an introduced species, whereas Orgyja antiqua, which is widely distributed in the west of the Old World, and reaches far north, is to be regarded as indigenous We assume this to be so, although the species is common at some of the European ports (particularly Hamburg) and the larva is fond of spinning up on bales of merchandise, where the sluggish female also lays its eggs, so that every year large numbers are probably dispersed to the four winds In the genus Gynaephora the Liparids of America possess the species G groenla)idlca and rossii, which reach the farthest north of all the Heterocera perhaps of all Lepidoptera considerably less prevalent ~ The Limacodids, are verj' plentifully represented in South and Central America, and develop elegantlj- marked, though small forms, man\- of them with a silkj' or metallic gloss on the wings From temperate America about 50 forms are known, which is about '/i" of the total of known species From the whole of America perhaps three times as many are known, or over '/s of th^ a family of universal distribution, of known forms It is remarkable that the northern part of America produces a far larger number of forms than that of the Palaearctic Region, which in many districts is very poor in Limacodids; thus in the whole of Europe only two species occur, i e less than '/a per cent, of the known species total The Psychids as still constituted at present, not form a homogeneous family The case-making of the larvae and the degeneracy of the female are due to convergence, though they have repeatedly been taken to indicate i-elationship In America the Psychids play only a small role; only 15 per cent, of the INTRODUCTION By Dr A Skitz 200 known forms inluilMt the western continent, and only about a dozen of these occur in temperate Xorth America It might appear singular that a family whose females are each and all immovable should have such an enormous range as the Psj'chids, which are represented in the remotest islands, such as New Zealand, But it must not be forgotten that their larvae are Teneriffe etc., and often by characteristic species extremely active and endowed with great powers of resistance, and many, if not all the species are parthenogenetic, i e capable of propagating without previous copulation Nothing would be more erroneous than to infer the existence of a submerged continent from the occurrence of the Psychids on both coasts of the Atlantic Their transplantation from America to the Old World and vice versa could very easily be effected by drift-wood I have fished out from the Plata River floating boughs on which a number of cases It appeal's that the of Oifceticiis plafeiisis were spun up, some containing sound larvae, others living pupae I found large Psychid cases on the coast of North-Shore larva is capable of making its case watertight in the harbour of Sydney, Australia, which were spun up on the rocks, and over which every wave washed they contained uninjured larvae Thus their transplantation by means of drift-wood is not at improbable indeed they are not even threatened by many special dangers for their long and troublesome voyage Psychid larvae can fast for a verj- long time, and when this is no longer possible to them, any food is accepted The larvae of Amicta febrett