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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 28, 2013 20:25:24 GMT -8
It has been a rough season here for collecting, though I did manage to snag the butterfly the other day. This one has me rather stumped. I want to say it is a Lethe eurydice, but all the images I find show striped antenna with a red tip. This one is just straight black. captured Aug. 24 in Upson county GA, USA Wingspan 64mm Attachments:
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Post by joee30 on Aug 28, 2013 21:39:19 GMT -8
Enodia portlandia.  |
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Post by papilio28570 on Aug 29, 2013 19:57:38 GMT -8
It could also be Lethe creole. Check the underside of the fore wings. Lethe Creole will have five well defined eye spots in the submargin while Lethe portlandia has four....the bottom spot will be missing or very poorly defined. I can see four spots on your specimen and if it is L. creole, there will be one more spot hidden by the hind wing in your photo.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 30, 2013 22:01:38 GMT -8
Thanks for the assist. As far as checking the underside of the forewings, that will have to wait since it is now pinned down and cannot be moved until it dries.
I am still slightly confused by the antenna though. Every image I have found of each of the mentioned species has striped antenna with an orangish tips . Mine has dark brown with black tips.
I am also curious about the Genus name. Every search I do for "Enodia" leads me to "Lethe". I have seen the Southern Pearly-eye labeled as both Enodia portlandia and Lethe portlandia. Is one of these wrong, or is one "more right" than the other?
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Post by jshuey on Sept 9, 2013 5:24:21 GMT -8
It looks like female Enodia creola to me. Here is an old plate I prepared for an Ohio Leps newsletter showing how to tell E. creola and E. anthedon apart from southern Indiana. Note in Georgia you have Enodia portlandia as the local "more common" species - it is basically a larger, more robust version E. anthedon. Both E creola and E. portlandia are cane feeders, and are great catches! Original Figure Caption: Pearly-eye butterflies from Cedar Farm, Indiana. The best identification character seems to be the postmedian forewing line, which is "punched out" toward the wing tip in E. creola, while it cuts a "flat diagonal" in E. anthedon. Note the five forewing eyespots ion the female E. anthedon, a normally rare trait that is apparently common at Cedar Farm. The presence of five eyespots is often touted a good field character for E. creola but seems very unreliable at Cedar Farm. (All specimens captured from the same bait trap: Indiana, Harrison County, Cedar Farm, 5 miles south of Laconia. 21 August 2000, J. Shuey and J. Peacock, collectors)
As an aside, the two E. creola in the plate remain the only two known specimens from Indiana! Shuey Attachments:
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