April 1,5&6, 2007- Lift Station Tour - IMPORTANT

Very important posting. New area species for us! and very unusual for our area! We have been walking this area for several years now and have never sighted this species. Now on to the story. . .

April 1, 2007 - Robert J. Nuelle, III went on a mid day trek down the Left Station Tour and mentioned to me on his return that he thought he saw a very unusual species for our area, the Polydamas Swallowtail - Battus polydamus - but it was just a sighting record with no voucher for backup and a fleeting look at that. We consulted the wonderfully recast website Butterflies and Moths of North America :: Battus polydamas for range map info and discovered that we did not have a new county record but that it was not outside of the realm of possibility. The site listed the larval foodplant as "Pipevines (Aristolochia species)" and that the adults favored the "nectar of lantana. Occasionally seen feeding on honeysuckle and soapweed flowers." Robert mentioned that the sighting was in an area known to have Pipevine and Honeysuckle. We discussed reporting it but decided that we could not because of the lack of collected specimens. Robert went back on April 5 at about 1:00 PM and started the trek back. He soon was calling home on his cell phone to announce that a specimen had been seen and one had been captured! The next day April 6, 2007 he saw 2 additional specimens and both were vouchered. I am enclosing detailed maps and pictures of the three specimens in this blog post. We are excited about the captures and will be watching this area closely to see if further evidence of the species is found. Locational Photos are courtesy of Google Earth.

Here are the specimen Photos & Range map borrowed from the Opler Website:

Here are pictures of our three voucher specimens.



We look forward to the discussion.

Sincerely,

Bob Nuelle, Jr - Bob Nuelle, III.