Tiger Swallowtails of NY: Finger Lakes, Part II

[Chuck]

Just came across this paper: "Determination of a New Spring-flying Species of the Pterourus glaucus Complex (Papilionidae) in Southern New England" https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/view ... ext=taxrpt

Thanks Tom, I do appreciate your flagging this!

Now, when do we get an update from you????

[Cabintom]

Now, when do we get an update from you????

I wish I had update worthy things to say! I was in Canada from December through August, so no new adventures in the recent past and I probably won't get a chance to do any real collecting until January next year. I am still working on a paper in which I'll be describing a couple new species, but with work and family obligations that's been going a lot more slowly than I had hoped.

[Chuck]

Fall fun post: while rumaging through eastern Tigers looking for Spring Form, I noticed for the first time this tiny MST. FW length is 47mm. Capture is Ontario County NY, 08Jul22 which put it clearly into the MST flight. I have other small MST; most MST are very consistent with FW 54-56mm both male and female. The small ones though, which run maybe 5% of captures, run consistently 44-47mm FW length. Rather odd, you'd think the species would span the whole range from 44-56mm but they do not.

Anyway, check this out, I call it "Lycaenid-like"; beyond the size, note the rounded wings and lack of HW scalloping.

[Chuck]

With Pavulaan's description of bjorkae, and identification but not description of "near-canadensis" I compared his images to my Spring Form specimens. I have in some cases made reference, or coined these by name, but do NOT use Pavulaan's naming conventions to refer to any of these- if you read any of Pavulaan's names it refers to those specimens he has depicted in the description of bjorkae.

I make no inference that any of these hold taxonomic status, or are forms, or whatever. I refer to each as a "morph" for lack of better standing.

What I don't depict, but may add later, is the June morph/ flight that used to be common in the 1970s and 1980s.

THIS IS WORK IN PROGRESS. Saved so if there's a hiccup I don't lose everything.


#1. I thought this was canadensis until Eurytides said "no it's not" and I took a closer look. Previous images of this specimen used in the seasonal reports for NYS reference this specimen as canadensis, which I now know is wrong.

DESCRIPTION: Very small, very hairy. Has the big "mohawk" like canadensis. Longer tails than canadensis. HW lunules more like glaucus. Claspers are yellow-brown, not mottled like canadensis.

OCCURANCE: Mid-may, first flying morph. This morph occurs along the SE shore of Lake Ontario, which is very cold in Spring. Somewhere as one wraps east then north around Lake Ontario this morph it runs into, and then is replaced by, canadensis. Not common, very difficult to capture; never observed nectaring but rather a ground-feeder.





#2. Rather common in late May in the hilly regions of Finger Lakes. Still a bugger to catch.

DESCRIPTION: Mid-sized between canadensis and MST. Universally pale yellow upper side; little variation in individuals.

OCCURANCE: Mid- to late-May. If timing is right, it can be found nectaring on Lilac. Hilly regions, including towns, below US Routes 5 & 20, particularly along the shorelines of the Finger Lakes themselves. A forest flyer, often seen battling near forest edge. Comes low only to nectar or ground feed.





#3. Same size as MST, larger than #2 above. It's hard from photos, but in real life they appear different and act differently than #2. Discernability from MST is questionable.

DESCRIPTION: Like #2 above, but yellow upper side is more orangish. Larger than #2, about the same size as MST.

OCCURANCE: Late May- ??. Likes to hilltop. Flies on forest canopy whether that's 80' oaks or short scrub. Quite commonly seen when temperature above 65F and sunny, likes to fight. Will alight on sun-drenched trees that are not the foodplant, with multiple individuals on one tree; when frightened will return. Still a bugger to catch.










#4. Now, this is where things get dicey. Up in eastern Ontario Canada, where Eurytides studies, an area where Tigers including MST have been very well documented, it's easy- a flight of canadensis, then a flight of MST with virtually no overlap. As one can see so far, from mid-May (14 May to be exact, never earlier, but maybe a few days later if 14 May is rainy) through (below) June there are Tigers...which rolls straight into the ~01 July MST emergence. And, as you will note in specimen #4 below, it becomes very difficult to discriminate between these June Tigers and MST based on morphology alone. This specimen was ovipositing on apple, not a recognized larval food plant.

DESCRIPTION: I can't tell from MST; within morphology of MST. Same size as MST.

OCCURRANCE: Not common; far less frequent than #2 / #3 above. Some years I've seen zero in June. Explain that.







VIRGINIA

The following are Spring Form "glaucus" from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. Constrast these to Pavulaan's Spring Form confirmed "glaucus" Figures 12-17 from Rhode Island. These from Virginia don't look very glaucus-y or like Pavualaan's. More later.

[Chuck]

CONUNDRUM

With the description of the Mid Summer Tiger (MST) Swallowtail pending, I turn my attention to other elements of Tigers.

And, right back where I started 4.5 years ago. On the archive forum, first post, first paragraph:

These Tigers were found May and June in Monroe County, often feeding on Lilac (May) and Rhodedendron (June). Sadly, by July there were none to be found, the season was over. I'd also regularly observe them in neighboring Wayne and Ontario counties.

And a few paragraphs down: however in the recent years I'd not observed a single Tiger on Rhodedendron

So, where are these June Tigers that nectared on Rhododendron? They were ubiquitous in mid-June, and easy pickings. Probably 50% of suburban homes in this area have at least one Rhodedendron in the yard.

A search of iNat observations for the above-mentioned counties shows a total of ZERO on Rhododendron. How could this be? One of the favored butterflies to photograph, in back yards, on a common plant. Surely, someone would have photographed one nectaring on Rhododendron. But no, not a one.

And now, 40 years later, June is when the lowest number are observed, at least in Ontario County.

So here we are, 4.5 years later of continuous Tiger study, and I still haven't solved the original question.

[Chuck]

To close this out (doubtful that's correct, but) here's the link to the published paper describing Papilio solstitius https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/142202/

[Chuck]

"Be Prepared." I was not.

From mid-May till November, I keep a net next to the back porch; one behind the basement door; and a collapsing net in the vehicle. When on the boat, the collapsing net goes on the boat.

But not much flies in the Finger Lakes until the Spring Form Tigers appear May 13 or 14, depending on weather.

So when one flew past me today I was shocked. It stopped to look at some ground flowers, then hopped over to a yellow "no mow" sign laying on the grass, and was flitting around.

I left a net and envelopes at the new house a couple days ago, but we returned north.

My collapsing net is somewhere in my office, packed to move.

There is no net near the porch, nor any need for another behind the basement door.

I ran into the house, stripped my boots off (wife said "Wear your boots!" in the house, that is the first time and last time I will hear that.) and ran to the basement. All of my nets are packed ready to move. I tossed aside a couple hoops, trying to figure out how long it would take to mount them on a handle, when I spotted it- a brand new in bag collapsing net. I tore open the plastic bag on the way up the stairs, and never bothered to grab a handle.

It was probably gone anyway. But stalking down the yard I found it nectaring on a bush. And caught it. May2nd. Unbelievable, and lucky.




After that, I put my decoy out. And, I've been checking it every 30 minutes, you know, in case another Tiger alights on it. Yeah, right. But the bluejays found it, luckily the transparent cover is too tough for them.

At 3:15pm I was checking the decoy and another Tiger flew out of the forest, up over the house, and disappeared. No interest in the decoys.

I checked iNat, and there is one other record of a 2025 Tiger in NY State, way down on Long Island.

[eurytides]

That’s quite a story Chuck! You are a good story teller. I can picture you running around frantically searching for nets!

[Chuck]

That’s quite a story Chuck! You are a good story teller. I can picture you running around frantically searching for nets!

The plus is that I was fully clothed, so there is no element of THAT part of the story.

[jhyatt]

Chuck,

Nice to see some of my bugs again!

FYI, The Scott County specimens are from a dirt road, County road 721. The label looks like it is saying 721' (if I'm seeing it right in the photo).
Actual elevation there, and with the Abrams Falls specimens, is around 1200-1400'.

Cheers,
jh

[Chuck]

Late May 02 through today May 09 was mostly overcast and cool with rain every day for eight days. There were two days with 3 hour periods of sun. Zero Tigers spotted. Shame too, the Lilacs are blooming in concert with the typical emergence.

[Chuck]

An oddly interesting observation:

A "spring form" male was flying around looking for a place to puddle, on an old steel barge. He kept returning to what looked like a pile of racoon poop, but isn't- it's a random pile of 100 year old asphalt that looks like poo.

I wonder- are they using vision to find puddling resources? I always assumed that it's scent. That said, a puddle group attracts others, and that's clearly visual.

[Chuck]

Meanwhile, a regular update on Finger Lakes region of NY: it has been horrible weather, the worst in my memory. Lots of rain- in fact, we are on the 28th straight weekend with precipitation. And very, very cold- many days topping out 60F/16C when it should be 74F/23C. And windy, and cloudy. Tigers have been observed on the few warmer, sunnier days, but for the most part, nothing.

I went to Huntsville AL for a few days. Found Tigers nectaring on Turtlehead and Thistle but only up in the hills, none in the valleys. Couple interesting notes to record, (1) they are smaller than the Tigers in KY, and (2) many have the ventral side HW black line that separates black/yellow as straight-ish, like P solstitius and canadensis.

[adamcotton]

An oddly interesting observation:

A "spring form" male was flying around looking for a place to puddle, on an old steel barge. He kept returning to what looked like a pile of racoon poop, but isn't- it's a random pile of 100 year old asphalt that looks like poo.

I wonder- are they using vision to find puddling resources? I always assumed that it's scent. That said, a puddle group attracts others, and that's clearly visual.

It is possible that something (dog or other animal) pee'd on the asphalt, and the Tiger was responding to that.

Butterflies clearly do use visual cues for many things too and they are often attracted to particular coloured objects. Once, in E Laos, I saw multiple butterflies investigating a discarded can, which was shiny pale blue.

Adam.

[Chuck]

It is possible that something (dog or other animal) pee'd on the asphalt, and the Tiger was responding to that.


Adam.

I doubt it. Mainly because it first landed at a rusty puddle and was sucking from that. And later landed on goose poop where it was captured. But mainly because it kept flying around the asphalt, would touch it, and fly off just to try again. This says to me it looked good but didn’t taste good.


I’ve seen them do this with Purple Crownvetch in a field of milkweed. The flowers of both are the same color. So they’ll land on the crownvetch and quickly jump off, and keep trying until they happen to land on a milkweed.