Erora laeta

[jhyatt]

I love Lycaenids, and one of my favorite Lycaenids is Erora laeta. This species is one of the least often collected in North America.
This little series was taken in Hawkins Co., Tennessee and Harlan Co., Kentucky in the late 1970's and early 1980's. There was apparently a sort of population boom of laeta for a few years back then; in the decades since I have seen perhaps two or three specimens, and caught none. The females have the more extensive blue. The worn male at the top left was taken, still alive, from a spider web along a gravel road in Hawkins Co., TN in early April, 1978. The road was paved a couple of years after that and I never saw another specimen there. Most of the others are 2nd brood specimens from Big Black Mountain (the highest point in Kentucky) on the Kentucky-Virginia border, taken in early July.

J. Hyatt

[adamcotton]

Unusual to see a species where the female is more brightly coloured than the male.

Adam.

[Yorky]

One example of a female being more beautiful than the male is this remarkable female common blue Polyommatus icarus that I took on the East Coast of England, the picture doesn't do it justice, it is stunning.

[jhyatt]

Unusual to see a species where the female is more brightly coloured than the male.

Adam.

Adam,

It's unusual to see this particular species at all - either sex.! Alexander Klots' famous Peterson Field Guide to Eastern (US) Butterflies from the 1950's describes habitats where "laeta should be sought, but never expected", or words to that effect. The bugs have the habit of landing on dirt or gravel roads where they're very hard to see. I've had other collectors net one that was practically underfoot, yet unseen, to me... it's a tough search image to keep in mind, I guess.

Cheers,
jh

[Chuck]

iNaturalist shows records from Huntsville to Maine, straight along the mountain range, largely overlapping with Papilio appalachiensis and Papilio canadensis. Also on the north side of Lake Ontario in Canada. I have not reviewed each record so can't vouch for if it's actually that species, with iNaturalist everything is suspect.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observation ... n_id=54081

What is good about iNaturalist, even given the propensity for incorrect ID, is the number of records (of many species) simply as result of the volume of cameras out in the field. Seemingly rare species are often captured on camera by non-Lep people.

[jhyatt]

Chuck, I'm very glad you posted that inaturalist thing. I've paid no attention to that site heretofore, but I shall in future. One of the inaturalist records is from Laurel Run Rd. Hawkins Co., TN, from early May this year. Laurel Run Rd. was the gravel road where I took my first E. laeta out of a spider web, and caught another a week or two later. The county paved that road a couple of years later and made a park out of the area at the end of the road. Butterfly populations seemed to fall a lot, and I never saw laeta again there. In fact, I quit going altogether, due to the heavy vehicle traffic and increased people density made collecting difficult along the road. Great to learn that laeta is still there. Maybe I should go back again after all!

Cheers,
jh

[mothman55]

This is one species I have been hoping to find for the past 2 years. They are seen rarely in Central Ontario, a couple of known areas where there are a number of beech trees (larvae food plant). I have gone looking a couple of times each of the past 2 years in mid to late May, thus far no luck. But that is the challenge, always good to have a want list. I did trade for a couple of pairs from New Brunswick, but not the same as getting them in the field, so the search continues next May.