Discovery of a Black Female Form of Pterourus appalachiensis (Papilionidae: Papilioninae) and Additional Observations of the Species in West Virginia

Authors

Harry Pavulaan, International Lepidoptera SurveyFollow
David M. Wright, Lansdale, Pennsylvania, United States

Date of this Version

12-1-2004

Document Type

Article

Citation

Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey (December 1, 2004) 6(1): 1-10

Also available at https://lepsurvey.carolinanature.com/ttr/ttr-6-1.pdf

Comments

Copyright 2004, International Lepidoptera Survey. Open access material

License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-SA-NC 4.0 International)

Abstract

The univoltine Pterourus appalachiensis was described from the southern Appalachian Mountain region of the United States as a sympatric sibling of P. glaucus (Pavulaan & Wright 2002). A black form was unrecognized at that time. Subsequent sampling of populations at Spruce Knob, West Virginia, United States, revealed a unique black female phenotype present among typically yellow female appalachiensis. We believe that this phenotype represents a black female form of P. appalachiensis, thus broadening our understanding of this unusual species and firmly establishing its distinction from P. canadensis.