During a brief survey of the prairie areas near Vita, Manitoba, July 1985, Oarisma powesheik Parker was found to be abundant, although often local. Specimens collected constitute the first documented record for the species in Canada

Catling, P. M

Lafontaine, J. D

English

Valparaiso University

The Great Lakes Entomologist Volume 19 Number 2 - Summer 1986 Number 2 - Summer 1986 Article 2 June 1986 First Documented Record of Oarisma Powesheik (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) in Canada P. M. Catling Agriculture Canada J. D. Lafontaine Agriculture Canada Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle  Part of the Entomology Commons Recommended Citation Catling, P. M. and Lafontaine, J. D. 1986. "First Documented Record of Oarisma Powesheik (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) in Canada," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 19 (2) Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol19/iss2/2 This Peer-Review Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biology at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Great Lakes Entomologist by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu. 1986 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 63 FIRST DOCUMENTED RECORD OF OARISMA POWESHEIK (LEPIDOPTERA: HESPERIIDAE) IN CANADA P. M. Catling and J. D. Lafontaine l ABSTRACT During a brief survey of the prairie areas near Vita, Manitoba, July 1985, Oarisma powesheilc Parker was found to be abundant, although often local. Specimens collected constitute the frrst documented record for the species in Canada. Tall-grass prames have survived in the general region of Vita, Stuartburn, and Gardenton in southeastern Manitoba, because the shallow, rocky, and highly calcareous soils baye permitted only grazing, and the ground has never been broken. The relatively small size of some f these prairie glades, and periodic drought resulting in a rather sparse and depauperate cover, has made even grazing unprofitable in some areas. Fires, a natural prairie phenomenon, are encouraged to promote better pastures, and portions of the Vita prairies are burned every year. These prairies are of particular interest since they represent the northern limit of certain tall grass prairie elements (Catling, in press). Oarisma poYo'esheik was found in each of seven natural prairies visited. Three specimens are deposited in the Canadian National Collection in Ottawa. THE DISTRIBUTION OF NORTHERN OAR/SMA SPP. Although the early literature confused O. powesheik and O. garita (Reakirt), it has become dear that O. powesheik is a species of wet, tall-grass prairie in the midwestern United States. \ltirile O. garita occurs in dry prairie in the northern and western Great Plains and Rocky Mountains (Johnson 1972, MacNeill 1975, Opler 1982). Opler (1982) showed only ODe record of O. garita east of the Red River, but it is common farther west in the Dakotas !T. L. McCabe, pers. comm.). There is, however, a remarkably disjunct colony of O. garita 011 Manitoulin Island, Ontario, 1000 km east of the Minnesota colony (Catting 1977). The distribution of O. powesheik shown by Opler (1982) and documented elsewhere /Holzman 1972. Irwin and Downey 1973), indicates that it is widespread in Minnesota and Iowa. and follows the prairie peninsula into the southern Great Lakes. It is rare and local farther to the west (Johnson 1972; T. L. McCabe, pers. comm.). Judging by Opler's map"'iIich showed O. powesheik near the Manitoba border, its occurrence in southern ~faniroba. is DO( surprising, and certainly less remarkable than the disjunct occurrence of O. garita in Manitoulin district, Ontario. IBiosystematics Research Institute. Agriculture Canada, Research Branch, Central Experimen­tal Farm. Onav.a. Onrario KIA OC6. 1Catling and Lafontaine: First Documented Record of <i>Oarisma Powesheik</i> (Lepidoptera:Published by ValpoScholar, 198664 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 19, No.2 1cm Fig. 1. Oarismn garita collected at Beulah, Manitoba y J. Dennis, the basis of an earlier report of O. powesheik. STATUS OF MANITOBA RECORDS OF OARISMA POWESHEIK Gregory (1983) indicated that O. powesheik had been reported from Manitoba, and his listing was apparently based on one, or both, of two reports. Klots (1951) noted that "it enters our area in Minnesota and probably also in North Dakota and Manitoba." Thus KIot's allusion is speculative. A much more relevant report was that of Masters (1973), who reported nine specimens collected at Beulah, Manitoba, 10-20 July 1902-1920, by J. Dennis. The Dennis collection is housed in the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, and consists of 400 homemade Riker mounts. The nine specimens which Masters reported as O. powesheik are together in one small Riker mount. They were originally labelled as "0. garita," and reported as such by Brooks (1942). Our examination of these nine specimens clearly indicates that they are O. garita. They are not generally dark above and below; lack the solid black shading on the fold on the hind wing below and on the underside of the forewing; have poorly defined, instead of pronounced white veins on the hindwing below; and they are relatively small (Fig. I). All unpublished reports of O. powesheik from dry prairie habitats in western Manitoba have turned out to be O. garita (P. Klassen, pers. comm.). No Oarisma spp. have previously been reported from southeastern Manitoba. With all previous records discounted, the discovery of O. powesheik (Fig. 2) on the Vita prairies, although not an unexpected range extension, represents the first authentic record for Manitoba, and for Canada. HABITAT IN SOUTHERN MANITOBA The Vita prairies vary from small (0.4-0.8 ha) to large (300 ha) elongate openings more or less separated by groves of bur oak, aspen, and American hazel. The lower and periodically wetter parts of the open prairies are dominated by Deschampsia caespitosa, Agrostis stolonifera, Carex praegracilis, Carex tetaniea. Carex buxbaumii, ]uneus baltieus, ]uneus dudleyi, ]uneus longistylis, Muhlenbergia richardsonis, Eleoeharis elliptiea, Senecio paupereulus, Senecio aureus, Lysimaehia quadriflora and Prunella 2The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 19, No. 2 [1986], Art. 2https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol19/iss2/21986 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOYlOLOGIST 651cm Fig. 2. Cpperside !left) and underside (right) of Oarisma powesheik from the Vita prairies, near Vita, >"lanitoba. collected in 1985. Fig. 3. HabiLill of Oarisma powesheik on the Vita prairies. The location shown is 1.5 miles east of StuaI1bum. l"Ullwris. ""ith xallered shrubs of Salix petiolaris. Potentilla fruticosa, and Betula glanduios<l. The higher. drier parts are dominated by Sporobofus heterofepis, Andropogon gerardii. A,ndropogon scoparius, and include many other prairie species such as ZnJadenus elegans. Solidago rigida, Elaeagnus commutata and Liatris lif!ulisn1is. ~The' butter11ieS ""ere concentrated in areas where flowering Lobelia spicata was abundant. and in the areas of transition between mesic and drier prairie (Fig. 3), but they were occasionally seen in either extensive dry or extensive wet areas. The butterflies frequently ,·isited the t10wers of Lobelia spicata. as reported for Ylichigan colonies 3Catling and Lafontaine: First Documented Record of <i>Oarisma Powesheik</i> (Lepidoptera:Published by ValpoScholar, 198666 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 19, No.2 (Holzman 1972) and the foodplant (Eleocharis elliptica; see McAlpine 1972, Holzman 1972) is frequent in lower places. The habitat of O. powesheik in Michigan (Holzman 1972), and habitats farther west in Minnesota, involve wet prairie meadows similar to that described above (T. L. McCabe, pers. comm.). In contrast, O. garita, in the more continuous western range (e.g. Riding Mountain National Park), occurs in somewhat drier situations with a more sparse vegetation cover. The same is true to some extent for the disjunct colonies of O. garita in Ontario, but these locations, in their overall floristic composition (CatIing 1977), do correspond closely with the Vita prairies. The principal difference being in the greater density, diversity and height of the prairie vegetation near Vita, and in the more extensive development of the wet and mesic phases. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are most grateful to B. McKillop of the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature for the loan of specimens, and to P. Klassen, Manitoba, and T. L. McCabe, Albany, New York, for providing information on the occurrence and habitats of Oarisma spp. LITERATURE CITED Brooks, G. S. 1942. A revised checklist of the butterflies of Manitoba. Canadian Entomol. 74:31-36. Catling, P. M. 1977. On the occurrence f Oarisma garita (Reakirt) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) in Manitoulin District, Ontario. Great Lakes EntomoL 10:59-63. __. (in press). New and significant vascular plant records for the province of Manitoba. Canadian Field-Nat. Gregory, W. W. 1983. A revised checklist of the butterflies and skippers of Canada (Lepidoptera). Lyman Entomol. Mus. and Res. Lab. Memoir No. 14:39. Holzman, R. W. 1972. Eastern range extension for Oarisma powesheik Parker (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae). Great Lakes Entomol. 5:111-1l4. Irwin, R. R. and 1 C. Downey. 1973. Annotated checklist of the butterflies of Illinois. Illinois Nat. Hist. Surv. BioI. Notes 81. 60 p. Johnson, K. 1972. The butterflies of Nebraska. 1. Res. Lepid. 11:1-64. Klots, A. B. 1951. A field guide to the butterflies. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 349 p. MacNeill, C. D. 1975. Hesperiidae, p. 423-578. in W. H. Howe, The butterflies of North America. Doubleday, N.Y. 633 p. McAlpine, W. S. 1972. Observations of the life history of Oarisma powesheik (Parker) 1870.1. Res. Lepid. 11:83-93. Masters, J. H. 1973. The collection of butterflies made by Jack Dennis at Beulah, Manitoba. J. Lepid. Soc. 27:33-39. Opler, P. A. 1982. County atlas of eastern United States Butterflies. (draft). Office o  Endangered Species, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington. 4The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 19, No. 2 [1986], Art. 2https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol19/iss2/2

First Documented Record of \u3ci\u3eOarisma Powesheik\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) in Canada

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