PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTIONU. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
Vol. 84 Washington : 1937 No. 3013A NEW SUBSPECIES OF THE NYMPHALID BUTTERFLYPOLYGONTA FAUNUS
By Austin H. ClarkCurator, Du-ision 0/ Echinoderms, United Statcn National Museum
William H. Edwards, in April 1862, described the butterfly Graptafauiius, which he said "is found abundantly in certain localities onthe Catskill Mountains, New York. It is also found at Fort Simpson,at Albany River, and Lake Winnipeg." The type locality of fannusis therefore the Catskill Mountains. In his description of Argynnisatlantis Mr. Edwards mentioned that in 1861 he had found thatspecies abundant near the Mountain House, and it was presumablyat the same time and place that he secured his type series of faunrns.Polygonia faunus is one of the commonest and most characteristicbutterflies of the Canadian Zone, from the highlands of New Yorkand New England westward. In addition to many records of thisinsect from these northern regions, there are a few records fromthe southern extension of the Canadian Zone along the mountainsfrom West Virginia to Georgia.Among the watercolor drawings of the insects of Georgia by JohnAbbot in the British Museum dated 1792-1804, there is a figureidentified by Samuel H. Scudder as Polygonia fminus that bears themanuscript note in Abbot's handwriting "met with by Mr. Elliotin his tour to the mountains."Some time after publishing the original description, Edwardsrecorded a single individual of faunus that had been captured in
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220 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.84West Virginia by Meyer. In 1887 he mentioned faunus from Vir-ginia, probably in error for West Virginia.In 1892 Tlieodore L. Mead wrote that faunus is "abundant allalong the roadsides from 4,000 to 5,000 feet" on Grantlfather Moun-tain in Mitchell (now Avery) County, N. C and in 189-') Dr. HenrySkinner recorded faufivs from Cranberi'v. Avery County, at anelevation of 3,250 feet.In 1905 F. E. Brooks recorded faunus from central West Virginiaat an altitude of 3,500 feet.C. S. Brimley and Franklin Sherman, Jr.. in 1907 recorded fauwrnfrom Blowing Rock, Watauga County, N. C. at an altitude of 4,000feet, and mentioned Dr. Skinner's record from Cranberry.Dr. A. Glenn Richards, Jr., in 1931 recorded faunux from AndrewsBald in Swain County, N. C, where he found it on August 21-23,1928. and noted that Henry K. Townes, Jr., had taken it on CedarMountain in southern North Carolina, very near the South Carolinaline, on July 24, 1929.Prof. Franklin Sherman has been so kind as to send us unpub-lished records of this species from North Carolina, South Carolina,and Georgia. His record from South Carolina is the first fromthat State, and the two from Georgia are an interesting supplementto the single previous record by Abbot more than 130 3'ears ago.We are also greatly indebted to C. S. Brimley. of Raleigh, N. C,who has sent us the records from North Carolina in the files of theState Department of Agriculture, and to Henry K. Townes, Jr.,of Greenville, S. C, who has sent us his records from South andNorth Carolina.There is no published record of the occurrence of this butterflyin Virginia. We wrote to our friend Prof. Ellison A. Smyth, Jr.,of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute at Bhicksburg, MontgomeryCounty, now retired and living at Salem, and asked him if he knewof any specimens from the State. He replied that in 1896 he hadraised five individuals from larvae that he had found (m gooseberrybushes in his garden at Blacksburg. His identification of these hadbeen confirmed by William H. Edwards.As the butterfly is common on Grandfather Mountain, a fewmiles south of the Virginia border, we assumed that it would beequally common in and about the spruce forests on White Top andBalsam Mountain (Mount Rogers), the highest mountains in Vir-ginia, not far to the northward. We therefore visited these moun-tains on July 9-15, 1936, and as we had expected found it in con-siderable numbers, all the individuals being freslily emerged.On July 21 we visited the Biological Station of the University ofVirginia at Mountain Lake, in Giles County. Va., where we were toldbv Prof. Lorande Loss Woodruff that he had captured it there.
U. S NATIONAL MUSEUM PROCEEDINGS. VOL. 84 PLATE 10
1-6. Polygonia faunas smylhi, new subspecies: 1, Male, Mount Rogers (Balsam Mountain), GraysonCounty, Va., A. H. Clark, July 15, 1936, type (U. S. K. M. no. 51846); 2, same, under side; 3, female, WhiteTop Mountain, Grayson County, Va., L. F. Clark, July 10, 1936; 4, same, under side; 5, male. WhiteTop Mountain, Va., A. H. Clark, July 10, 1936; 6, same, under side.7, 8. P.f.faunus (W. H. Edwards): 7, Male, Mount Washington, X. H., 4,000 feet, August 1-7; 8, same,under side.

A NEW NYMPHALID BUTTERFLY?CLARK 221Later Professor Woodruff was so kind as to send lis his specimensfor examination.All the individuals of Polygon'm faunm that we captured, the twoin the National Museum collection from Grandfather Mountain andAndrews Bald, and those sent us by Professor Woodruff differ mark-edly from the large number at hand from New York and New Eng-land and northward and northwestward. It is therefore clear thatthere is a distinct southeastern race of this butterfly confined to thenarrow and more or less discontinuous southern extension of theCanadian Zone. This may be known asPOLYGONIA FAUNUS SMYTHI, new subspeciesPlate 10, Figures 1-6Descnption.?Kesembling Polygoma fannus faunm, but slightlylarger; above, darker, the ground color slightly more reddish, thedark markings blackish brown, and the submarginal spots in thedark border of the hind wings usually smaller, often obsolescent;heJou\ darker, usually much darker, the light and dark markings,especially on the hind wings, less contrasting.Type specimen.?Fvom Mount Rogers (Balsam Mountain), Gray-son County, Va., about 4,000 feet, male, July 15, 1936 : A. H. Clark.U.S.N.M. no. 51846.Specimens examined.?Virginia: White Top Mountain, GraysonCounty, July 10, 11, 1936, A. H. and L. F. Clark (five) ; MountRogers, Grayson County, July 15, 1936, A. H. and L. F. Clark (one) ;Mountain Lake, Giles County, July 7, 9, 15, 24, 1936, L. L. Woodruff(four). North Carolina: Grandfather Mountain, Avery County,about 6,000 feet, August 1892. T. L. Mead (one) ; Andrews B'ald,Smoky Mountain Park, Swain County, 5,750 feet, August 22, 1928,A. G. Richards, Jr. (one).Range.?West Virginia : No further data (W. H. Edwards) ; c-en-tral West Virginia, about 3,500 feet (F. E. Brooks) . Virginia : Blacks-burg. Montgomery County (E. A. Smyth, Jr.) ; Mountain Lake,Giles County (L. L. Woodruff) : White Top Mountain and MountRogers, above 4,000 feet (A. H. and L. F. Clark). North Carolina:Grandfather Mountain, Avery County, 4,000 to 5,000 feet (T. L.Mead): Cranberry, Avery County, 3.250 feet (H. Skinner); Blow-ing Rock, Watauga County, 4,000 feet (Brimley and Sherman) ;Mount Mitchell, Yancey County. 6,000 feet, August 20, 1926, J. C.Crawford (C. S. Brimley, in Jitt.) ; Big Pisgah Mountain, HaywoodCounty, 4,800 feet, July 19, 1932, common (Henry K. Townes, Jr.,in lift.) ; Andrews Bald. Smoky Mountain Park, Swain County,5,950 feet (A. G. Richards. Jr.) ; Smokemont, Swain County, June30, 1934, T. B. Mitchell (C. S. Brimley, in litt.) ; Cedar Mountain,Transylvania County, 2,700 feet, Henry K. Townes, Jr. (A. G. Rich-
222 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEU:M vol. s4
ards, Jr.) ; Cedar Mountain, 2,900 feet, June 29, 1933. July 24, 1929,and July 22, 1931 (Henry K. Townes, Jr., in Utt.)\ Highlands,Macon County (Franklin Sherman, in litt.). South Carolina:Greenville County, Henry K. Townes, Jr. (Franklin Sherman, mlitt.) ; River Falls, Greenville County, 3,000 feet, not rare (Henry K.Townes, Jr., in litt.). Georgia: In the mountains (John Abbot,according to S. H. Scudder) ; Satolah, Rabun County (FranklinSherman, in litt.) ; Rabun Bald Mountain, Rabun County (FranklinSherman, in litt.).Season.?This butterfly appears locally from the end of June tothe middle of July and flies until September. Mr. Townes writesthat where he lias collected it it is commonest in its prime in the firsthalf of July. On White Top and Balsam Mountains it does notappear until the second week in July. There is only a single brood.Occurrence.?The butterfly is common wherever it occurs regu-larly, frequenting especially roads through the woods, clearings,and the bordei's of wooded areas.Food plant.?Gooseberry (Ellison A. Smyth, Jr.).Remarks.?Three other species of Polygonia occur in Virginia.One of these, P. progne, is confined to the mountainous region inthe western part of the State, where it is very common in theTransition Zone, at the higher altitudes overlapping the lower por-tion of the range of P. faunus smythi. The two other species,P. interrogationis and P. comma, occur at all points in the State,though they are generally less numerous on the Coastal Plain thanelsewhere; P. interrogatio7iis is frequent or rather common almosteverywhere, but P. comma is less numerous and is nowhere found inany great numbers. Neither P. interrogationis nor P. comma is atany point so common as are P. faunus smythi and P. progne in tlieregions where the two latter occur.On the lower borders of the range of P. faunus smythi all fourspecies are found, P. progne far outnumbering the others. At oneplace on White Top Mountain where a small stream crosses the roadup the mountainside we took P. faunus smythi, P. progne, andP. comma within a few minutes on the same square foot of moistearth.Although in Polygonia faunus the individuals from Virginiaand southward represent a local race quite distinct from the typicalnorthern form, we fail to detect any corresponding differences be-tween southern and northern specimens of P. progne, P. comma, orP. interrogationis. Southern individuals of these three species arefrequently somewhat larger and darker than individuals fromfarther north, but the differences are slight and inconstant and areconfined to relatively few specimens.
U. S.SOVERIIItENT PRINTINS OFFICE: IS97