"RUBIDUS" Strecker (hybrid)--Red-Spotted Purple (L. a. astyanax) X Viceroy (L. archippus)-DORSAL
My yard, Adams Co. PA
This butterfly takes the non-conformist butterfly-of-the-year prize. I can see at first glance why one might want to call this a Banded Purple or Limenitis arthemis-astyanax intergrade, especially when there is a very faint white "band" on the front edge of the ventral forewing. However, this is a hybrid between Red-Spotted Purple (L. a. astyanax) and Viceroy (L. archippus).
Appropriately (after looking at the dorsum of Bob's specimen), the hybrid was named "rubidus" by Strecker in 1878. Hermann Strecker was a famous 19th century lepidopterist who lived in Reading, PA, for most of his life. He wrote two important books. In one of those (Butts. Moths N. America, 1878) he gave the name "rubidus" to an aberrant described earlier by Theodore Mead, a Canadian Entomologist, in 1872. The specimen that Mead caught actually was from Berks Co., and it resides today in the Field Museum in Chicago. Another Pennsylvania specimen with no date of collection but labeled "Jeanette, Westmoreland Co.", resides in the Smithsonian.
In litt., I've counted 24 known wild L. a. astyanax x L. archippus hybrids ("rubidus" Strecker).
Bob's photo is the only one photo'ed alive that I know of.
Bob that is truly splendid! I am so pleased this butterfly found you; you that could do it so much justice with such lovely photos!
What excitement it must have been upon your realization of such a special butterfly!!!
Guest
08-Dec-2005 13:09
What a find!!
Glad you had the camera handy and got such a great shot. Sometimes when you see something great, something goes wrong, or the model flies off.