psyche.downloads.hindawi.com/journals/psyche/1875/028915.pdf · in the bermudas. marvellous indeed,...

ORGANPSYCHE.

OF THE CAMBRIDGE ENTOMOLOGICAL CLUBEDITED BY B. PICKMAN MANN.

Vol. I.] Cambridge, Mass., December, 1875. [No.

On an Immense Flight of Small Butterflies (Terias lisa)in the Bermudas.

Marvellous indeed, as naturalists well know, are those peri-odic movements of the feathered race known as spring andautumn migrations. Moved by a.n instinctive impulse implantedin them by the Creator, thousands upon thousands of birds ofall sizes, frmn the bulky swan to the tiny humming bird, travelby sea or land to distances so remote that, unless it was ascer-

tained beyond doubt that the space was traversed, the factwould be considered almost incredible.But if we are greatly astonished at the power of endurance

exemplified in this long sustained flight of some of the smallestbirds, what will be said when we relate a circumstance con-

netted with a similar power possessed by a species of butterfly,so snall and apparently incapable of withstanding the violenceof the elements, that we know not which is the more remark-able, the distance traversed, or the number of these frail littlecreatures which lived to reach those remote isles of the ocean,after" an aerial journey of some six hundred miles or more ?

Thus it was. Early in the morning of the first doy of Oct.last year (1874), several persoIs living on the north side oftlie main island perceived, as they thought, a cloud comingover fi’om the north west., which drew nearer and nearer to theshore, on reaching which it divided into two parts, one of whichwent eastward, and the other westward, gr-adually ,Calling uponthe land. They were not long in ascertaining that what theyhad taken for a cloud was an immense concourse of small yel-.low b.utterflies (Terias lisa Boisd.), which flitted about all the

open grassy patches and cultivated grounds in a lazy manner,as if fatigued after their long voyage over the deep. Fisher-

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men out near the reefs, some few miles to the north of the is-]ands very early that norning, stated that numbers of theseinsects fell upon their boats, literally covering them. They didnot stay log upon the islands, however, only a few days, butduring that time thousands must have fallen victims to the vig-orous appetites of the blue bird (Sialia sialis Baird) and blackbird (Mimus carolinensis Gray), which were continually prey-ing upon them. Only one other instance of a flight of thesebutterflies visiting the islands is recorded (in the author’s"Natura]ist in Bermuda" p. 120).The migratory habit of the Pieridae, to which the present

species belongs, is well known, and notices of the occurrence oflarge flights have occasionally appeared in entomological jour-nals. Numbers ofPieri’s napi and P. brassicae have been knownto cross the channel from France to England, and a migratoryhost of Callidryas radia has been observed moving along inBasuto Land but the only instances published of their havingbeen met with at sea, are to be found in Darwin’s ’ :Naturalist’sVoyage and the ’ Entomologist’s Magazine" (England).

Darwin writes as follows Several times when the ship(H. M. S. "Beagle ") has been some miles off the mouth ofthe Rio Plata, and at other times when off from the shores ofnorthern Patagonia, we have been surrounded by insects. Oneevening, when we were about ten miles from the Bay of SanBlas, vast numbers of butterflies, in bands or flocks of countlessmyriads, extended as far as the eye could range. Even by tleaid of a telescope it was not possible to see a space free frombutterflies. The seamen cried out " it was snowing butterflies,"and such in fact was the appearance. More species than one

were present, but the main part belonged to a kind very simi-lar to, but not identical with, the common English Colias edusa.Some moths and Hymenoptera accompanied the butterflies,and a fine beetle (Calosoma) flew on board. The day hadbeen fine and calm, and the one previous to it equally so, withlight and variable airs. Hence we cannot suppose that theinsects were blown off the land, but we must couclude thatthey voluntarily took flight. The great bands of the Coliasseem at first to afford an instance like those on record of the

migrations of’ another butterfly, Vanessa cardui (Lyell’s Princ-ples of Geology, vol. iii, p. 63), but the presence of otherinsects makes the case distinct and even less intelligible. Be-fore sunset a strong breeze sprung up from the north, and thismust have caused tens of’ thousands of tle butterflies and otherinsects to have perished.

In the Entomologist (vol. iii, p. 226)it is stated that dur-ing a cyclone, and at a distance of 600 miles from the Africancoast and. 200 from the Cape Verde islands, a vessel was vis-ited by numerous birds and buttert]ies, the latter being lh’ademabolina and Pyrameis cardui.Now the instance related by Darwin only proves the fact of’

flocks of butteries being observed ten miles from land, andthat recorded n the Entomolog’st leaTes it an (pen questionas to whether the insects were direct from the coast of’ Africaor Cape Verde Is., or indeed whether they occurred in remark-able numbers. We have, therefore, reason to believe that thevast host of Terias lisa which arrived at the Bermudas on thelstof October last, and that visitation recorded in the " Nat-uralist in Bermuda as occurring on the I0th of October 1847,are the only instances known of such extraordinary flights of"Lepidoptera, or indeed any insects being met with at such an

amazing, distance from land.The question, therefore, naturally arises--- How did this im-

mense concourse of butterfiids get to the Bermudas ? Thenearest point oF land is Cape Hatteras, in North Carolina, whichis somewhere about 600 miles distant, and if they had startedfrom this point and taken a straight line to the islands withoutneeting with any contrary winds, it would, at the rate of 12miles per hour (a fair average rate of travel for any of thePieridae), have taken them two days and two hours (of’ course

including nights) to corrtplete the distance; a space of timealmost too great, we should imagine for an insect in no degreeremarkable for robust frame or strength of wing to keep up a

continuous flight. W’e are, however, inclined to think that the

presence of tMs vast concourse of insects at the Bermudas was

do not find any record of the occurrence of P. cardui in the Cape de Verde

islands, although it is found on the i’slands to the north.--S. H. Scudder.

not owing to ordinary causes, ancl that we must look to some

extraordinary means to solve the mystery. From a very ex-

tended series of observations made at intervals during the lasttwenty years, with the view of throwing light upon the migra-tion ( North American Mr(Is to those islands, we have becomeimpressed with the act that the largest flights of birds occurthere during the period uf great atmosplieric disturbance.From the latter end of’ September to that of October, violentrevolving gales are prevalent throughout the region which com-

prises, the east coast of" the Southet’n and Middle States andthe North Atlantic in those latitudes, for some 600 or 800 milesfrom land. At this particular period vast flights of birds of allkinds are proceeding southward along the coast for t|eir winterresorts in Florida, West Indies and South America, and mustoften meet with the v.iolett gles w.e have alluded to. Nowthe abservatiors scientific aeronauts, like Glaishier andothers, teach us that the upper atmosphere is compose4 of cur-

rents of air dilTering in their courses ts elevation proceeds, andsonic cases are on record in which ballo)ns at a great lieighthave suddenly come in contact wih iolent direct gales, whichcrried them onward with su.ch velocity s to render theircourse one of" extreme peril, orly escaping destrtmtion by thesuperior manceuvring of those in c.hrge. Let us suppose a

violent rev.olving gale pssing long the cast of: the SouthernStates, about the }atitud’e of the Bermuclas, during the periodof" the utumnal migration of birds and bttterflies, e.ngulphingsome of those great flights which are then proceeding ]ong insoutherly direction. Drawing them up high in its vortex, a

direct westerly gale is met with, blowing with gret orce out tosea. Hurled with amazing rpidity long this cool aerial cur-

rent, in the course of bout three or four hoars the heted va-

por arising from the (uff Stream would be met w.ith, andwould it be considered’ as too imaginative to grant that thescending warmth o that sream has pwei" suflq’ciert to ameli-orate the condition o the cool current; t(> stay its rapid course

Terlas llsa occurs along the Atlantic Coast from New Hampshire, to Cuba. It is6xcessively rare north of Ctpe Cod, common from New Jersey to Cape Httteras andoxtremely abund’ant farther S’outh.--S. H. S.

125

and allow the animal freight to descend, which, then within a

comparatively short distance of’ the Bermudas, vould seek themarest land by that instinctive impulse so characteristic of’these tribes, and aided perhaps by perfect calm or favor-ing breeze, arrive at those distant isles, without encounteringthe dangers, which, in the form of contrary winds, would most

certainly accompany an intentional migrati(m to the islands ?If our theory, however, be an incorrect one, as it may be, we

should indeed be glad if’ some one would lend a helping hand tosolve this question of a migration of’ tiny butterflies from theAmerican main to those small and remote isles, six hundredmiles away over the roiling waters of’ the trackless deep.

J. Matthew Jones.Halifax, IY. S., .Nov. 15 .1875.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.2kuthors and Societies are requested to forward their works to the Edi-

tor at the earliest date posslbIe. We ask our readers to inform us of thepublication especially of those works which are not generally consulted byentomologists. 1. Pickman ]lann.

6Watirtued front ptge 120.)

The ’ransactions of the merican ]ntomologicalSociety, vo]. v, as far as p. 118, contain Tos. 318 to 331.

* 318. G.H. ttoa. Revisi(m of the Species of Trox ofthe United States. p. 1-12.

Description, with syrtoptical tables, of 1 (T. gemmulatus-- new) spp.* 319. W.H. EDWARDS. Descriptions of New Species of

Diurnal Lepidoptera found in North America. p. 13-19.Describes Argynnis Rhodope A. N’itocris Satyrus Phovus Melitaea

A castu.s, Synchlo" Crocale Geirocheilus Trftonia 6 n. spp.; re-describesErebia Haydenii list of 13 other buttertiies taken ir British Columbiaand Vartcouvers Island.

* 320. G. H. Hoa. Descriptions (>f New Species ofUnited States Coleoptera. p. 20-43.

Describes Cychrus mimus, Tetaerius tristritus., Paroraalus dijcilis Noso-dendron californicum E.thesopus bicolor, Elater Phelpsii, Glyphonyx mime-

ticus Oestodes purcticallis, Aplastus angustivollis, A. tenuiformis, A. corym-bitoides, A. malestus, Malachius macer M. spinipennis M. ThevenetiiStibia oipennis, S. hispidula, Chilometopon (n. g. Epitragini), Ch. helopioides,Schizillus (n. g. Crypto.glossiai), S. la,tieet)s Eleodes velorato’ tThthimus

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