Spotlight on rearing:apantesis nais (Drury) (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) in Louisiana by Vernon Antoine Brou Jr., 7 Jack Loyd Road, Abita Springs, Louisiana, 7 email: vabrou@bellsouth.net a e j o b c f g k m n q r p d h Fig.. Apantesis nais (Drury): a. female parent, captured at sec.tsre,. mi. NE of Abita Springs, Louisiana USA, b, c, d. female offspring, e, f, g, h, j, k, m, n. male offspring, o, p, q, r. yellow hindwing wild captured specimens. The common and variably marked moth Apantesis nais (Drury) (Fig. ) has always led to identification problems with other similar appearing members of the genus. Heppner () lists the range of nais to be eastern North America, Quebec to Florida and South Dakota to Texas. Larval foodplants listed by Heppner include the genus: Artemisia, Fragaria, Plantago, Polygonum, Rumex, Taraxacum, Trifolium and Viola. I began rearing a batch of ova obtained from a wild collected female in April of 7 (Fig. a). Approximately - days later the tiny brownish larvae appeared. I offered the larvae leaves of common false dandelion Pyrrhopappus carolianus (Walt) (Fig. ) and reared the entire quantity in plastic -quart size food storage containers. The larvae readily accepted this foodplant and the entire brood fed mostly on this plant species. I replaced the leaves in the containers every - days, and gathered entire -gallon buckets full of the leaves as the larvae reached maturity (fig ). The larvae do well in crowded conditions and fed on black decaying leaves as well as fresh ones. Up to pupation, I lost only - individuals, being the easiest lepidoptera species I have reared. Pupae that formed in direct contact with the surface of the plastic containers tended to compress against the plastic surface thus becoming deformed. Because of this, several dozen were unable to
hatch properly or were deformed at hatching. Well over excellent quality adult specimens were obtained and three females were mated to acquire additional ova for rearing a subsequent brood. The first pupae to hatch were all female; near the end nearly all specimens hatching were males. The final tally for both batches totaled + specimens, yielding roughly an equal number of males and females. Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec number of adults Jan Fig.. Adult A. nais captured via UV light at sec.tsre,. mi. NE of Abita Springs, Louisiana. n = Covell () states nais has yellow and black hindwings with only a few females having red and black hindwings. Here in Louisiana, the opposite occurs. This population has hindwings predominately red and black with occasional males and females having yellow and black hindwings (about were found operating light traps for more than years, nightly, year-round in southeast Louisiana). No yellow and black hindwing specimens appeared in the reared batches. For the second reared brood, I offered the larvae ofnais many dozens of the low plant species occurring on my property as the spring bloom period for P. carolianus plants of March to May had ended. The larvae fed on a b c Fig.. Mature larvae of A. nais : a. side view, b. dorsal view, c. side view. Dates to Oct 7 Fig Fig.. A. nais parish records by this author. Fig
many different ones as Erechtites heiraciifolia (L.) (Fig. ) Asteraceae (sunflower) family and Elephantopus sp., both of which they fed on voraciously, as well as mature larvae feeding on the leaves of previously undocumented plants as privet and cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) without difficulty. The fast moving larvae are secretive, hiding in curled folds of leaves and spaces between leaves and most often clinging to the bottom surface of the leaves. Resulting adult specimens of both reared batches were spread and pinned. Variations in maculation were photographed and some variations are shown in Fig.. The reared female specimens showed virtually little differences in forewing and hindwing maculation, while the males exhibited considerable variation on both forewings and hindwings. Six annual broods occur at about sixty-day intervals based on light trapped adults captured at the Abita Springs study site. The same brood intervals were observed for the two consecutive broods reared during this investigation. The majority of the population at the Abita Springs study site occurs in the second through fifth broods peaking March, May, July and September (Fig. ). Acknowledgements I thank Diane M. Ferguson and Victoria M. Bayless from Louisiana State University Baton Rouge for assistance in identifying the plants mentioned in this investigation. Literature Cited Covell, Jr., C.V.. A field guide to moths eastern North America. The Peterson Field Guide Series No.. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. xv + pp., plates. Heppner, J.B.. Arthropods of Florida and neighboring land areas, vol. 7: Lepidoptera of Florida, Div. Plant Industry, Fla. Dept. Agr. & Consum. Serv., Gainesville. x + 7 pp., plates.
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