18 PROCACCINI ET AL.: Spot measuring device Vol. 23, no. 1

PUPA: (Figure G). Length, 22 mm.; greatest width, 6.5 mill.

Texture, smooth and glistening. Maxillae reach to wing margins; antennae slightly shorter; segmental junctures well defined; cremaster a smalll black knob with two black shafts having recurved tips, and two pairs of yellow, short and slender spicules. Body color, yellow-brown, shading to black over head, antennae and cauda .

A six month period passed before an imago emerged, October 29, 1964. Many more adults were reared in our desert laboratory, some of which are included in the type series.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION

At present, the recorded range of L. subtilis is that recorded for the type series, and includes only the areas in Los Angeles and Riverside counties where the host plant, Juniperus californica occurs. It probably will be found in semi-desert juniper territory both northward and south­ward from its present known locus.

In 1943 the authors published a life history of "Graptolitha longier" based on larvae taken in Smokey Valley, XYZ Creek, Tulare County, California, at an elevation of 6,200 feet, on Juniperus occidentalis Hook. In comparing this record with that of suhtilis, the suspicion arises that the presumed longior was actually the subsequently designated Litho­phane suhtilis.

LITERATURE CITED COMSTOCK, JOHN ADAMS and CHRISTOPHER HENNE, 1943. Mature Larva of Grapto­

litha longior Sm. Bull. So. California Acad. Sci., 42 (.3): 132.

AN APPARATUS FOR MEASURING MACULATION PATTERNS

DONALD J. PROCACCINI D epartment of Biology, Emmanuel College, Bw,ton, Mass.

MICHAEL T. GYVES Cornell UniverSity Medical School, New York, N.Y.

AND LOUIS S. MARKS

Department of Biology, St. Joseph's College, Philadelphia, Pa.

The application of numerical analytic techniques to external morpho­logical patterns in the Insecta is providing important taxonomic informa­tion (Mason, Ehrlich, and Emmel, 1967; Procaccini and Marks, 1966). In certain insect groups with relatively tough anatomical parts (i.e. , Coleoptera, etc.) direct morphological measurements are feasible. But in the Lepidoptera direct measurements are usually not possible because

1969 Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 19

of the fragility of the wings. Therefore many lepidopterists would find helpful a system in which the wing patterns are fully exposed for study, the specimen is easily maneuvered by manipulation of the mounting pin alone, a measurement scale or grid may be superimposed on the wings from a distance, lighting is provided, and the danger of wing injury is minimized. An apparatus was constructed which satisfied all these requirements. The usefulness of the apparatus in quantifying variation in maculation pattern is reported in another place (Procaccini & Marks, 1968).

MEASURING GRID - -H7'""'- - - ---,..'

GUIDING TRACK--tt=~~:s~~~~

WINDOW -­

V I SE --- --- ++--::;rr SUPPORT FOR PHOTOGRAPHY SHELF

MANIPULATING LI NES t+---------:::7"'\\It-=:::j~~==::::l::\_-..yj

-",

APPARATUS FOR MEASURING MACULATION PATTERI'IS CUTAWAY VIEW OF

SCALE I" = 4"

PLATE I

-<)"

N

20 PROCACCINI ET AL.: Spot measuring device Vol. 23, no. 1

The apparatus (Plate I) which contains all of the measuring equipment is two feet high and measures ten inches square in inside dimensions. One of its sides is a door, giving the investigator easy access to all parts of the interior. This door is attached with two outside hinges, and latches closed with a simple hook and eye. It is kept closed while measurements are being taken, to keep out all external light and to protect the specimen.

Eight and three-quarters (8%.) inches up from the bottom of the apparatus, a cross tie runs parallel to the door, placed midway between the door and the back side of the box. To this cross tie is clamped a fly-tying vise, in which the specimen is held. A fly-tying vise has the advantage of being constructed for delicate work, and yet being strong and rigid. The head of the mounting pin can be firmly clamped in the vise jaws, so the butterfly or moth can be safely held at any angle. Fur­thermore, the vise jaws are situated at the top of a vertical rod which can slide and pivot within an outer sleeve, to adjust height and angle. Thus, the vise can be adjusted to a convenient position while the specimen is being mounted, and then it can be shifted to another position suitable for taking measurements.

One and one-quarter ( 11.4) inches above the cross tie, there are supports for an auxiliary photography shelf. This shelf is a simple lO-inch square of Ys-inch masonite with a hole drilled in it, through which the vertical rod of the vise fits. This shelf is normally not used because it restricts the operating room within the box, but it can be quickly installed to provide a uniform background against which a butterfly may be photo­graphed while in the apparatus.

A partial solution to the problem of accurate measurement was found in the use of a grid ruled in millimeters. Such small rulings provide better relative sizes for patterns and glid. The problem of parallax was solved by using two identical grids, one superimposed on the other, glued to the opposite sides of two half-inch spacers. Thus, the two grids remain stationary relative to each other, and when a pattern segment is measured through the parallel grids, the lines of vision are kept parallel as long as the rulings of the upper grid line up perfectly with the corresponding rulings of the lower grid (Plate II).

The parallel grids are supported above the specimen by a shelf which is fifteen inches above the bottom of the box. A 10 by lO-inch square of lis-inch masonite panel forms the shelf. Two and one-quarter (21/1) inches from the light-hand side of the shelf (viewing through the door), a 2 by 6-inch window is cut in the shelf, running parallel to the right side of the shelf. The measuring glid, which meaSUIres 31J" inches by 5 inches, spans this window, and the butterfly is viewed through it. Run-

1969 Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society

MEASURING GRID

FULL SCALE

r SPACER

Lines in only one direction shown for clarity

~

I

-2 I f -= ,-

-

5"----- - - -

Arrows indicate parallel lines of vision 10" --j

6"

-t ··~ ~ ~'\ .- -----~

I F"'" ____________ -

pt---' ~--

GRI D SHELF

MACHINE SCREW

GUIDING TRACK

MEASURING GRID

WINDOW

SCREW EYE

21

JrT - - ~ ~ ~~~r ~ ~ MANIPULATING LINE - t-:.,~ -! I I 1 I ~ ~ ~L

n Grid "m place on its shelf Arrows show direction of movement SCALE I " = 2"

PLATE II

ning parallel to the length of the window, serving as a guiding track, is a lJil-inch slot in the shelf, %, of an inch from the side of the window. A machine screw, in the middle of one edge of the grid, fastens the grid to the slot, preventing it from slipping down through the opening, and enabling it to be moved along the track and to be swivelled.

Threads lead from the sides of the grid, through guiding screw eyes placed 1% inches beyond the ends of the window, and then through the right side of the apparatus. Similar threads lead from the corners of the

22 PROCACCINI ET AL.: Spot measuring device Vol. 23, no. 1

grid directly through the right side of the box, the side on which the observer stands while measuring. With these threads, one can slide the grid from side to side over the window, and can swivel it, on the screw, through an arc of about 100°. Thus the rulings of the grid can be placed at right angles to various pattern lines on the butteIfly without moving the butterfly, and all manipulation is done from outside the box, keeping the butterfly protected.

The most perplexing problem was that of illumination. Lighting must come from below the grid-shelf, because the grids are made of dear plastic, which has rather poor optical qualities. Light coming from above the grids is reflected somewhat, thereby causing eyestrain and reducing the amount of light actually reaching the specimen. Since the butterfly must be held within two inches of the grid-shelf, an external light couldn't illuminate the pattern surface with the angle needed for sufficient darity and definition. With internal lighting, the problem of heat accumulation within the box was encountered. The answer was found in a four-watt fluorescent light fixture. This fixture was attached to the right side of the box, just under the grid-shelf, forming one of the supports for this shelf. It is only 9 inches long and is 1% inches square, and it is situated so high that it is about %-inch above the butterfly, giving direct, sharp illumination. So little heat is emitted, that the light can be touched, without harm, after extended use.

To further increase accuracy, a magnifying glass was suspended above the grids. This magnifier had to have a depth of focus of at least three inches, so that both the specimen and the grids would be in focus simul­taneously. The glass is held in a vertical slot on the right side of the box, in which it has a range of 71f2 inches above the measuring grid. It is held in position with a thumb screw, with which it can be set in any position along the slot, depending upon the magnification and clarity of focus desired. The glass itself has a radius of t..hree inches, which, along with the threaded receiver for the thumb screw, centers it over the viewing window.

LITERATURE CITED

MASON, L. G., P. R. EHRLICH, & T. C. EMMEL, 1967. The population biology of the butterfly, Euphydryas Editha. V. Character clusters and asymmetry. Evolution, 21: 85.

PROCACCINI, D. J., & L. S. MARKS, 1966. Computer analysis of morphological pattern as an aid in taxonomic discrimination. BioScience, 16( 11): Sll.

1968. Patterns of maculation variation in certain African Papilios. Amer. Zool­ogist, 8( 4): S07.