V. G. Deihier.
Metamorphoses of Common Cuban Pyrginae.
Psyche 49(1-2):4-7, 1942.

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Psyche
[March-June
METAMORPHOSES OF COMMON CUBAN PYRGINB
John Carroll University, Cleveland, Ohio The four most common skippers of the subfamily Pyr- ginae found in Cuba are Goniurus proteus L., G. dorantes Stoll., Polygonus lividus Hbn., and Pyrgus syrichtus Fabr. The life history of G. proteus has been described repeatedly, and the immature stages of Cuban specimens are similar to those of North American specimens. In Cuba the larvae feed on Clitorea, cultivated beans, and all native closely related Leguminosse. G. dorantes feeds on the same plants. P. lividus, which in Florida feeds on Piscidia piscipula, is found on species of Lonchocarpus in Cuba. The larvae found here differed slightly from those studied by Dyar (1897). For a description of the first instar of P. syrichtus the reader is referred to an earlier paper (Dethier, 1940). Goniurus dorantes Stoll.
Egg. Turtle green. Greatest diameter 1.0 mm. Height .8 mm. Apex patterned with large prominent raised reticu- lations. These gradually merge into many longitudinal ribs extending to the flattened base.
First Znstar. Head height .5 mm.; head width .6 mm. Head shiny piceous to black, covered with few small, scat- tered, colorless, tapering hairs. Body length 2 to 3 mm. Javel green to bright chalcedony yellow. Few scattered lighter colored spots on body. Few short tapering hairs arising from black tubercles arranged in paradorsal, supra- stigrnatal, and substigmatal rows. Prothoracic legs fuscous. Shield concolorous with head. Substigmatal area of shield bright orange.
Second Znstar. Head height .8 mm. ; head width .81 mm. Head shagreened, almost black.
Hairs shorter and more
numerous. With slight tawny tinge. Body length 3.5 mm.



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19421 Metamorphoses of Cu'ban Pyrginse 5 Light greenish yellow.
Many lighter pale greenish yellow
spots scattered over the surface of the body. The numerous short scattered hairs arise from these. Slight bleaching of shield in the mid-dorsal line. Numerous short hairs on shield. Prothoracic legs fuscous. Hairs on anal plate black. Third Instar.
Head height 1.2 mm.; head width 1.4 mrn. Head more roughly shagreened than before. Pronounced
rugosities at apex of vertex. Black. Body length 7 mm. Javel green.
Anterior edge of shield ochraceous orange, posterior part f uscous. Remainder of segment orange. No other noticeable changes in the body.
Fourth Znstar. Same as above.
Fifth Instar.
Head height 2.4 mm.; head width 2.7 mm.
Head very roughly shagreened. Apex of vertex with large rugosities, larger near median line.
Head fuzzy and downy
in appearance due to the numerous short tawny hairs. Eggs laid on the food plant July 11 hatched July 14. Each instar required from three to four days. Polygonus lividus Hbn.
Second Instar.
Head height .8 mm.; head width .9 rnm.
Head black, rugose. Few scattered light colored hairs. Body length 6 mm. Dull green yellow. Mid-dorsal line faint, darker green due to transparency there. Thin, irregular, yellowish para-dorsals. Body sparsely dotted with small yellow spots.
Anal area suffused with yellow.
Third Znstar.
Head height 1.2 mm. ; head width 1.6 mm. Head slightly more rugose.
Not noticeably rougher at ver-
tex than elsewhere. Body length 7 to 11 rnm. Markings same as before. General color meadow green. Para-dorsals and spots bright chalcedony yellow.
Fourth Instar.
Head height 2.0 mm.; head width 2.4
mm. Head black. Surface broken up into roughly poly- gonal raised reticulations. Flat scale-like protuberances on apex of head directed away from median line. Not so pro- nounced as the rugosities in G. dorantes. Head very flat-
topped. Scattered, very short, colorless hairs. Body length 20 mm. Meadow green. All legs and ventral side of thoracic segments bright chalcedony yellow. Shield con-



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6 Psyche [March- June
colorous with body.
Meadow green mid-dorsal line due
to absence of the bright chalcedony yellow spots which cover the rest of the body. Spiracles concolorous with body. Larva nearly naked. Very few exceedingly small colorless tapering hairs.
Each instar required four days.
Pyrgus syrichtus Fabr.
Second Znstar. Head height .55 mm.; head width .57 mm. Widest at the level of the adfrontal punctures, nearly flat-topped. Piceous. Body length 3.5 mm. Very light greenish. Legs and spiracles concolorous with body. Shield concolorous with head. Many short, colorless, spatu- late hairs scattered over the surface of the body. Hairs on subventral fold and anal plate tapering. All hairs aris- ing from prominent cream colored tubercles. Third Instar.
Head height .87 mm.; head width .90 mm.
Head piceous, nearly black. More rugose than in foregoing instar. Adorned with scattered colorless tapering hairs. Length of body 6 mm. Shield smooth, piceous. Faded fuscous mid-dorsal line. Six long, colorless, spatulate hairs on either side of the median line in the anterior border of the shield. The more lateral two are located dorsad and slightly cephalad of the large circular brown spiracle. On the posterior edge of the shield there are two to three very short spatulate hairs, also colorless, on each side of the median line. Prothoracic legs same color as shield. Body same as before, slightly darker green.
Fourth Znstar. Head height 1.3 mm.; head width 1.6 mm. Body length 10 mm. Not much change from third instar.
Fifth Instar. Head height 2.2 mm.; head width 2.4 mm. Piceous. Very rugose. No conspicuous protuberances at top of vertex. Dense covering of short tawny hairs. Body length 17 mm. A mid-dorsal and, to a lesser extent, a para- dorsal bleaching of the shield. Shield chocolate. Body chrysolite green. Mid-dorsal line faint. Deep chrysolite green. Faint indication of similar narrow para-dorsals. Colorless, slightly spatulate hairs numerous. Arising from



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19421 Metamorphoses of Cuban Pyrginz 7
white rounded tubercles. Legs fuscous. Spiracles con- colorous with body.
Chrysalis. Length 13.5 mm. Head kronberg's green dorsally. Wing pads, mouthparts, and legs scheele's green. Abdominal segments light dull green yellow. Mid-dorsal line suffused with fuscous and scheele's green. Interseg- mental areas courge green ventrally. Spiracles black. Numerous long hairs white. Head, thoracic, and abdominal regions hairy. Anterior end rounded. Widest in the region of the posterior edge of the wing pads.
Each instar required three or four days for its comple- tion. Pupation took place July 20, and the imago emerged ten days later. Although small larvae were unable to sur- vive on the more pubescent species of Sida, larger larvae fed on all the native species.
Dethier, V. G. 1940. Life histories of Cuban Lelpidoptera. Psyche, 47 (1) : 14-26.
Dyar, H. G. 1897. Life history of Erycides amyntas Fab. Entom. News, 8 (7) : 182-183.




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