'Waucoba GJVews

Sponsored by The Bishop Museum & Historical Society, Bishop, Ca. 93514 Vol. V
Founded and Edited by Enid A. Larson, Box 265, Big Pine, Ca. 93513 Winter 19&
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or a membership~$5.00) in Bishop Museum

Waucoba: A Paiute word for "pine tree"; also highest peak in Inyo Mts., 11,121'

l
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PANDORA MOTH
Top Row: Jeffrey Pine Needle: Middle Row: (lef,t to right) Larva, fully grown; Larva ready to
·pupate after·shedding its skin; Pupa; Lower Row: Adult female and male. All natural size .
. Jack Edell, Bishop, became interested in these moths when a large swarm of caterpillars

appeared in the Inyo Forest, near Crestview, June, 1979. The succession of their life stages

is illustrated above in photos taken from his collection of preserved materials he prepared

from specimens he reared in a terrariu~. The caterpillars are black and orange-yellow, their

rings of black bristles are separated by smooth yellow-orange bands. Three days after he

collected live caterpillars' all were buried beneath 2 inches of pumice sand covered with dry

pine needles in the terrarium. In the forest, he dug and found cocoons about 2 inches below

. the surface.' He watched the caterpillars dig into the soil rear-end first.
In August, 1979, new needles were emerging from the terminal buds of the then defoliated
Jeffrey pines and all caterpillars in the area were underground.
On July 4, 1980, two adult males emerged ·as moths in his terrarium; one lived for 9 days.
In the forest, the first live adult moths appeared on July 15th. On July 9, 1980, adult moths
were laying bright green..:yellow eggs,·each about the size of a grain of rice. Many were laid
along pine needles. By mid-August, 1980, no live moths, no hatchling caterpillars were found.
By Sept. 2, 1980, many hatchlings (about 1/10 inch) were seen. Two days later hatchling cater­
pillars were eating pine needles in the forest and in the terrarium; some of the hatchlings
from a single clutch of eggs marched single-file along a pine needle, moving upward "like a
moving black thread". By Sept. 30, 1980, hatchlings were more than 1/2 inch long.
Robins ate both eggs and hatchlings; golden-mantled squirrels ate both pupae and adult moths.
Jeffrey pine chipmunks ate pupa; another observer saw a Lodgepole pine chipmunk catch and eat
an adult moth as it fluttered near the base of a pine. (See WAUCOBA NEWS, Summer" Vol.!,1979 for
record of these defoliating moths in the Crestview Area.) At this time of writing, Inyo Forest
has decided that for 1981 no extensive spraying program will be undertaken; research plots to
record additional movements of this species of moth may be set up for study.
--Enid A. Larson, Big Pine, Ca.
 KEY TO THE SPECIES OF INYO-MONO PENSTEMONS by John Thomas Howell
(See Waucoba News, Vol IV, 1979 for I ist of species)
a. Anther-cells closed at their free ends, thus forming a tiny sac . . • • • b

a. Anther-cells opening at their free ends, the cells completely split open or
the part near the filament attachment remaining closed . . . . e

b. Corolla bright red P. llridgesii

b. Corolla bluish, purplish, or lavender · . . c

c. Stems nearly leafless, the leaves mostly basal, the blades roundish;
staminode glabrous ..... P. caesius

c. Stems leafy, the leaves elongate · • . d

d. Corolla 2 cm. long or less; staminode glabrous P. laetus var. Roezlii

d. Corolla more than 2 cm. long; staminode hairy E.. papillatus

e. Anthers densely tomentose . . f

e. Anthers glabrous or nearly so g

f. Leaves toothed; corolla deep pink to purplish-red P. Newberryi

f. Leaves entire; corolla bluish-violet P. Davidsonii

g. Base of filaments pubescent with coarse hairs; plants shrubby, woody above
the base . • . .. ......... . . . . . . . . . . . h
g. Base of filaments glabrous or nearly so; plants mostly herbaceous, generally
not woody above the base (or subshrubby in E.. incertus &Grinnellii) . . . i

h. Panicle narrow and subspicate; corolla dull yellowish or brownish, 1-1.5 cm.
long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. Rothrockii

h. Panicle open; corolla whitish, 1.5-2 cm. long P. breviflorus

i. Corolla generally less than IS mm. long . . . . . j

i. Corolla generally more than 15 mm. long (sometimes shorter in

P. monoens .... . . . . . 1

j. Inflorescence glandular-hairy P. heterodoxus .~

j. Inflorescence glabrous . . . . k
k. Plants mostly 2-5 dm. tall; staminode densely hairy P. Rydbergii

k. Plants mostly less than 2 dm. tall ; staminode glabrous or sparsely

hairy . . . . . . P.
1. Inflorescence glabrous or finely hairy, not glandular m

1. Inflorescence glandular (sparsely so in P. incertus) 0

m. Corolla reddish-purple to rose-lavender; anther-cells completely

dehiscent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. confusus

m. Corolla blue; anther-cells closed where they join n

n. Calyx-lobes mostly 8-12 mm. long; staminode glabrous or rarely bearded

P. speciosus ssp. Kennedyi

n. Calyx-lobes mostly 4-8 mm. long; staminode densely bearded near the tip . . .
P. speciosus var. pilifer

o. Stems finely and densely hairy below the inflorescence P. monoensis

o. Stems glabrous below the inflorescence . . . . p

p. Corolla rose-pink; plants herbaceous; leaves toothed P. floridus

p. Corolla whitish, violet, or blue; plants subshrubby . • q

q. Leaves dentate, lanceolate to obovate; staminode exserted from corolla

P. Grinnellii

q. Leaves entire, linear to narrowly lanceolate; staminode included within

corolla. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. incertus