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[Vol. 90 
at 3°C beginning 8 hr after pupation). The usual spectrum of 
phenotypic response was observed. About one-third of the animals 
which eclosed were seriously crippled and unusable for mating tests. 
The remainder — 46 females in toto — were classified into three more 
or less arbitrary phenotypic categories: (i) essentially unaltered (fig. 
2e), (ii) bandless but with ocelli unaltered (figs. 2a-d), and (iii) 
bandless and with ocelli obsolete (fig. 20- These were used in 
experiments modeled on Scott’s and Hafernik’s, carried out on a 
total of 9 days at Suisun City, Solano County, and Rancho 
Cordova, Sacramento County, in urban vacant lots and annual 
grassland from late September to early November 1982. Wild male 
coenia were common throughout this period. 
My methodology differed from Hafernik’s in a few points. Virgin 
females were held, unfed and unflown, in the dark at 3°C for 3 to 1 1 
days before use. This treatment did not diminish their attractiveness 
relative to Hafernik’s females. They were transported in a cooler in 
the dark to the study sites and allowed to warm in the sun (air 
temperatures 14-24° C). After a test they were usually recaptured, 
rechilled for at least 15 min, and re-used. A few were lost, and about 
one-fourth mated successfully and were not re-used. As in Hafer- 
nik’s work, only releases in which the male at least investigated the 
female were scored. Females were considered to have elicited a 
courtship if the male either attempted to copulate or remained 
oriented toward the female for at least 20 sec. The durations of 
about a third of the courtships were recorded. 
The percentages courted were overall higher than seen by Hafer- 
nik. For Point Richmond, California female coenia X male coenia 
at Point Richmond, Hafernik had 64% courtship. When female 
nigrosujfusa from Texas were used, this dropped to 10%. My corre- 
sponding figures (table 1) are 74% and (pooled classes ii and iii) 
49%. The difference remains highly significant, however, and the 
discrepancy in frequency may be due to differences in weather 
conditions or to the torpidity of my females. For timed courtships, 
bandless females elicited less persistence than banded ones, but the 
difference was not statistically significant. Most of the actual 
copulations were essentially instantaneous, regardless of phenotype. 
This experiment does not rule out pheromones in Precis court- 
ship, but as in previous work indicates that visual cues are impor- 
