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42 Buckett: Lithophane mate found Vol. 22, no. 1

DESCRIPTION OF THE MALE OF LITHOPHANE GAUSAPATA (NOCTUIDAE)

John S. Buckett

Bureau of Entomology, State Agriculture Building, Sacramento, California

Until recently, the male of Lithophane gausapata Grote was unknown. This species was described in 1883. Quite a few specimens exist in various collections today. With over fifty specimens having been examined in past years, it was astounding to find only females! In the Noctuidae, this is one of the few examples known to the author in which the females are the most commonly represented; usually males are more abundant whenever one sex is predominant over the other. It seems strange that males of gausapata have not been collected in the past, and no clear explanation of this situation is yet apparent.

The majority of the individuals examined had been attracted to fluorescent black light; however, a few had been collected at incandescent white light. This species occurs at moderate elevations where a variety of conifers occur, of which one or more species probably provide a larval food source for gausapata.

When Grote originally described gausapata, he stated "Allied to Petulca." Smith (1893, 1900) placed gausapata and other Lithophane in the genus Xylina. Hampson (1906) placed this species in Graptolitha along with other species previously referred to Lithophane and Xylina. Draudt (in Seitz, 1923) followed Hampson in placing gausapata near ferralis Grote in the genus Graptolitha, but the colored plate is misleading as to color. The illustration of ferralis is much too brown, even though in the text Draudt states of gausapata "is somewhat similar to ferralis . . . but without its light costal area, on the dark red-brown ground somewhat irrorated with grey. . . ." One might infer that gausapata was brownish, whereas in reality it is greyish. Today Graptolitha is considered congeneric with Lithophane, the latter having priority.

Lithophane gausapata Grote

Lithophane gausapata Grote, 1883; Papilio 3(4) :77.

Xylina gausapata, Smith, 1893; Bull. United States Natl. Mus., No. 44, p. 227. Smith,

1900; Trans. Amer. Entomol. Soc. 27:14, 22. Graptolitha gausapata, McDunnough, 1938; Mem. So. Calif. Acad. Sci. 1:83.

Male: Ground color of primaries grey, irrorated with whitish scalation; secondaries dull pinkish brown. Head with vertex clothed in brownish, whitish and grey simple hairs and elongate scales; frons clothed with short whitish and brownish

1968

Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society

43

**V>^V*:**

f

Fig. 1. Lithophane gausapata, mal May 1965 ( R. R. Pinger). Fig

e. Hat Creek, Shasta County, California, 10 gausapata, female. Johnsville, Plumas County,

California, 10 April 1964 (Helena J. Pini).

hairs, dorsally with brown band; palpi clothed in whitish and brownish scales and hairs, giving pinkish effect; antennae with scape and pedicle clothed in white scales, flagellar segments dorsally clothed in whitish scales for basal V8^l\ thence clothed in brown scales; ventrally weakly fasciculate (under 90x), eyes weakly lashed. Thorax with collar weakly represented in maroon; dorsally with spreading, divided

44 Buckett: Lithophane mate found Vol. 22, no. 1

Fig. 3. L. gausapata, male genitalia minus aedeagus. Data same as in Fig. 1 (Bauer-Buckett slide No. 65F8-1). Fig. 4. L. gausapata, aedeagus of male genitalia. Data same as Fig. 1.

tricolor anterior tufts, basally greyish, preapically maroon, apically white-tipped; disc composed of elongate white-tipped scales with terminal portion of each scale deeply cleft or dentate; ventrally clothed in whitish and pinkish simple hairs; legs clothed in an admixture of whitish and maroon scales and hairs; ungues weakly bifid, ventro-terminally slightly serrate; primaries dorsally greyish, ordinary cross lines weakly defined, or very obscure; basal line represented costally by dark

1968

Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society

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brownish scalation; basal and transverse anterior areas inner marginally with rust-maroon scalation; transverse anterior line geminate, weakly represented in dark-brown, but one of the more prominent cross lines; orbicular barely discernable, greyish; reniform outlined in dark brown, centrally filled with rust-maroon scales, fading into ground color costally; transverse posterior line serrate, represented costally in brown, thence obliquely outcurved around reniform, thence nearly parallelling outer margin; terminal-subterminal areas greyish, but with pinkish hue; terminal line concolorous with ground color; ventrally quite glossy, costally whitish, remainder of surface dull brown; reniform very weakly represented in dark brown; transverse posterior line weakly represented, or wanting; secondaries dorsally pinkish brown; veins outlined in dark brown; discal lunule weakly represented; fringes pinkish; ventral surface pinkish, discal lunule dark brown, prominent; surface irro-rated with maroon scalation. Abdomen dorsally clothed in brownish, maroon, and whitish scales and hairs; ventrally clothed in pinkish and whitish simple hairs. Greatest expanse of forewing ± 17 mm. Genitalia as in figures 3 and 4. Female: Ground color as in male, but with greater proportion of white scales, therefore appearing light grey; antennae minutely setose-ciliate; ventral surface of wings more irrorated with whitish, therefore appearing washed out, or very light grey; otherwise as in male. Greatest expanse of forewing ±19 mm.

Material Examined

The genitalic illustrations were prepared by aid of a bioscope, additions and/or corrections being made by use of a dissecting microscope. CALIFORNIA: 1$, Nevada City, Nevada County, February, 1954 (E. C. Zimmerman), 1$, March, 1954 (E. C. Zimmerman); 1?, Johnsville, Plumas County, November, 1959 (H. J. Pini); 1$, 5 June 1960 (W. R. Bauer & J. S. Buckett); 2$, 20 May 1963 (H. I. P.); 2 $, 25 May 1963 (J. S. B.); 7$, 16-30 April 1964 (H. J. P.); 1$, Idyllwild, Riverside County, 16 April 1952 (C. Hill); 12, Hat Creek, Shasta County, 12 June 1952 (G. Pronin); 1 $ , 27 May 1952 (G. Pronin); 3$, 14$, Hat Creek, Shasta County, 5 May-1 June 1965 (R. R. Pinger); 1$, Mather, Tuolumne County, 9 March 1934 (E. Wolthur); 1$, Twain Harte, Tuolumne County, 26 March 1965 (M. Lundgren); 1 2, 17 April 1964 (M. Lundgren); 12, 4,000', 23 May, 1964 (M. R. & S. H. Lundgren). OREGON: 12, Eugene, Lane County, 1 November 1962 (K. Goeden).

Acknowledgments

I would like to extend appreciation to my colleague Mr. William R. Bauer for excellent preparation of the genitalic slide. I would like to also thank Dr. Paul Arnaud, Jr. of the California Academy of Sciences for allowing me to examine material contained in that institution.

Literature Cited

Smith, J. B., 1893. Catalogue of the Lepidopterous Superfamily Noctuidae found

in Boreal America. Bull. U. S. Natl. Mus., No. 44. 1900. Contributions toward a monograph of the North American Noctuidae,

revision of the genus Xylina Ochs. Trans. Amer. Entomol. Soc. 27:14, 22. IIampson, G. F., 1906. Catalogue of the Noctuidae in the collection of the British

Museum. Taylor and Francis Pub. Co., London, England, 532 -)- xiv pp. Sejtz, A. A., 1923. The Macrolepidoptera of the World. Vol. 7. Stuttgart. 412pp.,

96 plates.