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Hironaka, M., M. A. Fosberg & A. H. Winvvard. 1983. Sagebrush-grass habitat types of southern Idaho. University of Idaho Forest, Wildlife, and Range Bulletin, No. 35, Moscow, Idaho. 44 pp.
Kelsey, R. G & F. Shafizadeh. 1979. Sesquiterpene lactones and systematics of the genus Artemisia. Phytochem. 18:1591-1611.
Knick, S. T. 1999. Requiem for a sagebrush ecosystem? Northwest Sci. 73(l):53-57.
Knick, S. T. & J. T. Rotenberry. L997. Landscape characteristics of disturbed shrubsteppe habitats in southwestern Idaho (U.S.A.). Landscape Ecol. 12:287-297.
Lawton, J. H. 1983. Plant architecture and the diversity of phytophagous insects. Ann. Rev. Entom. 28:23-39.
McArthur, E. D. 2000. Sagebrush systematics and distribution. Pages 9-14. In P. G. Entwistle, A. M. Debolt, J. H. Kaltenecker & K. Steenhof (compilers). Proceedings: Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystems Symposium. Bureau of Land Management Publication No. BLM/ID/PT-001001 + 1150, Boise, Idaho, U.S.A.
McArthur, E. D. & A. P. Plummer. 1978. Biogeography and management of native western shrubs: A case study, section Tri-dentatae of Artemisia. Intermountain Biogeography: A Symposium. Great Basin Nat. Memoirs. 2:229-243.
McArthur, E. D., B. L. Welch & S. C. Sanderson. 1988. Natural and artificial hybridization between big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) subspecies. J. Heredity 79:268-276.
McArthur, E. D., J. Mudce, R. Van Buren, W. R Anderson, S. C. Sanderson & D. G. Babbel. 1998. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis (RAPD) of Artemisia subgenus Triden-tatae species and hybrids. Great Basin Nat. 58:12-27.
McFarland, N. 1974. Notes on three species of Hemileuca (Sat-urniidae) from eastern Oregon and California. J. Lepid. Soc. 28:136-141.
Messina, F. J., J. H. Richards & E. D. McArthur. 1996. Variable responses of insects to hybrid versus parental sagebrush in a common garden. Oecologia 107:513-521.
Miller R. F. & L. M. Shultz. 1987 Development and longevity of ephemera] and perennial leaves on Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. wyomingensis. Great Basin Nat. 47(2)-.227-230.
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 56(3), 2002, 176-178
Barnes and Benjamin (1925) described albipuncta as a form of Xanthothrix ranunculi based on two individuals, a male holotype and a female allotype, collected 10 April 1902 at Kaweah, Tulare Co., California. The moths were described as having "head, thorax and forewing black dusted with olivaceous, the latter with a round white spot near end of cell. Secondaries blackish."
Xanthothrix ranunculi was described by Henry Edwards (1878) from Havilah, Kern Co., California, and most specimens seen are from Lovejoy Buttes, Los Angeles Co., California. These moths were described as, "Primaries wholly rich buff, sometimes pale orange when very fresh, but upon some scales being removed, showing a blackish tint. Secondaries, dusky along the costa, apical margin and at base, buff in the center, and towards the anal angle. . ." Comstock and Henne
Pierson, F. B. & J. R. Wight. 1991. Variability of near-surface temperature on sagebrush rangeland. J. Range Man. 44:491-497.
Shultz, L. M. 1984. Taxonomic and geographic limits of Artemisia subgenus Tridentatae (Beetle) McArthur (Asteraceae: An-themideae). Pages 20-28. In E. D. McArthur, B. L. Welch (compilers). Proceedings—Symposium on the Biology of Artemisia and Chrysothamnus, July 9-13 1984, Provo Utah. Genera Technical Report INT-200, USDA, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, 1986, 398 pp.
Stafford, M. P 1987. Insect interactions with four species of sagebrush (Artemisia) in southeastern Idaho. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho.
Stone, S. E. 1991. Foodplants of world Saturniidae. Memoir Number 4, The Lepidopterists' Society.
Stone, S. E. & M. J. Smith. 1990. Buckmoths (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae: Hemileuca) in relation to southwestern vegetation and foodplants. Desert Plants 10 (l):13-30.
Stone, S. E., D. E. Swift & R. S. Peigler. 1988. The life history of Hemileuca magnifica (Saturniidae) with notes on Hemileuca hera marcata. J. Res. Lepid. 26(l-4):225-235.
Strong, D. R., J. H. Lawton & R. Southwood. 1984. Insects on plants, community patterns and mechanisms. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Tuskes, P. M. 1984. The biology and distribution of California Hemileucinae (Saturniidae). J. Lepid. Soc. 38:281-309.
Tuskes, P. M., J. P. Tuttle & M. M. Collins. 1996. The wild silk-moths of North America: A natural history of the Saturniidae of the United States and Canada. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, New York. 250 pp.
Nancy Hampton, 545 E. 13th Street, Idaho Falls, Idaho, 83404, USA
Received for publication 10 September 2001, revised and accepted 5 March 2002.
(1940) described their early stages, and reported the hostplant is Coreopsis douglasii (Asteraceae). Poole (1994) makes no mention of form albipuncta.
On 21 March 1990, I collected three individuals of a small moth flying near Coreopsis stillnianii (Asteraceae) on a steep, south-facing slope above the middle fork of the American River, 13 mi. NE of Auburn, Placer Co., California. One, a worn specimen, fit the description of Xanthothrix ranunculi form albipuncta; the two fresh specimens had gold forewings with a light yellow spot near the end of the cell. The habitat consisted of annual grasses and flowering plants surrounded by foothill woodland. At the same locality, in March 1998 the moths were numerous and were often seen sitting on the Coreopsis flower heads. More individuals were collected and the association with Coreopsis observed. Alvin Ludtke collected females and Coreopsis still-
REDISCOVERY OF AND NOTES ON XANTHOTHRIX RANUNCULI FORM ALRIPUNCTA BARNES & BENJAMIN, 1925 (NOCTUTDAE: STIRIINAE)
Additional key words: discal spot, Coreopsis.
Volume 56, Number 3
177
Ww #fw WfW
Fk;. 1. Xanthothrix ranunculi form albipuncta. Columns 1 and 2, Mariposa Co., showing variation. Column 1 top, Scotch Gulch, 6 mi. SE of Coulterville, Mariposa Co., CA, 29-111-1999, others, same locality but 22-111-2000. Column 3 Placer Co. 2 mi. E of Ruek-A-Chueky Falls, middle fork of the American River, 13 mi. NE of Auburn, Placer Co., CA. Top 27-111-1999, bottom 19-111-1998.
manni from the site to attempt rearing. The females oviposited on these plants, and larvae (which fed on the developing achenes) were reared through the third in-star. The larvae were then moved to a perennial garden Coreopsis, on which they fed for a while, then died, for unknown reasons, without pupating.
In March 1999 and March 2000, D. Brown and I collected these moths southeast of Coulterville, Mariposa Co., California resting on the flower heads of Coreopsis stillmanii. Goldfields, Lasthenia (Aster-aceae) were growing with the Coreopsis there but the moths did not rest on their flower heads. Unlike in Placer Co., the habitat there was on serpentine soils, and Buck Brush, Ceanothus cuneatus, dominated the flora. These moths very closely resembled the Placer Co. moths, although a greater number of them had a dull, gray-green color to the forewing, with the forewing spot closer to white. This coloring was most marked in worn individuals, but was also characteristic of some fresh individuals, on which the long scales on the forewing were a very light yellow rather than gold. No individuals were found in an April 1999 visit to the type locality. On March 18, 2001 the moths were found, again associated with Coreopsis stillmanii, on an area of serpentine soils in Tuolumne Co.
FlG. 2. Mature larva of Xantlwthrix ranunculi form albipuncta on Coreopsis stillmanii. Reared ex ovum from a female collected 2 mi. E of Ruck-A-Chucky Falls, middle fork of the American River, 13 mi. NE of Auburn, Placer Co., CA. Scale at top of photograph in millimeters.
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The Placer and Mariposa Co. moths appear more golden than the worn type of albipuncta, suggesting that the gold scaling on the forewings is gradually lost causing the wings to appear olivaceous in older specimens. All Mojave Desert specimens of ranunculi lack the yellowish spot near the apex of the discal cell that is present in albipuncta.
It is likely that albipuncta and ranunculi are different species. Xanthothrix ranunculi is golden yellow, is apparently restricted to the Mojave Desert, uses Coreopsis douglasii as a food plant, and lacks a forewing spot near the apex of the discal cell. Xanthothrix ranunculi form albipuncta has golden forewings and blackish hindwings, is apparently restricted to the lower, grassy foothills of the Sierra Nevada, uses Coreopsis stillmanii as a food plant, and has a light yellow forewing spot near the apex of the discal cell. Philotiella speciosa and its subspecies bohartorum (Ly-caenidae), which also may be a separate species, display a similar disjunct distribution.
Plants were identified using Hickman (1993).
I thank Alvin Ludtke, North Highlands, California, for assistance in the field, for rearing efforts, for the photograph of the larva, and for many discussions about these moths; Tim McCabe, New York State Museum, for advice on the identity of the moths;
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 56(3), 2002, 178-179
The Sphingidae of Louisiana were reported by Brou and Brou (1997) in a 26-year study treating abundance, distribution, and flight periods. We listed 55 species of Sphingidae recorded for Louisiana and 46 species documented by our study. The quantity of adult sphingidae captured from 1970 to 1995 for the state of Louisiana totaled 71,836 specimens. This brief article is intended to add to and finalize our previous investigations. No newly recorded species were encountered during these four years, nor were species newly encountered in bait traps versus light traps than were previously reported. This addendum, representing four years (1996-1999) yielded 12,053 specimens
Steve Heydon, University of California, Davis, for obtaining the Henry Edwards paper, and for taking the photograph of the adults; and John DeBenedicits, University of California, Davis for suggestions which greatly improved this note. I also thank my wife, Doris Brown, for companionship and help in the field.
Literature Cited
Barnes, W. & F. H. Benjamin. 1925. New and rare Lepidoptera from the Southwest. Pan-Pac. Entolom. 11:12-15.
Comstock, J. A. & C. Henne. 1940. Notes on early stages of Xanthothrix ranunculi. Bull. So. Calif. Acad. Sci. 9:198-199.
Edwards, H. 1878. Pacific Coast Lepidoptera, No. 29. Description of some new genera and species of Noctudiae. Proc. Calif. Acad, of Sci. 29:7.
Hickman, J. (ed.). 1993. The Jepsen Manual. Higher Plants of California. University of California Press. 1400 pp.
Poole, R. W. 1994. Noctuoidea, Noctuidae (Part). In R. B. Do-minick et al., The Moths of North America north of Mexico, fasc. 26.1:113-114.
Priestaf, R. C. & J. F. Emmel. 1998. An extraordinary new subspecies of Philotiella speciosa (LEPIDOPTERA: LY-CAENIDAE) from Coastal Santa Barbara County, California. Pg. 283-284 In T. C. Emmel (ed.), Systematica of Western North American Butterflies. Mariposa Press. 878 pp.
William D. Patterson, 2624 4th Avenue Sacramento, California 95818, USA
Received for publication 19 January 2001; revised and accepted 3 December 2001
representing 36 species (Table 1). Fermenting bait traps were operated only in 1996-1997, while ultraviolet light traps were operated all four years. These additional records represent 30 consecutive years of Sphingidae records for the state of Louisiana, totaling 83,889 captured adults.
Total trap hours expended during the 30 year investigation were in excess of 1.4 million hours, involving 491,000 ultraviolet light trap hours and 913,000 fermenting bait trap hours. Specimens retained during this addendum period are deposited in Florida State Collection of Arthropods (Gainesville) and Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge).
ADDENDUM TO THE SPHINGIDAE OF LOUISIANA
Additional key words: bait traps, hawkmoths, light traps, Louisiana, sphinx moths.