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178

Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society

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.

Volume 56, Number 3

179

TABLE 1. List of species and number of individuals collected between 1996 and 1999.

Species                                               Number of adults

Literature Cited

Brou, Vernon A. & C. D. Brou. 1997. Distribution and phenologies of Louisiana Sphingidae. J. Lepid. Soc. 51:156-175.

Vernon A. Brou Jr. and Charlotte D. Brou, 74320 Jack Loyd Road, Abita Springs, Louisiana 70420 USA Email: vabrou@bellsouth.net

Received for publication 15 October 2001; revised and accepted 26 February 2002.