Protorthodes alfkenii (Grote, 1895)

Lafontaine, J. Donald, Walsh, J. Bruce & Ferris, Clifford D., 2014, A revision of the genus Protorthodes McDunnough with descriptions of a new genus and four new species (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Noctuinae, Eriopygini), ZooKeys 421, pp. 139-179 : 155-156

Taxon classification Animalia Lepidoptera Noctuidae

Protorthodes alfkenii (Grote, 1895) Figs 41-43, 68, 85; Map 12

Perigea alfkenii Grote, 1895: 79.

Perigea latens Smith, 1908a: 92.

Taeniocampa occluna Smith, 1909: 64.

Type material.

Perigea alfkenii : syntypes, 1 ♂ male, 2 ♀ females, USNM, examined. Type locality: [southwestern USA]. Perigea latens : lectotype ♂, USNM, examined. Type locality: California, San Diego. Taeniocampa occluna : holotype ♂, USNM, examined. Type locality: New Mexico, Mesilla Park.

Note.

The name Perigea perplexa was listed without description by Smith (1893) and credited to Grote by virtue of Grote distributing the name through his check lists, which lacked any description. Grote described Perigea alfkenii in 1895 and lists Perigea perplexa as his check list manuscript name for it. Hampson (1909) lists Perigea perplexa as an unavailable senior synonym of Perigea alfkenii and credits the name to Smith. Franclemont and Todd (1983) simply list Protorthodes [ Perigea ] perplexa (Grote, 1895) as a synonym of Protorthodes alfkenii . The name, neither validated, nor made available, should be deleted from the synonymy.

Diagnosis.

Protorthodes alfkenii is an extremely variable species in terms of size, ground color, and pattern, yet with practice it usually is easily identified by a combination of features. The orbicular spot usually is rounded, surrounded by a thin black line, and the spot itself usually is paler than the ground color, often contrasting so; the reniform spot is oblique, unlike other species in the genus, with the lower part of the spot projecting toward the anal angle of the wing; the light and dark marks on the forewing, and the tendency for longitudinal streaks on the wing, give the forewing a busy appearance instead of the softer, more even ground pattern of most other species. The hindwing in males, and many females, is white, often with a slight pearly sheen, with fuscous shading confined to the veins and outer part of the wing. Some females have more extensive fuscous shading on the hindwings, but usually a pearly sheen is still evident. Forewing length varies from 11 to 14 mm. The male genitalia differ from those of other species of Protorthodes in that the digitus is long and pointed, projecting below the ventral margin of the valve at a right angle, the ampulla of the clasper is almost straight, projecting dorsoposteriorly toward the upper part of the cucullus, then bending abruptly through 90°near its apex to project ventrally. The vesica has 2½ medial coils and projects anterolaterally to the right from the end of the aedeagus. In the female genitalia the appendix bursae has two full coils and is at the posterior end of the corpus bursae on the left side. The ductus bursae is long and cylindrical, about 7 × as long as wide with the posterior 4/5th lightly sclerotized.

Distribution and biology.

Protorthodes alfkenii is the most abundantly collected species in the American Southwest, including southern California. It occurs from central Oregon, southern Idaho, central Wyoming, and northwestern Texas southward to southern Mexico. It occurs mainly in open arid woodlands and although its range surrounds the Great Basin, it is largely absent from the Basin. Adults were collected in the South from April until late June and again from early September to early November. In the Pacific Northwest they fly mid-July to late September. The larva was described by Crumb (1956) and Godfrey (1972).