Stamnodes albiapicata Grossbeck, 1910

Matson, Tanner A., 2023, A review of Mexican Stamnodes (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) with the description of 16 new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 911, pp. 1-79 : 70

Stamnodes albiapicata Grossbeck, 1910

Figs 40 , 90 , 94–95

Stamnodes albiapicata Grossbeck, 1910: 202 . Type locality: Redington, Arizona, USA. [USNM].

Stamnodes albiapicata – Grossbeck 1912: 283. — Swett 1915: 155, 156.— McDunnough 1938: 151 (checklist). — McFarland 1965: 62. — Ferguson 1983: 103 (checklist). — Furniss et al. 1988: 7. — Poole & Gentili 1996: 686 (checklist). — Scoble 1999: 901 (catalogue). — Brown & Bash 2000: 73. — Brown 2004: 110. — Powell 2005: 369. — Scoble & Hausmann 2007 (online catalogue). — Powell & Opler 2009: 226, pl. 32 figs 22–23. — Lee 2014: e86 (inventory). — Pohl et al. 2016: 448 (checklist). — Rajaei et al. 2022 (online catalogue).

Diagnostic remarks

In the USA, this taxon may be difficult to distinguish from closely related congeners, especially at the northern end of its range in California. In Mexico, however, this species cannot be confused with other members of the genus.

Distribution

Mexico: Stamnodes albiapicata is found in the chaparral associations, canyons, and Pacific coastal scrub communities of Baja California. Records extend well into the Baja California Desert as far south as El Rosario. So far as known, no moths have been taken from Sonora, though it is recorded a short distance away in Pima Co., Arizona ( USA). USA: Stamnodes albiapicata ranges from Southern California to just south of the Bay Area, and east to central Arizona.

Biology

There is a single winter flight from December through February with a few individuals persisting into March. Larvae directly follow the adult flight and are found on new foliage in the spring. McFarland (1965) lists various hydrophylloid Boraginaceae as the hosts of this species, including Phacelia Juss. , Pholistoma Lilja , and Nemophila Nutt. David L. Wagner and I have collected larvae ( Fig. 90 ) from both Phacelia and Pholistoma in California.Additional unpublished life history details and larval illustrations are forthcoming (Matson & Wagner in prep.).

Molecular characterization

This species is represented in BOLD as BIN: BOLD: AAF2594 (n = 29). At present, the average pairwise intraspecific distance is 0.44% and the pairwise maximum intraspecific distance is 1.44%.

Figures

Figs31–40.Adult StamnodesGuenée,[1858],dorsal(a)andventral(b)views.31.S.costimacula(Grossbeck, 1912) (DLW). 32. S. cassinoi Swett, 1917 (DLW). 33. S. annellata (Hulst, 1887) (USNMENT01771252). 34. S. seiferti (Neumoegen, 1882) (USNMENT01771250). 35. S. tenebrosa sp. nov., holotype, ♂ (AMNH_IZC 00352924). 36. S. affiliata Pearsall, 1911 (DLW). 37. S. reckseckeri Pearsall, 1910 (USNMENT01771257). 38. S. apollo Cassino, 1920 (USNMENT01771258). 39. S. agapetica (Dyar, 1916) (USNMENT01771259). 40. S. albiapicata Grossbeck, 1910 (USNMENT01771253). Scale bar = 1 cm.

Figs 90–93. Final instar larval variation of North American species of Stamnodes Guenée, [1858]. 90. S. albiapicata Grossbeck, 1910, collected from Pholistoma membranaceum (Benth.) Constance; USA: California: San Diego Co. (2017C29); photo credit Moria L. Robinson. 91. S. coenonymphata (Hulst, 1900) collected from Cercocarpus betuloides Nutt.; USA: California: Sonoma Co. (2018E171). 92. S. formosata (Strecker, 1878) collected from Cercocarpus montanus Raf.; USA: Arizona: Cochise Co. (2014K98), photo credit David L. Wagner. 93. S. fergusoni Matson & Wagner, 2020, collected from Salvia pinguifolia (Fernald) Wooton & Standl.; USA: New Mexico: Lincoln Co. (2018J32), photo credit David L. Wagner (Matson & Wagner 2020).

Fig. 94. COI neighbour-joining tree for Mexican Stamnodes Guenée, [1858] using default Kimura-2P model in the Barcode of Life Project (BOLD). Taxon names followed by BOLD Process ID.

Fig. 95. Biogeographic associations of Mexican Stamnodes Guenée, [1858]. (*) denotes species found in two or more provinces. Underlying biogeographic provincial map taken from Morrone (2020: fig. 4.5) with permission to reproduce this figure granted by author Juan J. Morrone.