Lactura subfervens sapeloensis Matson & Wagner

Matson, Tanner A., Wagner, David L. & Miller, Scott E., 2019, A Revision of North American Lactura (Lepidoptera, Zygaenoidea, Lacturidae), ZooKeys 846, pp. 75-116 : 75

Lactura subfervens sapeloensis Matson & Wagner ssp. n. Figs 17, 24, 33, 36, 43, 59, 63, Table 1

Notes.

Lactura subfervens collections from central and coastal Florida, and coastal Georgia show modest genetic differentiation (pairwise distance ~0.02) (Fig. 63) from L. subfervens populations found further west, i.e., from Alabama to Texas north into the Great Plains. We describe this geographic segregate as a new subspecies: Lactura subfervens sapeloensis . It is possible that the phylogeographic structure arose when central Florida was separated from the mainland during interglacial rises in sea level ( Neill 1957). In early May of 2017, Brian Scholtens and James Adams collected females of Lactura subfervens sapeloenisis from Sapelo Island, Georgia. While the neonates established on Sideroxylon celastrinum , mortality was high because there was little new growth on the plants: most larvae failed in the penultimate instar with only one making it into the final instar. The single final instar larva displayed a darker green dorsum (no photograph available) than the L. subfervens that we have imaged or reared from Texas. Given the large role that larval differences played in this work, it would be valuable if wild larvae from Sapelo Island, Georgia, or Florida, could be collected and evaluated to assess the larval features of these southeastern populations. As noted above, many have long misidentified some forms of this moth as L. basistriga (see L. subfervens Remarks).

Diagnosis.

Lactura subfervens sapeloensis is most easily identified by its Florida/Georgia distribution. We have not found consistent diagnostic characters that will distinguish it from L. subfervens in adult pattern or male genitalia. Female genitalia do show modest differentiation: there are 12 or13 coils in the ductus bursae of L. subfervens and nine or ten coils in our preparations of L. subfervens sapeloensis .

Etymology.

We derived this trinomen from Sapelo Island, Georgia, where the moth is particularly common, and from which most of the paratype series was collected.

Distribution and biology.

Lactura subfervens sapeloensis is found in coastal strand communities, mesic woodlands, thickets, flatwoods, scrublands, and edges of wetlands from central Florida, north into southeast Georgia (Fig. 53). The moth has been collected south to the Archbold Biological Station in Highlands Co., Florida, although recent collections from this area are modest in number. Its range overlaps with southeastern populations of L. pupula . We suspect that a primary hostplant for the larva will prove to be Sideroxylon tenax (a dominant Sideroxylon in Florida) instead of the more widely distributed Sideroxylon lanuginosum , which is used by L. pupula , L. rubritegula , and L. subfervens to the west. As far as known, there is one principle spring brood (Fig. 59).

Type material.

Holotype male, dry pinned, GA: McIntosh Co., Sapelo Island, Lighthouse Rd., salt marsh edge habitat (31°23'25.7"N, 81°16'55"W), 11-12 March 2016, light trap, James Adams & Brian Scholtens coll., genitalia slide # TAM–2017– 017, CO1 Barcode DLW– 000570, Voucher Code TAM0003, Deposited at USNM, Washington D.C., USA. Paratypes adults (14♂, 14♀): GA: McIntosh Co., Sapelo Island, Beach Rd nr. greenhouse (31.397436N, 81.274092W), 21-22 April 2017, MV light, Tanner A. Matson coll. (1♀) (FMNH); GA: McIntosh Co., Sapelo Island, Lighthouse Rd., salt marsh edge habitat (31°23'25.7"N, 81°16'55"W), 11-12 March 2016, light trap, James Adams & Brian Scholtens coll., genitalia slide # TAM–2017– 018, Voucher Code TAM0010 (1♂) (UCMS); GA: Camden Co., Little Cumberland Island (30°58'N, 81°25'W), 15-19 March 1997, W. E. Steiner et al. coll., CO1 Barcode LNAUV110-16, LNAUV174-16, Voucher Code USNMENT 01237375, 01237311 (1♂, 2♀) (USNM); FL: [Highlands Co.], Lake Placid, Archbold Bio. Sta., 27 March 1959, Ronald W. Hodges coll., genitalia slide 827, CO1 Barcode LNAUS279-12, Voucher Code USNMENT 00831263 (1♀) (USNM); FL: Marion Co., Hopkins Prairie (29.275N, 81.692W), 18 March 2013, Jim Vargo coll. (2♀) (FMNH); FL: Martin Co., Hopkins Prairie (27.00N, 80.142W), 05 February 2014, Jim Vargo coll. (1♂) (UCMS); GA: McIntosh Co., Sapelo Island, Lighthouse (31.391500N, 81.285703W), 17 July 2015, UV light trap, Lance Durden coll., BGS collection #BGSGA05096 (1♂) (CC); GA: McIntosh Co., Sapelo Island, Nannygoat Beach dunes (31.390N, 81.265W), 10 May 2012, UV light trap, Lance Durden coll., BGS collection #BGSGA02307 (1♂) (CC); GA: McIntosh Co., Sapelo Island, Old Beach Rd. (31.4064N, 81.2592W), 21 May 2014, UV light trap, John Hyatt coll., BGS collection #BGSGA02318 (1♂) (CC); GA: McIntosh Co., Sapelo Island, Lighthouse Rd., salt marsh edge habitat (31°23'25.7"N, 81°16'55"W), 11-12 March 2016, light trap, James Adams and Brian Scholtens coll., BGS collection #BGSGA02636, #BGSGA02637, #BGSGA02638, #BGSGA02639 (1♂, 3♀) (CC); GA: McIntosh Co., Sapelo Island, trailer opening (31.399N, 81.281W), 10 Mar 2016, MV light, Brian Scholtens coll., BGS collection #BGSGA02640 (1♀) (CC); GA, McIntosh Co., Sapelo Island, dune ca. bridge (31.3917N, 81.2685W), 11 March 2016, UV light trap, Brian Scholtens coll., BGS collection #BGSGA02641 (1♂) (CC); GA, McIntosh Co., Sapelo Island, Nannygoat Beach dunes (31.390N, 81.265W), 10 Mar 2016, UV light trap, Brian Scholtens coll., BGS collection #BGSGA02642 (1♂) (CC); GA: McIntosh Co., Sapelo Island, Lighthouse Rd., salt marsh edge habitat (31°23'25.7"N, 81°16'55"W), 11-12 March 2016, light trap, James Adams & Brian Scholtens coll., (3♂, 2♀) (JKA); GA: McIntosh Co., Sapelo Island, beach habitat, end of Beach Rd. light trap (31°23'26.5"N, 81°15'54.5"W), 10-12 March 2016, James K. Adams & Brian Scholtens coll., (1♂) (JKA); same locality, 8-10 March 2017, James K. Adams & Brian Scholtens coll. (1♂, 1♀) (JKA); GA: McIntosh Co., Sapelo Island, near UGA dorms (31°23'54"N, 81°16'51"W), 12 March 2016, at light trap, James Adams coll. (1♀)(JKA).