Catocala californiensis Brower, 1976

Hawks, David, 2010, Review of the Catocala delilah species complex (Lepidoptera, Erebidae), ZooKeys 39 (39), pp. 13-35 : 27-28

Catocala californiensis Brower

Fig. 17

Catocala californiensis Brower, 1976: 30

Type material. Catocala californiensis : holotype ♁ [ USNM, examined]. Type locality: Ranch two and one half miles south-southwest of Valyermo, Los Angeles Co[unty], Calif[ornia, USA].

Diagnosis. Catocala californiensis is most similar to C. johnsoniana in forewing coloration, and to C. benjamini mayhewi in hindwing coloration. However, on the forewing, C. johnsoniana has a conspicuous basal dash (lacking or very small in C. californiensis ), and longer teeth in the postmedial line with a shorter and wider inner hindwing black band than in C. californiensis .

Etymology. I suggest the common name “Ashy-gray Underwing” for C. californiensis based on Brower’s description of the forewing ground color. The “ California Underwing” is probably best applied to C. californica W. H. Edwards (1864) .

Distribution and biology. Catocala californiensis occurs in southern California along the desert-facing slopes of the Peninsular and Transverse Ranges to the southeastern edge of the Coast Ranges in Santa Barbara County. County records for USA are as follows. CALIFORNIA: Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura. Th e immature stages of C californiensis have been described and the larva figured by Johnson (1985). Larvae feed on Quercus cornelius-mulleri at the San Bernardino, Riverside, and San Diego County localities, and they probably feed on Q. turbinella at the Los Angeles, Kern, Santa Barbara, and Ventura county localities. Adults have been collected from mid-June to late August. Th e northwestern-most populations represent a distinctive new subspecies (Hawks, in prep.).