Feralia februalis Grote 1874

Feralia februalis Grote, 1874, Bull. Buffalo Soc. Nat. Sci., 2:60.

Diagnosis: Feralia februalis and meadowsi are easily recognized by the presence of quill like spines mixed in with the hairs on the tergites of the abdomen. The hindwing is white without the dark suffusions or patches of the other species in Feralia and with only a hint of a postmedial line and discal dot. Both species usually have a distinctive blue tint to the forewing. Feralia februalis and meadowsi are superficially very similar. The forewing of meadowsi is usually distinctly lighter and often bluer than februalis. The forewing of meadowsi also has a distinctive hoary appearance not found in februalis. Good characters separating the two species can be found in the male genitalia. In particular the valve of februalis is much narrower than that of meadowsi. The various ratios of valve length to sacculus width are given in the key to species. Wing length from base to apex: mean = 15.93 mm., standard deviation = 0.92 mm., n = 10.

Distribution: Feralia februalis ranges from Oregon to southern California. A great deal of variation in forewing color exists within populations. Forewing color ranges from green to yellow green to blue green. A few specimens have black patches in the basal area and as a thick black line following the postmedial line. I have not noted any correlation between individual variability and geography. This species flies early in the spring

Identification Quality: Excellent

Larva: The larva has been described by Crumb (1956). The larva has a very conspicuous conical hump on abdominal segment 8 and the pedicil of the antenna is yellow, two characters separating this species from other species in Feralia. This species, and presumably meadowsi, have distinctly different habits than the remaining species of the genus, feeding on deciduous shrubs and trees rather than conifers and in distinctly more xeric habitats.

Foodplants: The larva has been described by Crumb (1956) who lists Cercocarpus betuloides Nutt. and Quercus douglasi Hook. & Arn. as hosts. Buckett [1968] lists other deciduous trees and shrubs.

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