Noctuidae - Psaphidinae - Psaphidini

 

 

Psaphida styracis (Guenee) 1852

Taeniocampa styracis Guenée, 1852, in Boisduval and Guenée, Histoire Naturelle des Insectes. Species General des Lépidoptéres, 5:357.

Copipanolis cubilis Grote, 1874, Sixth Ann. Rept. Trustees Peabody Acad. Sci. for 1873, p. 26.

Copipanolis stigma Smith, 1890, Ent. Americana, 6:220.

Copipanolis borealis Smith, 1892, Proc. U. S. Natl. Mus., l5:62.

Copipanolis fasciata Smith, 1892, Proc. U. S. Natl. Mus., 15:62.

Diagnosis: Psaphida styracis is the only brown species of the genus. The pointed wings, fuzzy appearance, pectinate male antennae, and fawn brown coloration make it one of the more distinctive noctuids in North America. The vesica spines tend to be arranged in distinct, but intersecting rows. No basal diverticulum is present. Wing length from base to apex: mean = 17.13 mm., standard deviation = 0.71 mm., n = 10.

Distribution: (See Map Below) Psaphida styracis occurs from southern Ontario and southern New England, west to Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Missouri, and south to eastern Texas and Florida. The species has not yet been recorded from the central-southern states, e.g. West Virginia, western Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, or North Carolina. Psaphida styracis is apparently common at times. The most interesting aspect of styracis is its variability. The species is particularly variable in the northern half of its range. Two chief factors typify it variability; the darkness of the brown color and the intensity of the maculation. Forewing color varies from dull straw yellow to dark fawn brown. Darker specimens seem to predominate. The orbicular mark, reniform mark, and the terminal third of the forewing of some specimens are contrastingly lighter and grayer, only the orbicular and reniform marks in others. The postmedial and antemedial lines are contrastingly darker than the forewing ground color in a few specimens. All possible intergrades between these basic types appear to exist. Sex linkage does not seem to be involved. Geographic variation is also present. Texas populations are uniform light brown and obscurely marked. Almost no variability is visible in these Texas populations in contrast to the marked variability of northern populations. The few Floridian specimens I have seen are, perhaps, even more variable than northern populations.

Identification Quality: Excellent

Larva: Crumb (1956) has given a description of the larva and records Quercus alba (Fagaceae) as a foodplant. This description was based on a single larva in alcohol. The larva is either brown or black. The body apparently lacks any markings except for black coloring on the lateral and posterior margins of the cervical shield. The setigerous tubercles are large and dark. The species overwinters as a pupa, the adult emerging and flying early in the spring.

Foodplants: Tietz (1972) lists Fraxinus sp. (Oleaceae) and Quercus sp. as foodplants.

 

 

Psaphida styracis

 

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