Basilodes chrysopis Grote

Basilodes chrysopis Grote, 1881, Papilio, 1:154.

Basilodes catharops Dyar, 1911, Proc. Ent. Soc. Washington, 13:64.

Diagnosis: Basilodes chrysopis looks like both pepita and straminea, but the forewing is suffused with a covering of frosty white scales obscuring the metallic bronze sheen of those two species. The median area is usually tinted with gray and, as a consequence, the orbicular and reniform marks are usually more contrasting than those of either pepita or straminea. This species lacks a dark brown patch in the basal area. The forewing appears narrower than in either pepita or straminea. The frontal tubercle is larger in pepita than in chrysopis. The backward projecting spur of the sacculus of the male valve is much larger in pepita than in chrysopis. The dorsal edge of the sacculus of pepita has a multitude of spiny knobs; these knobs are poorly developed or nearly absent in chrysopis. The spines of the large, apical spine patch of the vesica are roughly equal in size in chrysopis, but in pepita there is a gradation from large spines dorsally (as viewed in the figure) to small spines ventrally. The female genitalia of the two species are similar, but the appendix bursae is slightly larger in pepita than in chrysopis. The corpus bursae of straminea is much longer than in chrysopis and the ductus bursae shorter and broader. Wing length from base to apex: mean = 18.84 mm., standard deviation = 0.82 mm., n = 10.

Distribution: Basilodes chrysopis has a moderately wide distribution in the western United States. It occurs in Colorado in the north, mostly to the east of the Rocky Mountains, probably in the short grass prairie, extending eastward into southwestern Kansas. It has been taken in northern Texas, but is apparently commonest throughout southern Texas and westward through most of New Mexico and Arizona. This species has not been collected in western Colorado, Utah, Nevada, or California, nor has the species been taken in Mexico, although it undoubtedly occurs in the boardering states. No apparent geographical variation exists in the species. Within population variation is present, primarily in the intensity of the gray shading in the forewing median area. The gray shading is very strong in some specimens and the orbicular and reniform marks contrast sharply with rest of the median area. In other specimens the gray scaling may be almost absent. The amount of frosty white scaling is also variable. The markings are almost totally obscure in some individuals but well marked in others. The reniform mark usually has a black dot in it, but the dot is very weak or absent in a few individuals.

Identification Quality: Excellent

Larva: The larvae are similar to those of pepita. However a pair of distinctive, thin black lines is present in chrysopis below the line of the spiracles. These lines are absent in pepita, or if present, broad, indistinct, and mixed in with the general pattern. Adults have been collected from April to October. Although collected in all the intervening months, the distribution of dates suggests the possibility of two broods, one centered around May and June, and a second, larger brood in August and September.

Foodplants: The larvae has been described by Crumb (1956) from specimens reared from Verbesina enceliodes (Cav.) Benth. & Hook. (Asteraceae), the same genus of foodplants recorded for pepita.

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