Revision of the " Aemilia " ambigua (Strecker) species-group (Noctuidae, Arctiinae)
Author
Schmidt, Christian
Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa ,, Canada
text
ZooKeys
2009
2009-05-12
9
9
63
78
journal article
10.3897/zookeys.9.149
710c183e-b0f2-4955-8985-cd90a15a4ac2
1313–2970
576452
0B7144FA-80DE-4D12-9456-1434A3FDEA25
Pseudohemihyalea ambigua
(Strecker)
,
comb. n.
Figs. 1
,
6
,
11
,
16
,
21
,
25
Halisidota ambigua
Strecker, 1878: 274
, pl. 9, fig. 7.
Seirarctia bolteri
H.
Edwards, 1885: 121
.
Type
material.
Halisidota ambigua
:
Male
holotype
[FMNH], not examined. Type locality: “
Colorado
[
USA
].” The male
holotype
is a badly damaged specimen with the abdomen, ventral thorax and head missing, although the wings are mostly intact, with the apex of the right forewing missing (J. Rawlins, pers. comm.)
.
Seirarctia bolteri
:
Holotype
[unknown], not examined. Type locality: “Las Vegas, N[ew]. Mex[ico].,
7000 feet
[
USA
].” The sex of the
holotype
is not indicated in the original description; the type is not among the Edwards type material in the AMNH (
B. Vincent
, pers. comm.). Given the distinctive original description and absence of species similar to
P
.
ambigua
in the
USA
,
bolteri
is retained as a junior synonym of
ambigua
.
Diagnosis
.
Pseudohemihyalea ambigua
is very similar to
P
.
syracosia
externally, but the two can usually be separated without dissection by the slightly larger size, broader forewing striae (
Figs. 1 and 2
) and more northerly distribution (
Fig. 25
) of
P
.
ambigua
. Internally, both the saccular process (cf. Figs. 6 and 7) and uncus (cf. Figs. 11 and 12) are shorter and wider compared to
P
.
syracosia
(mean length to width ratio of uncus 1.9 in
P
.
ambigua
, 2.4 in
P
.
syracosia
). The coecum of the aedeagus is longer and more conical in
P
.
ambigua
(cf. Figs. 16 and 17). In females, the antevaginal plate is less flared laterally with a shallower distal indentation compared to
P
.
syracosia
(cf. Figs. 21 and 23).
Biology
and distribution.
Collection dates indicate the peak flight is in July, with extreme dates ranging from mid June to early August, presumably representing a single annual brood.
Pseudohemihyalea ambigua
is the most widespread of the
ambigua
- group, occurring from southern Wyoming (
Ferguson et al. 2000
) to
Durango
,
Mexico
(
Fig. 25
).
Ferguson et al. (2000)
show
P
.
ambigua
as occurring in
Tamaulipas
,
Mexico
, but no specimens from
Tamaulipas
could be located and their record may refer to another species, possibly
P
.
potosi
.