A Revision of Lasionycta Aurivillius (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) for North America and notes on Eurasian species, with descriptions of 17 new species, 6 new subspecies, a new genus, and two new species of Tricholita Grote
Author
Crabo, Lars
Washington State University, Bellingham, United States of America
Author
Lafontaine, Donald
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada
text
ZooKeys
2009
2009-12-18
30
30
1
156
journal article
10.3897/zookeys.30.308
ca35c50f-b0c5-4032-b06d-f71b00710c8d
1313–2970
576576
C26E1A82-0DD4-48EF-865C-9D8AA788B739
Lasionycta poca
(Barnes & Benjamin)
,
stat. rev.
Figs 35, 36, 151, 207. Map 8
Anarta poca
Barnes & Benjamin, 1923: 73
.
Lasiestra leucocycla poca
;
McDunnough 1938: 72
.
Lasiestra poca
;
Franclemont and Todd 1983: 149
.
Lasionycta leucocycla poca
;
Lafontaine et al. 1986: 257
.
Type
material.
Anarta poca
:
holotype
♁ [
USNM
, examined]. Type locality: Pocahontas,
Alberta
.
Diagnosis
.
Lasionycta poca
is a montane species occurring in northwestern North America. It has has a dark-gray forewing with crisp markings and a pale putty-white hindwing with dark basal suffusion, a black postmedial line, and a black marginal band. The underside is distinctive with crisp black discal spots and lines against the white ground. It resembles a white-hindwinged
L
.
leucocycla
but differs in having large eyes and a narrowly bipectinate male antenna that is 2.5–3.0× as wide as the shaft. The ventral hindwing of
L
.
poca
has a large discal spot and a prominent sinuous postmedial line that parallels the narrow marginal band;
L
.
leucocycla
lacks these characters. The male vesica of
L
.
poca
usually has two or three basal cornuti (range 0–3), whereas those of most
L
.
leucocycla
have none or one (range 0–2). Th e female genitalia are indistinguishable.
Lasionycta poca
is similar to
L
.
coloradensis
,
L
.
frigida
,
L
.
illima
, and
L
.
sasquatch
, all with similar male antennae. Differences between
L
.
poca
and these species are given in their diagnosis sections.
The CO1 sequence of
L
.
poca
differs from
L
.
leucocycla
by at least 2.2 % and from
L
.
coloradensis
by 0.85 %. It is identical to that of
L
.
sasquatch
.
Distribution
and biology.
Lasionycta poca
occurs throughout the Rocky Mountains of
Alberta
, westward to the Coast Range in western
British Columbia
and southward in the Cascades to Okanogan County,
Washington
. A dark specimen from southern
Yukon
examined from a photograph is tentatively assigned to
L
.
poca
rather than
L
.
illima
but could not be examined to assess eye size.
Lasionycta poca
is predominantly alpine and is most common near timberline, but occasional specimens are collected in nearby forest. It is mainly nocturnal and is usually collected at light. Adults are found from mid-June through August.
Remarks
.
Lafontaine et al. (1986)
treated
L
.
poca
as a subspecies of
L
.
leucocycla
. Evidence that
L
.
poca
and
L
.
leucocycla
are distinct species includes the structural and genetic differences described above and the presence of sympatry in western
Alberta
without intergradation.