Saphenista latipunctana Brown 2019, new combination

Saphenista latipunctana (Walsingham), new combination

Fig. 4, 5, 9, 13

Phalonia latipunctana Walsingham 1879: 29, pl. 67, fig. 2; McDunnough 1939: 60.

Phalonidia latipunctana: Razowski 1964: 367; Powell 1983: 42; Brown 2005: 489; Metzler and Brown 2014: 277.

Described in Phalonia and treated as such by McDunnough (1939), P. latipunctana was transferred to Phalonidia by Razowski (1964: 367), where the species has resided ever since (e.g., Powell 1983; Brown 2005; Metzler and Brown 2014). The male genitalia of the lectotype, illustrated by Razowski (1964: fig. 26, 27), possess several features diagnostic for Saphenista, including the expanded distal end of the median process of the transtilla, the erect socii, and the lateral, pointed flange from the vinculum. On the basis of these features, P. latipunctana is transferred to Saphenista.

Diagnosis. Saphenista latipunctana is most similar to S. dilutana and S. powelli among described species. All lack a costal roll in the male hindwing, and all have thickened apophyses in the female genitalia. Although the forewing pattern is somewhat variable in S. latipunctana (Fig. 4, 5), there usually is a well-defined, somewhat oblique dash from near the middle of the hind margin representing the median fascia. Saphenista latipunctana can be distinguished from S. dilutana by the shape of the median process of the transtilla. In S. latipunctana its termination is broader and more T-shaped, compared to the slightly narrower, more U-shaped process of S. dilutana (Fig. 9, 10).

Types. Lectotype ♂, USA, California, Mendocino Co., mouth of Albion River, 30–31 May 1871, Wals- ingham, BMNH slide 7755 (NHMUK). Paralectotype ♂, same data as lectotype (USNM).

Distribution and biology. Specimens that appear to be conspecific with the lectotype have been collected in central coastal California (Marin, Mendocino, and Contra Costa counties). The species is double-brooded with flights in May–June and again in October. Jerry Powell (Brown et al. 2010) has reared the species from Ceanothus thrysiflorus Eschsch. (Rhamnaceae) and Eriophyllum stachaedifolium Lag. (Asteraceae).