Published December 18, 2009 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Lasionycta skraelingia

  • 1. Washington State University, Bellingham, United States of America
  • 2. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada

Description

Lasionycta skraelingia (Herrich-Schäffer)

Figs 1–3, 136, 194. Map 1

Phlogophora skraelingia Herrich-Schäffer, 1852: 57.

Lasionycta skraelingia; Aurivillius 1892b: 285.

Mamestra skraelingia; Staudinger and Rebel 1901: 159.

Lasionycta scraelingia; Hampson 1905: 56. Invalid emendation.

Lasionycta skroelingia; Warren 1910: 85. Misspelling.

Hada skraelingia; Hartig and Heinicke 1973: 193.

Lasionycta skraelingia; Lafontaine et al. 1986: 255.

Type material. Type : lost. Th e original description is suffi cient to characterize the species (Lafontaine and Kononenko 1988). Type locality: Lapland.

Diagnosis. Lasionycta skraelingia is distinguished from L. taigata Lafontaine by its undulating antemedial line (irregular in L. taigata) and more even gray forewing (mottled in L. taigata). The cucullus of the male valve is larger in L. skraelingia than in L. taigata, and the digitus is very short. Th e female genitalia are similar, but the appendix bursae of L. skraelingia is shorter than that of L. taigata. Th e CO1 sequence of L. skraelingia is identical to one of several L. taigata haplotypes.

Distribution and biology. Lasionycta skraelingia is Holarctic, occurring from Scandinavia to northwestern North America. In North America this species is known from three specimens from Windy Pass, Ogilvie Mountains, Yukon. Th e adults are crepuscular and fly rapidly over small spruces. Th ey are collected by hand netting, rarely if ever coming to a light. Dates are from late June to early July.

In Scandinavia the species is polyphagous when reared and has been fed on Betula nana L. (Betulaceae), Polygonum aviculare L. (Polygonaceae), and Vaccinium uligonosum L. (Ericaceae) (Ahola and Silvonen 2008). Th ese authors report that Eurasian populations are biennial, likely also the case in North America. The Yukon specimens were been collected in two odd-numbered years.

Notes

Published as part of Crabo, Lars & Lafontaine, Donald, 2009, 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, pp. 1-156 in ZooKeys 30 (30) on pages 12-13, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.30.308, http://zenodo.org/record/576576

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

References

  • Herrich-Schaffer GAW (1852) Systematische Bearbeitung der Schmetterlinge von Europa, zugleich als text, revision und supplement zu Jakob Hubner's Sammlung europaisher Schmetterlinge, 6 (suppl.): 1 - 178.
  • Aurivillius C (1892 b) Eine neue palaearktische Eulengattung. Entomologisk Tidskrift 13: 285 - 286.
  • Staudinger O, Rebel H (1901) Catalog der Lepidopteren des Palaearctischen Faunengebietes. R Friedlander & Sohn, Berlin, 368 pp.
  • Hampson GF (1905) Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British Museum, Vol. 5. Taylor and Francis, London, 634 pp.
  • Hartig F, Heinicke W (1973) Systematisches Verzeichnis der Noctuiden Europas (Lepidoptera - Noctuidae). Entomologica 9: 187 - 214.
  • Lafontaine JD, Kononenko VS, McCabe TL (1986) A Review of the Lasionycta leucocycla complex (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) with descriptions of three new subspecies. The Canadian Entomologist 118: 255 - 279.
  • Lafontaine JD, Kononenko VS (1988) A revision of the Lasionycta skraelingia Herrich-Schaffer) species complex (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Th e Canadian Entomologist 120: 903 - 916.
  • Ahola M, Silvonen K (2008) Larvae of Northern European Noctuidae, Volume 2. KuvaSeppala Yhtiot Oy, Vaasa, 672 pp.