Catocala benjamini subsp. mayhewi Hawks 2010, ssp. n.
Creators: name: Hawks, David
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Noctuidae
Catocala
Catocala benjamini
Catocala benjamini mayhewi hawks

description: <i>Catocala benjamini mayhewi</i> Hawks, ssp. n. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 8E8508F4-153B-4CFC-B015-CDF6374BFC4F Figs 13, 14 <b>Type material.</b> <b>Holotype</b> ♁ (Fig. 13, PMNH specimen #ENT 721049; FW length 19.5 mm), <b>allotype</b> &amp;female; (Fig. 14, PMNH specimen #ENT 721050; FW length 21 mm): Pinyon Flat, 1500 m, Santa Rosa Mountains, Riverside County, California, 22 June 1987 leg. D. C. Hawks. <b>Paratypes</b> (70 ♁ 68 &amp;female;): 62 ♁ 59 &amp;female; from the type locality, collected between 1 June and 2 August over several decades by J. W. Johnson, E. Walter, R. H. Leuschner, and D. C. Hawks. Remaining paratypes: Los Angeles County: San Gabriel Mountains near Valyermo (4 &amp;female;); San Gabriel Mountains, Big Rock Creek (1 ♁); Riverside County: San Jacinto Mountains, Chino Canyon near Palm Springs (4 ♁ 1 &amp;female;); San Bernardino County: Joshua Tree (1 ♁); San Diego County: Anza Borrego State Park, Tub Springs (1 &amp;female;); Jacumba (1 ♁); Sentenac Canyon (3 &amp;female;). Holotype and allotype deposited at PMNH, paratypes deposited at LACM and other USA museums as well as in private collections. <b>Diagnosis.</b> <i>Catocala benjamini mayhewi</i> is similar to <i>C</i>. <i>b</i>. <i>benjamini</i>, but differs as follows: dorsal forewing surface slightly paler grayish brown; yellowish areas on hindwing dorsal surface slightly paler; inner band almost always thin, occasionally absent. Mean forewing length of <i>C</i>. <i>b</i>. <i>mayhewi</i> (19.0 mm, males; 21.5 mm, females) consistently smaller than all other <i>C</i>. <i>benjamini</i> subspecies. <i>C</i>. <i>b</i>. <i>mayhewi</i> is sympatric with <i>C</i>. <i>andromache</i> throughout most of its range (this fact led Brower (1982) to elevate <i>C</i>. <i>benjamini</i> to a full species). <b>Description.</b> <i>Forewing</i>: dorsal surface with black, dark-brown, tan, and beige scales, few scales iridescent bluish or purplish; overall appearance pale grayish brown; antemedial line black, edges indistinct; reniform black, subreniform usually beige, variable in size; apical yellowish area suffused with black; fringes gray, checkered with black; ventral surface pale whitish yellow with relatively narrow black medial band. <i>Hindwing</i>: dorsal surface with pale-brown scales suffusing much of basal area; medial band dull pale orange; fringe yellowish tan with black checkering; bands black; ventral surface pale yellow; fringe pale yellowish beige checkered with black; inner band quite thin and narrow on both surfaces. <b>Etymology.</b> The subspecies is named in honor of W. W. Mayhew, the author’s MS thesis advisor. A portion of the type locality (Pinyon Flat) has been protected from encroaching development thanks to Mayhew’s foresight and persistence. <b>Distribution and biology.</b> <i>Catocala benjamini mayhewi</i> occurs along the desert-facing slopes of the Laguna, Santa Rosa, San Jacinto, San Bernardino, San Gabriel Mountains, and Little San Bernardino Mountains in southern California. It also occurs in northern Baja California, Mexico. Adults have been collected from early June to early August. Th e immature stages of <i>C</i>. <i>b</i>. <i>mayhewi</i> have been described and the larva figured by Johnson (1985). Th e larvae feed on <i>Quercus cornelius-mulleri</i> Nixon &amp; Steele at the San Bernardino, Riverside, and San Diego County localities.
description: Published as part of <i>Hawks, David, 2010, Review of the Catocala delilah species complex (Lepidoptera, Erebidae), pp. 13-35 in ZooKeys 39 (39)</i> on pages 25-26, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.39.439, http://zenodo.org/record/576631
description: {"references": ["Brower AE (1982) Change in status of Catocala andromache race \" benjamini \" (Noctuidae). Journal of Th e Lepidopterists' Society 36: 159.", "Johnson JW (1985) Th e immature stages of six California Catocala (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 23: 303 - 327."]}