Lasionycta discolor
Creators: name: Crabo, Lars
name: Lafontaine, Donald
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Noctuidae
Lasionycta
Lasionycta discolor

description: <i>Lasionycta discolor</i> (Smith) Figs 63, 64, 177. Map 15 <i>Scotogramma discolor</i> Smith, 1899: 42. <i>Lasiestra discolor</i>; McDunnough 1938: 72. <i>Lasionycta discolor</i>; Lafontaine et al. 1986: 264. <i>Lasiestra klotsi</i> Richards, 1943: 87, <b>syn. n.</b> <i>Lasionycta klotsi</i>; Lafontaine et al. 1986: 164. <b>Type material.</b> <i>Scotogramma discolor</i>: <b>holotype</b> ♁ [USNM, examined]. Type locality: Park County, Colorado. <i>Lasiestra klotsi</i>: <b>holotype</b> ♁ [ANSP, Philadelphia, examined]. Type locality: Hall Valley, Park County, Colorado. <b>Diagnosis.</b> <i>Lasionycta discolor</i> occurs in the central Rocky Mountains. It can be recognized by the combination of gray forewing with patches of white to greenishyellow scales, most pronounced in the subterminal area, and gray and white dorsal hindwing. The ventral hindwing is white with a gray discal spot, postmedial line, thin marginal band, and veins. Th e male valve of <i>L</i>. <i>discolor</i> is similar to that of <i>L</i>. <i>uniformis</i> but is slightly narrower. The number of basal cornuti on the vesica is variable, but there are often between four and six. Th e female genitalia are indistinguishable from those of <i>L</i>. <i>uniformis</i>. <i>Lasionycta discolor</i> occurs with <i>L</i>. <i>uniformis fusca</i> and resembles pale specimens of it. Th e dorsal hindwing of <i>L</i>. <i>discolor</i> has white on both sides of the postmedial line, which is weakly dentate below the cell, and the ventral hindwing has dark veins and an uninterrupted marginal band. Th e hindwing of <i>L</i>. <i>u</i>. <i>fusca</i> is darker gray without white areas and the postmedial line is sinuous but not dentate. Th e underside lacks dark scaling on the veins and the marginal band contains pale scales. Th e vesica of <i>L</i>. <i>uniformis</i> has fewer cornuti than that of <i>L</i>. <i>discolor</i>, usually 0–3. <b>Distribution and biology.</b> <i>Lasionycta discolor</i> occurs in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and on the Beartooth Plateau in Wyoming. It flies over alpine tundra and is both diurnal and nocturnal. Most adults have been collected in late July. <b>Remarks.</b> Th is species was known as <i>L</i>. <i>klotsi</i> for many years.
description: Published as part of <i>Crabo, Lars &amp; 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)</i> on page 83, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.30.308, http://zenodo.org/record/576576
description: {"references": ["Smith JB (1899) Notes on Scotogramma and Oncocnemis with descriptions of new species. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 7: 37 - 44.", "McDunnough J (1938) Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of America. Part 1 Macrolepidoptera. Memoirs of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 1: 1 - 275.", "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.", "Richards AG (1943) Two new species of Lasiestra from Colorado (Lepidoptera: Phalaenidae). Entomological News 54: 85 - 88."]}