Aseptis perfumosa (Hampson)

Mustelin, Tomas & Crabo, Lars G., 2015, Revision of the genus Aseptis McDunnough (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Noctuinae, Xylenini) with a description of two new genera, Paraseptis and Viridiseptis, ZooKeys 527, pp. 57-102 : 76-77

Taxon classification Animalia Lepidoptera Noctuidae

Aseptis perfumosa (Hampson) Figs 45, 46, 72, 88

Trachea perfumosa Hampson, 1918: 131.

Taxonomy.

The type material of Trachea perfumosa Hampson, the holotype female and two paratype females, was originally part of the type series of Trachea fumeola Hampson 1908. In fact, the female later selected as the Trachea perfumosa holotype was depicted on plate 112 as Trachea fumeola . The male and females were described in separate paragraphs and the male was selected as the type of Trachea fumeola . Hampson later realized that these females and the male type were separate species, naming the females Trachea perfumosa Hampson, 1918. The 1918 work lacks a description-initially leading us to suspect that Trachea perfumosa is a nomen nudum-but instead references the female Trachea fumeola description and illustration in the earlier work. This indication thereby validates the name.

Type material.

Holotype: female [BMNH, photograph examined]. Type locality: USA, California.

Diagnosis.

This is a small dark Aseptis with a wingspan of 32.7 ± 1.2 mm (n=25; range 30.5-34.5 mm). The body appears short and stout and the wings short and stubby. The forewing is slightly mottled dark gray brown, almost black in some specimens, often with a few grayish, brownish, olive, or reddish scales in the medial area around the velvety black spots of which the acute claviform spot is usually the most prominent. Less conspicuous forewing markings include a short black basal dash, incomplete faint wavy basal, antemedial and postmedial lines filled with brown, and irregular complete brown subterminal line. The hindwing of both sexes is dark grayish brown with inconspicuous veins.

Males of Aseptis perfumosa are separated easily from all other species of Aseptis by the short spike-like digitus that arises near the ventral margin and is perpendicular to it. The 90° basal bend of the vesica and basally-constricted medial diverticulum are also diagnostic. Females are identified by the thin flange on the tip of each papilla analis and by the bilobed appendix bursae.

Superficially, Aseptis perfumosa is most similar to Aseptis fumosa . Aseptis perfumosa tends to be smaller and narrower winged than Aseptis fumosa . Males are separated easily by hindwing color, dark in Aseptis perfumosa and pale in Aseptis fumosa . Females can often be separated based the maculation as the claviform spot is usually the most prominent feature on Aseptis perfumosa , whereas the postmedial line is clearer in Aseptis fumosa . The correct identity can be confirmed by examining the tips of the ovipositors under magnification.

Distribution and biology.

Aseptis perfumosa is endemic to southern California where it occurs in many habitats such as coastal chaparral and canyons, urban areas, brush land, and open oak forest from sea level to 2000 m. It is often very common and can be the most abundant noctuid species. The peak of its flight is early April to early June in coastal areas and a little later at higher elevations. The larva and pupa are described and figured by Comstock (1940b). The green larvae were found and reared on Manzanita ( Arctostaphylos spp.).

Discussion.

Hampson (1918) gives the expanse of the type of Trachea perfumosa as 36 mm. This is larger than any Aseptis perfumosa specimens examined by us. This led us initially to question whether he might have described a female of the larger species Aseptis fumeola rather than Aseptis perfumosa , given that the latter species was named from a specimen in the type series of the former species. While enquiring about the types at the BMNH, Alberto Zilli (pers. comm. 2015) explained that Hampson’s wingspans are almost always greater than those of the actual moth because of his method of measurement. He measured from the pin to the apex of the forewing and doubled the result. While the actual wingspan of the female type of Trachea perfumosa is 33.5 mm, a normal size for the species, the result using Hampson’s method yields the published result of 36 mm.