Catocala desdemona H. Edwards, 2010

Hawks, David, 2010, Review of the Catocala delilah species complex (Lepidoptera, Erebidae), ZooKeys 39 (39), pp. 13-35 : 18-19

Catocala desdemona H. Edwards , stat. rev.

Figs 2, 4

Catocala desdemona H. Edwards, 1882: 15 .

Catocala ixion Druce, 1890: 360 , syn. n.

Catocala delilah form utahensis Cassino, 1918: 14, syn. n.

Catocala delilah utahensis form swetti Barnes and Benjamin, 1927: 8

Catocala delilah desdemona form umbra Barnes and Benjamin, 1927: 8

Type material. Catocala desdemona : lectotype ♁ [ USNM, examined], hereby designated to promote taxonomic stability (Fig. 4). Type locality: Prescott, Arizona, [ USA]. The original description states “Four examples. Prescott, Arizona. I. Doll. Type. Coll. B. Neumoegen.” Th e lectotype bears the labels “Prescott. / Ariz.”, “Col. / B. Neumogen.”, “Type / No. / 33991 / U.S. N.M.”, “ Catocala / desdemona / Type Hy. Edw.” Catocala ixion : holotype ♁ [ BMNH, examined]. Type locality: Xucumanatlan, Guerrero, Mexico. Catocala delilah form utahensis: holotype ♁ [ USNM, examined]. Type locality: Provo, Utah, [ USA]. Catocala delilah desdemona form umbra: holotype ♁ [ USNM, examined], unavailable infrasubspecific name proposed as a color form. Type locality: Hereford, Arizona, [ USA]. Catocala delilah utahensis form swetti: holotype ♀ [ USNM, examined], unavailable infrasubspecific name proposed as a color form. Type locality: Vineyard, Utah, [ USA].

Taxonomic remarks. The name ixion has apparently not been previously tabulated in the Nearctic Catocala literature. Druce’s illustration is a good representation of the BMNH holotype, which is a typical specimen of Catocala desdemona H. Edwards. Regarding the name utahensis, Cassino used the term “race” in the body of the original description, and offered a restricted geographic distribution (Utah), and hence the name has been treated as subspecific ( McDunnough 1938; Franclemont and Todd 1983). However, the name utahensis refers to a lighter infrapopulational variant of C. desdemona with no definable geographic basis.

Diagnosis. Catocala desdemona has been treated as a subspecies of C. delilah since early in the twentieth century. However, C. delilah and C. desdemona breed true ex ovis, and remain morphologically distinct in a broad area of sympatry in central Texas and Oklahoma. Besides C. delilah , no other species is similar to C. desdemona . Mean forewing costal margin length 27.2 mm (♁), 29.5 mm (♁); see the species account for C. delilah above for points of separation. C. desdemona is much more variable in maculation than C. delilah , especially in the southern part of its range. Th e variation is continuous, with the form “umbra” (dark brown patch nearly filling the area between the antemedial and postmedial lines) being just one extreme example.

Distribution and biology. Catocala desdemona occurs from central Oklahoma and central Texas westward to central Utah, and southward through Mexico to Guatemala and Honduras. It is sympatric with C. delilah in central Texas and central Oklahoma. County records for the USA are as follows: OKLAHOMA: Comanche, Carter, Oklahoma, Pittsburg, Pottawattamie, Woods; TEXAS: Bexar, Blanco, Brewster, Brown, Burnet, Coleman, Culberson, El Paso, Hays, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Kaufman, Kerr, Kimble, Montague, Real, San Patricio, Taylor, Uvalde, Val Verde, Wise; NEW MEX- ICO: Bernalillo, Colfax, Dona Ana, Grant, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Sandoval, San Miguel, Sierra, Torrance, Union; UTAH: Davis, Garfield, Grand, Kane, Utah, Washington; COLORADO: Montezuma; ARIZONA: Cochise, Greenlee, Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Yavapai. Records for MEXICO are as follows: SONORA: 3 km S of Mina Trinidad, 9 km W of Yecora, Rancho Tres Rios, km 60 Colonia Mesa Tres Rios to Huachinera; CHIHUAHUA: 4 km S of Temoresi-Cuiteco, Creel; NUEVO LEON: 22 km W. Linares, 6 km W of Iturbide; SINALOA: 11 km W of El Palmito; BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR: 25 km SE of San Antonio, Sierra de La Laguna, Rancho San Antonio de La Sierra; SAN LUIS POTOSI; GUERRERO: Xucumanatlan; MEXICO DF: Zacualpan. Records for GUATEMALA are as follows: Guatemala City. Records for HONDURAS are as follows: CORTÉS, YORO, and OLANCHO departments. Adults emerge from May to November, with peaks of abundance in June and September, at least in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico). This long flight period, especially evident in southeastern Arizona, is apparently due to some eggs hatching in response to the spring growth period of the oaks, while other eggs wait until the summer growth period to hatch. Th ere is no evidence that C. desdemona is ever double brooded. Larvae of C. desdemona undoubtedly feed on several species of oaks in nature, but so far have only been recorded on Quercus oblongifolia Torr. (Huachuca Mountains, Arizona).