Raphia frater cinderella Smith, 2014

Schmidt, B. Christian & Anweiler, Gary G., 2014, Taxonomy and biogeography of the Nearctic Raphia Huebner (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Raphiinae), ZooKeys 421, pp. 91-113 : 105

Raphia frater cinderella Smith stat. n. Figs 1n , 3

Raphia cinderella Smith, 1903.

Type material.

A male lectotype was designated by Todd (1982) [AMNH]. Type locality: Los Angeles Co., Cal. [California, USA].

Diagnosis and description.

Raphia frater cinderella is a Californian subspecies that is similar in size and colour to Raphia frater coloradensis , but with a more diffuse, poorly contrasting forewing pattern that usually lacks the pronouncedly darker reniform and costal dark patches. The forewing ground colour is also pale powdery grey, not pale ochre as it often is in coloradensis. The two taxa appear to intergrade in the Siskiyous and northern Sierra Nevada.

Biology and distribution.

The range of this subspecies is restricted to central and southern California west of the Sierra Nevada. Fremont Cottonwood and willows are the most likely larval hosts, although records specific to this subspecies are lacking. Most collection dates are from June; Records from Stanislaus Co. for April - May and July may indicate a second generation.

Figures

Figure 1. Geographic distribution and phenotypic variation of Raphia frater subspecies. Circles indicate specimens examined during this study: green - subsp. piazzi; pink - subsp. abrupta; black - subsp. frater; blue - subsp. coloradensis; yellow - subsp. cinderella. Multi-coloured circles indicate transitional populations and / or phenotypically intermediate specimens between respective subspecies. a Raphia frater piazzi (Zavallo Co., TX) b Raphia frater abrupta (Oktibeha Co., MS) c Raphia frater abrupta (Cottle Co., TX) d Raphia frater abrupta (Cottle Co., TX) e Raphia frater abrupta (Montgomery Co., MD) f, g Raphia frater frater (Edmunston, NB) h Raphia frater abrupta - frater intermediate (Anne Arundel Co., MD) i Raphia frater abrupta - frater - coloradensis intermediate from highly variable population in Cherry Co., NE j Raphia frater coloradensis (Alamosa Co., CO) k Raphia frater coloradensis (Milk River valley, AB) l Raphia frater coloradensis (Sanpete Co., UT) m Raphia frater coloradensis (Elko Co., NV) n Raphia frater cinderella (Ventura Co., CA) o, p Raphia frater coloradensis - frater intermediates (Chelan Co., WA) q Raphia frater elbea (Cochise Co., AZ) r Raphia frater elbea (San Juan Co., UT) s Raphia frater elbea (Santa Cruz Co., AZ). All specimens are males.

Figure 3. Distribution of Raphia frater subspecies (circles) relative to range of Populus species (coloured shading) in western North America. Half-circles represent transitional populations and / or phenotypically intermediate specimens. Ranges for Populus trichocarpa + Populus balsamifera and Populus angustifolia + Populus deltoides are combined, with both Populus balsamifera and Populus deltoides occuring in Alberta - Montana (upper right). Populus ranges adapted from USGS (2013).