Catocala benjamini mayhewi Hawks, 2010

Hawks, David, 2010, Review of the Catocala delilah species complex (Lepidoptera, Erebidae), ZooKeys 39 (39), pp. 13-35 : 25-26

Catocala benjamini mayhewi Hawks , ssp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8E8508F4-153B-4CFC-B015-CDF6374BFC4F

Figs 13, 14

Type material. Holotype ♁ (Fig. 13, PMNH specimen #ENT 721049; FW length 19.5 mm), allotype ♀ (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. Paratypes (70 ♁ 68 ♀): 62 ♁ 59 ♀ 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 ♀) ; San Gabriel Mountains , Big Rock Creek (1 ♁) ; Riverside County: San Jacinto Mountains , Chino Canyon near Palm Springs (4 ♁ 1 ♀) ; San Bernardino County: Joshua Tree (1 ♁) ; San Diego County: Anza Borrego State Park , Tub Springs (1 ♀) ; Jacumba (1 ♁) ; Sentenac Canyon (3 ♀) . Holotype and allotype deposited at PMNH, paratypes deposited at LACM and other USA museums as well as in private collections.

Diagnosis. Catocala benjamini mayhewi is similar to C. b. benjamini , 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 C. b. mayhewi (19.0 mm, males; 21.5 mm, females) consistently smaller than all other C. benjamini subspecies. C. b. mayhewi is sympatric with C. andromache throughout most of its range (this fact led Brower (1982) to elevate C. benjamini to a full species).

Description. Forewing: 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. Hindwing: 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.

Etymology. 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.

Distribution and biology. Catocala benjamini mayhewi 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 C. b. mayhewi have been described and the larva figured by Johnson (1985). Th e larvae feed on Quercus cornelius-mulleri Nixon & Steele at the San Bernardino, Riverside, and San Diego County localities.