Catocala blandula var. manitobensis Cassino, 1918b: 81
Catocala blandula ssp. manitobensis
McDunnough 1938: 118
Catocala blandula ssp. manitobensis
Franclemont and Todd 1983: 129
Systematics of moths in the genus Catocala (Lepidoptera, Erebidae) IV. Nomenclatorial stabilization of the Nearctic fauna, with a revised synonymic check list
Gall, Lawrence
Hawks, David
ZooKeys
2010
2010-03-18
39
39
37
83
Hulst
1884
[140,361,1116,1143]
Insecta
Noctuidae
Catocala
Animalia
Lepidoptera
24
61
Arthropoda
species
blandula
Catocala blandulavar. manitobensis Cassino, 1918b: 81 Catocala blandulassp. manitobensis; McDunnough 1938: 118 Catocala blandulassp. manitobensis; Franclemont and Todd 1983: 129
Typematerial. Catocala manitobensis: the original description states “ Holotype1 ♁, 6 paratypes, in the collection of the author, Cartwright, Manitoba, July 17.” A female at the USNM( USNMType No. 44528) bears a label stating “manitobensis / Cass. / Type fide / Buchholz.” Because Cassino often missexed his material, we see no reason to challenge Buchholz’s judgment, and accept this specimen as the holotypeby original designation. Cassino tabulated several characteristics supposedly distinguishing C. m. manitobensisfrom nominate C. blandula Hulst, 1884. On the dorsal forewing these included: a darker and more distinct postmedian band; a light to absent brown scaling distad from the postmedian band; and a lighter and bluish ground color, such that “the whole effect of the superiors is a bluish tint quite unlike that of blandula, the scales of which are more brownish.” We have examined specimens of C. m. manitobensis(including paratypes) and nominate C. blandulafrom across the Nearctic, and find that the characteristics ascribed to C. m. manitobensisoccur sporadically throughout the species’ entire geographic range, especially in females, and see little merit in retaining the name manitobensis. Exemplary localities where specimens often show manitobensischaracteristics include the vicinity of Chicago, Illinois, and the eastern seaboard of Maine and maritime Canada; the same characteristics also appear regularly in what we presently consider to be C. blandulapopulations from lowland coastal areas in the southeastern USA(e.g., notably around Gainesville, Florida). These lowland C. blandulapopulations are among the most morphologically variable known: some Floridian specimens (especially females) are nearly identical to types of C. manitobensis, whereas others have the entire forewing pattern obscured by brownish black, and numerous intergrades occur. In many respects, the extreme variation in these southeastern C. blandulapopulations is analogous to the extreme infrapopulational forms of both C. connubialis Guenée, 1852and C. crataegi Saunders, 1876seen from the same geographic region. Type Locality: Cartwright, Manitoba, [ Canada].