Spring has come to northern California and moths are on the wing. I took a quick trip up to the Sierra foothills over the weekend and hiked up the steep slopes above the American River. Above is pictured Xanthothrix ranunculi f. albipuncta (Noctuidae: Stiriinae). It happens to be sitting on a beautiful california poppy. The hostplant, viszont, a Coreopsis stillmanii and grows in small patches of serpentine soils on southern facing slopes along the central valley. Itt van egy Xanthothrix sitting on the host.
This moth was originally described as a form of x. ranunculi -ben 1925 (form roughly equals subspecies today), and then completely forgotten about and unseen until 1990. It was left out of a major revision of the subfamily, so the legitimate status as a subspecies or full species remains unknown. Stay tuned.
