Våren har kommet til Nord-California og møll er på vingen. Jeg tok en rask tur opp til foten av Sierra i helgen og gikk opp de bratte bakkene over American River. Above is pictured Xanthothrix ranunculi f. albipuncta (Noctuidae: Stiriinae). It happens to be sitting on a beautiful california poppy. The hostplant, men, er Coreopsis stillmanii and grows in small patches of serpentine soils on southern facing slopes along the central valley. Her er en Xanthothrix sitting on the host.
This moth was originally described as a form of X. ranunculi i 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. Følg med.
