Lasionycta mono Crabo & Lafontaine, 2009

Crabo, Lars & Lafontaine, Donald, 2009, A Revision of Lasionycta Aurivillius (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) for North America and notes on Eurasian species, with descriptions of 17 new species, 6 new subspecies, a new genus, and two new species of Tricholita Grote, ZooKeys 30 (30), pp. 1-156 : 84-85

Lasionycta mono Crabo & Lafontaine , sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1D026DE2-BFFB-4DFD-9FC9-1AC87CEC8BC6

Figs 60, 178. Map 15

Type material. Holotype ♁. USA, California, near Mono Pass, NW Inyo Co, 12000 ft, 9 Aug. 1951, C. D. MacNeill. CNC.

Etymology. The name refers to the type locality, Mono Pass. It is appropriate because the species is known from a singleton. It is a noun in apposition.

Diagnosis. Lasionycta mono is a distinctive species from the high Sierra Nevada and can not be confused with any other Lasionycta . Th e forewing is checkered dark and light gray. Th e ventral hindwing is whitish gray with gray discal spot and distinct marginal band, and lacks a postmedial line. It is the smallest species in the sub-group (expanse 26 mm). The male valve appears to taper to a blunt terminus because it lacks a neck and the cucullus is barely wider than the adjacent valve. Th e digitus is cylindrical and extends well beyond the cucullus. Th e ventral hindwing resembles those of the L. staudingeri sub-group, but L. mono differs from this sub-group in having a long cylindrical digitus. Th e female of L. mono is unknown.

Description. Lasionycta mono known only from male holotype. Head – Antenna of male weakly biserrate and fasciculate with triangular segments (only base of right antenna remains). Dorsal antenna mostly whitish gray with a few darker gray scales. Scape cream with a few gray scales. Eye reduced in size, ellipsoid. Palpus covered mostly in pale-luteous scales with long, gray hair-like scales. Frons covered with long, brown, strap-like scales. Top of head covered in white and a few gray hair-like scales. Thorax – Vestiture dark-gray and white hair-like scales, appearing uniform gray with lighter gray prothoracic collar. Legs and underside of thorax mainly brown with increasing pale-brown and luteous scales farther out on legs, especially toward distal end of tarsal segments. Wings – Forewing length 13 mm (expanse 26 mm). Ground color mainly of pale grayish-white scales with scattered darker scales and darker brownish-gray scales concentrated in medial area and outer half of subterminal area. Basal line absent. Antemedial line dark gray, excurved and gently undulating, widened to form a triangle at costa. Medial line thick, dark gray, partially touching antemedial line and joined to postmedial line below cell producing a large dark-gray patch, interrupted by ground color in lower part of cell, and widened to a triangle at costa. Postmedial line gray, weakly scalloped between veins and very faint, excurved from costa to lower end of cell then nearly straight to posterior margin. Subterminal line irregular, white, preceded by a broad dark-gray shade except opposite cell and in fold. Terminal line thin, gray, interrupted at veins. Orbicular and claviform spots absent. Reniform kidney shaped, pale gray, filled with ground color peripherally and dark gray centrally. Fringe white checkered with light gray between veins. Ventral forewing pale luteous gray suffused with dark-gray scales, heavily at base and lightly elsewhere. Discal spot gray, thin. Postmedial line absent. Subterminal area dark gray at apex. Fringe white, checkered with gray between veins, checkering darkest near apex of wing. Dorsal hindwing white with suffusion of gray scales, appearing medium gray, paler at costa. Discal spot gray, asym- metrical, chevron shaped with posterior end longer than anterior end. Postmedial line absent. Marginal area slightly darker than remainder of wing. Fringe gray basally, white distally. Ventral hindwing white, suffused with dark-gray scales, heavily at base and lightly elsewhere. Discal spot similar dark gray to wing base, asymmetrical, chevron shaped with longer posterior limb. Postmedial line absent. Marginal band dark gray suffused with white scales, even in width with sharply-defined inner margin. Fringe light gray basally, white distally. Abdomen – Dark gray, distal scales covering genitalia luteous off-white. Male genitalia – (Fig. 178) Genital capsule and aedeagus generally as in the L. leucocycla species-group and L. phoca sub-group descriptions. Valve 4.9× as long as wide, with a minimal neck. Cucullus small and rounded, similar in width to distal valve. Corona comprised of a single row of setae. Digitus long and slender, extending distal to ventral cucullus. Vesica lacking basal cornuti.

Distribution and biology. This species is known only from the type locality in the Sierra Nevada. Th e habitat is most likely rocky tundra. Lasionycta mono has ellipsoid eyes suggesting that it is diurnal.