Catocala andromache H. Edwards, 1885

Hawks, David, 2010, Review of the Catocala delilah species complex (Lepidoptera, Erebidae), ZooKeys 39 (39), pp. 13-35 : 26-27

Catocala andromache H. Edwards

Figs 15, 16

Catocala andromache H. Edwards, 1885: 50

Catocala andromache wellsi Johnson, 1983: 245 , syn. n.

Type material. Catocala andromache : holotype ♁ [ AMNH, examined]. Type locality: San Bernardino, Cal[ifornia, USA].

Diagnosis. The only closely similar taxon to C. andromache is C. b. benjamini . The dorsal forewing of C. andromache is usually liberally speckled with greenish scales (in many freshly eclosed specimens the wings are a mottled moss green), whereas the dorsal forewing of C. b. benjamini is sparsely speckled with bluish scales. This distinction breaks down for worn specimens, and for many specimens from desert edge mountains in southern California. However, C. andromache is not sympatric with C. b. benjamini . Catocala andromache is sympatric with C. b. mayhewi along the desert slopes of the mountains of southern California, and there the two species are consistently separated by the larger size, darker forewings, darker yellowish bands, and wider black bands of C. andromache . The name wellsi was proposed for specimens with more blackish, unmottled forewings from the central Sierran foothills, but these characteristics break down in larger series and there seems little merit in retaining the name at subspecific rank.

Distribution and biology. Catocala andromache occurs in the mountains of San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles counties, and northward through the southern Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada of California. County records for USA are as follows. CALIFORNIA: Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Kern, Lake, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Nevada, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Solano, Ventura, Yolo. Larvae of C. andromache have been collected from Quercus chrysolepis Liebm. They also probably feed on Quercus cornelius-mulleri , Q. dumosa Nutt. , and Q. wislizenii A. de Candolle , among others. Adults have been collected from mid-June through August, and fly mostly below 2000 m.

Figures Ι5–20. Adults of Catocala . Ι5, Ι6 C. andromache H. Edwards Ι7 C. californiensis Brower Ι8 C. johnsoniana Brower Ι9, 20 C. mcdunnoughi Brower.