Aseptis catalina (Smith, 1899)

Mustelin, Tomas & Crabo, Lars G., 2015, Revision of the genus Aseptis McDunnough (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Noctuinae, Xylenini) with a description of two new genera, Paraseptis and Viridiseptis, ZooKeys 527, pp. 57-102 : 71-73

Taxon classification Animalia Lepidoptera Noctuidae

Aseptis catalina (Smith, 1899) Figs 35, 36, 67, 84

Hadena catalina Smith, 1899: 261.

Type material.

Hadena catalina : Lectotype [USNM, examined]. Type locality: Catalina Springs, Arizona.

Diagnosis.

An average or slightly smaller than average Aseptis species, wingspan 31.8 ± 0.9 mm (n=25; range 30-33 mm), with a powdery pale yellow-tan forewing with patchy contrasting darker gray markings including the filling of the reniform spot and the adjacent medial area. The postreniform patch is large but only slightly lighter in color than the fold portion of the medial area and the filling of the lines. The basal and postmedial areas are darker. The reniform spot is large and it and the claviform spot are filled with dark gray. The antemedial and postmedial lines are black, filled with pale cream and the postmedial line is often followed by black and white dots on the veins. The subterminal area is pale cream, the terminal line is a series of black spots and the fringe is checkered. There is some variation in the color and tone of the ground color, which can be very pale cream or more tan colored. Although the pattern is complete, the maculation is usually indistinct.

The male genitalia are similar to those of Aseptis binotata but the valve lacks the digitus, the ampulla of the clasper is thicker and is oriented parallel to the dorsal valve margin, and the dorsal apex of the cucullus is pointed slightly. The aedeagus and vesica are like those of Aseptis binotata except for the presence of a granulose area on the ventral apex of the aedeagus. In the female, the corpus bursae is oblong, circa 2.4 × as long as wide, with a curved appendix bursae of nearly the same size. The papillae anales are unique in the genus in that they are covered by sparse short needle-like setae with brush-like very dense basal setae condensed into patches on the ventral sides.

Aseptis catalina can be recognized by its patchy pale-tan and gray forewing and is unlikely to be confused with other Aseptis ; however, they resemble superficially Tridepia nova (Smith) and Scotogramma densa Smith, both in the Hadenini , and are often mixed with them in collections. It is easily separated from them by the eyes, naked in Aseptis , but covered in fine hairs in the two hadenines, as well as by the lack of a notched hindwing in these species.

Distribution and biology.

This species occurs in deserts of Arizona, California and Baja California, Mexico. Most specimens are from the western edge of the Colorado Desert in San Diego, Imperial, and Riverside counties, California, but there are colonies throughout the Colorado, Mojave, and Sonora deserts. Like many desert insects, the flight period depends on winter rainfall and is early, generally early March to April. The food plants and immature stages are unknown.