Clemensia albata Packard

Schmidt, B. Christian & Sullivan, J. Bolling, 2018, Three species in one: a revision of Clemensiaalbata Packard (Erebidae, Arctiinae, Lithosiini), ZooKeys 788, pp. 39-55 : 40

Clemensia albata Packard Figs 5-8, 14, 17

Clemensia albata Packard, 1864, p. 101. Type locality. "Norway, Me. (Mus. Comp. Zool., Smith), Brunswick, Me., August." [unknown]. Note. The holotype of albata should be with other Packard types at MCZ, but the online inventory of MCZ types (mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu) indicates it is not, and as such iot may no longer be extant.

Uxia albida Walker, 1866, p. 1897. Type locality. "North America;" female type [NHML]. Note. The holotype is a female, mistakenly believed to be a male by Walker, and therefore described as a new species in a separate genus as Repa cana . The holotype is a small, poorly-marked specimen typical of female C. albata . The type locality is unspecified but is likely the northeastern US.

Repa cana Walker, 1866, p. 1898. Type locality. "United States;" male type [BMNH]. Note. The holotype is a male without an abdomen.

Diagnosis.

Clemensia albata is the most common Clemensia in most of eastern North America south of the boreal forest region. In the northeastern US and the Appalachians, C. albata can be confused with C. umbrata , and a differential diagnosis is presented in the C. umbrata account. Along the Atlantic coastal plain from North Carolina to Florida and across the southern states to at least Mississippi, C. albata can occur with C. ochreata , and the two can be difficult to separate. Clemensia albata usually differs from C. ochreata in its pure white rather than ochre-white ground colour, less prponounced dark spots along the forewing costa, a less distinct antemedial dark patch, lack of a well-defined ventral hindwing medial band, and narrower uncus (Figure 14). Clemensia albata is slightly larger than C. ochreata , but there is overlap, with an average forewing length of 10.77 mm for C. albata (n = 6) versus 9.83 mm for C. ochreata (n = 9) (first brood, barcoded specimens only). Habitat, phenology, and larvae may also differ, but further research on the comparative biology of C. albata and C. ochreata is needed. Internally, the male genitalic structure of C. albata differs from that of C. ochreata in the shape of the basal ventral diverticulum of the vesica, which is heart shaped in C. albata versus bilobed in C. ochreata . The field of spicules on the basal lobe is smaller, and the cornutus relatively shorter in C. albata .

Biology.

The larvae feed on blue-green algae and lichens growing on tree trunks ( Wagner 2005) along with a number of other Lithosiini and small noctuids ( Wagner et al. 2011). Color morphs or pattern variability of larvae has not been recorded. The life history data and larva illustrations presented by Wagner (2005) and McCabe (1981) probably apply to this species, but these need to be re-evaluated in light of the current taxonomic results. Clemensia albata is bivoltine in the northeast with peak abundance in mid-June and late August (Figure 22), and probably multivoltine in the southern US. In North Carolina it is widely distributed from the coast up to 4600' in the mountains, and occurs from March until September.

Distribution.

Examined specimens identified with certainty as C. albata are mapped in Figure 20, and this species occurs at least from eastern Ontario and southernmost Quebéc through New England southward to Georgia, Mississippi and Oklahoma. The northwestern range limit is uncertain but is likely in the western Great Lakes region. Specimen photographs from south-central Minnesota (Wright Co.) in mid-June (butterfliesandmoths.org, record # 978800) and central Wisconsin in early August (butterfliesandmoths.org, record # 1097249) are consistent with C. albata , but voucher specimens should be examined.

Remarks.

There is some uncertainty in the identity of the holotype of Clemensia albata , given the type locality and the similarity to C. umbrata , but two facts help in ascertaining what taxon the name albata applies to: the types were collected in August in southern Maine, pointing to second-brood specimens of the bivoltine eastern species (versus univoltine C. umbrata flying mostly in July), and the wing expanse given as 0.83 inch, or 21.1 mm, which is smaller than most eastern C. umbrata . Examined specimens from regions adjacent to the C. albata type locality in southern Maine (Figure 20) have also so far proven to be the smaller, bivoltine species.