Stamnodes annellata (Hulst, 1887)

Figs 33, 94–95

Marmopteryx annellata Hulst, 1887: 191 . Type locality: Pacific Coast [USA]. [AMNH].

Stamnodes catastrophata Dyar, 1923: 20 . Type locality: San Diego, California, USA. [USNM]. Stamnodes gratificata Dyar, 1923: 21 . Type locality: Claremont; San Diego, California, USA. [USNM].

Coenocalpe annellata – Hulst 1896: 287 . — Dyar 1902: 285 (cat.).

Stamnodes annellata – Pearsall 1909b: 366 . — McDunnough 1938: 151 (checklist). — McFarland 1965: 62. — Ferguson 1983: 103 (checklist). — Furniss et al. 1988: 7. — Poole & Gentili 1996: 686 (checklist). — Brown & Bash 2000: 73. — Scoble 1999: 901 (catalogue). — Scoble & Hausmann 2007 (online catalogue). — Lee 2014: e86 (inventory). — Pohl et al. 2016: 448 (checklist). — Rajaei et al. 2022 (online catalogue).

Distribution

Mexico: Stamnodes annellata is found in the chaparral associations, foothills, canyons, and Pacific coastal scrub communities of northwestern Baja California. USA: the core of this species’ range lies in California.

Biology

The adult flight peaks from December to February with mature caterpillars following from early spring into May. Larvae are hosted by birch leaf mountain mahogany ( Cercocarpus betuloides) (McFarland 1965).

Molecular characterization

Mexican individuals will almost certainly belong to the BOLD BIN: BOLD:AAF9421 (n = 29, Southern California). At present, the average pairwise intraspecific distance is 1.27%, and the distance to the nearest neighbour, Stamnodes nr annellata (n = 5, California: Channel Islands), is 4.62%.

Remarks

According to preliminary molecular data (Matson &Wagner in prep.), there is significant phylogeographic structure throughout the western North American range of S. annellata . Accordingly, S. annellata may be a complex of multiple species that warrants further study. Mexican individuals will belong to the same barcode haplotype grouping as the many sequenced specimens from San Diego Co., California, and bordering USA counties.