Stamnodes formosata ( Strecker, 1878 )

Matson, Tanner A., 2023, A review of Mexican Stamnodes (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) with the description of 16 new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 911, pp. 1-79 : 45-48

Stamnodes formosata ( Strecker, 1878)

Figs 20 , 92 , 94–95

Marmopteryx formosata Strecker, 1878: 1864 . Type locality: Rio Florida, [Colorado], [ USA]. [FMNH].

Marmopteryx dryadata Hulst, 1880: 43 . Type locality: Colorado, USA. [AMNH].

Marmopteryx sponsata Grote, 1882: 215 . Type locality: near Hot Springs, Las Vegas, New Mexico, USA. [USNM].

Coenocalpe formosata – Hulst 1896: 287 . — Dyar 1902: 286 (cat.). — Pearsall 1906: 204.

Stamnodes formosata – Pearsall 1909b: 366. — McDunnough 1938: 151 (checklist). — Ferguson 1983: 103 (checklist). — Poole & Gentili 1996: 686 (checklist). — Scoble 1999: 902 (catalogue). — Knudson & Bordelon 2002: 7–8. — Scoble & Hausmann 2007 (online catalogue). — Powell & Opler 2009: 226; pl. 32 fig. 32. — Lee 2014: e86 (inventory). — Pohl et al. 2016: 448 (checklist). — Rajaei et al. 2022 (online catalogue).

Diagnostic remarks

Stamnodes formosata is easily confused with sympatric S. lampra . Stamnodes formosata is larger than S. lampra , has lighter brown scaling at the forewing apex and costomedial patch above, and the forewing apical area and hindwing are striated with bright red scales beneath that stand in opposition to the often rust to light brown scales of the same areas in S. lampra .

Distribution

Mexico: Stamnodes formosata inhabits the rocky hillsides, open woodlands, and chaparral communities of the northern Sierra Madre Occidental. USA: this species ranges from the Madrean sky islands of southeastern Arizona and West Texas, north into the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Stamnodes formosata appears to have a larger USA distribution than visually similar and closely related S. lampra .

Biology

Stamnodes formosata flies mainly in July and August with mature caterpillars centered from September to early November. Larvae are hosted by alder leaf mountain mahogany ( Cercocarpus montanus Raf. ). The caterpillar ( Fig. 92 ) and host plant were discovered by David L. Wagner in October 2014 in southeast Arizona. Additional unpublished life history details and larval illustrations are forthcoming (Matson & Wagner in prep.).

Molecular characterization

This species is represented in BOLD by two BINs: BOLD: AAF2597 (n = 11, USA: Colorado, New Mexico) and BOLD:ACE7212 (n = 9, USA: southeast Arizona). The pairwise distance between these two BINs is 1.39%. The distance to their nearest adjacent interspecific neighbour, Stamnodes ferropulvisa sp. nov. (n = 3), is around 5% ( Fig. 94 ).

Figures

Figs 19–30. Adult Stamnodes Guenée, [1858], dorsal (a) and ventral (b) views. 19. S. saltillo sp. nov., holotype, ♂ (CNIN). 20. S. formosata (Strecker, 1878) (USNMENT01771263). 21. S. lampra Rindge, 1878, paratype (USNMENT01771264). 22. S. franckata (Pearsall, 1909) (USNMENT01771255). 23. Stamnodes sp. (?undescribed; Mexico: Nuevo León) (USNMENT01523823). 24. S. patamon (Druce, 1893) (CNIN). 25. S. coenonymphata (Hulst, 1900) (TAM). 26. S. catarina sp. nov., holotype, ♂ (AMNH_IZC 00352926). 27. S. churro sp. nov., holotype, ♀ (AMNH_IZC 00352920). 28. S. ferropulvisa sp. nov., holotype, ♀ (USNMENT01523824). 29. S. calcarea sp. nov., holotype, ♂ (CMNH). 30. S. ululata Pearsall, 1912 (USNMENT01771256). Scale bar = 1 cm.

Figs 90–93. Final instar larval variation of North American species of Stamnodes Guenée, [1858]. 90. S. albiapicata Grossbeck, 1910, collected from Pholistoma membranaceum (Benth.) Constance; USA: California: San Diego Co. (2017C29); photo credit Moria L. Robinson. 91. S. coenonymphata (Hulst, 1900) collected from Cercocarpus betuloides Nutt.; USA: California: Sonoma Co. (2018E171). 92. S. formosata (Strecker, 1878) collected from Cercocarpus montanus Raf.; USA: Arizona: Cochise Co. (2014K98), photo credit David L. Wagner. 93. S. fergusoni Matson & Wagner, 2020, collected from Salvia pinguifolia (Fernald) Wooton & Standl.; USA: New Mexico: Lincoln Co. (2018J32), photo credit David L. Wagner (Matson & Wagner 2020).

Fig. 94. COI neighbour-joining tree for Mexican Stamnodes Guenée, [1858] using default Kimura-2P model in the Barcode of Life Project (BOLD). Taxon names followed by BOLD Process ID.

Fig. 95. Biogeographic associations of Mexican Stamnodes Guenée, [1858]. (*) denotes species found in two or more provinces. Underlying biogeographic provincial map taken from Morrone (2020: fig. 4.5) with permission to reproduce this figure granted by author Juan J. Morrone.