Protorthodes oviduca ( Guenee , 1852)

Lafontaine, J. Donald, Walsh, J. Bruce & Ferris, Clifford D., 2014, A revision of the genus Protorthodes McDunnough with descriptions of a new genus and four new species (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Noctuinae, Eriopygini), ZooKeys 421, pp. 139-179 : 148

Taxon classification Animalia Lepidoptera Noctuidae

Protorthodes oviduca ( Guenee, 1852) Figs 21-23, 60, 78; Map 6

Taeniocampa oviduca Guenée, 1852: 357.

Taeniocampa capsella Grote, 1874b: 201.

Protorthodes lindrothi Krogerus, 1954: 20.

Type material.

Taeniocampa oviduca : type material lost. Type locality: North America. Note: no species is likely to be confused with Taeniocampa oviduca in the areas of eastern North America from where Guenée’s material originated, mainly the Southeast (Georgia and Florida), and the Northeast (mainly New York and eastern Canada), so no neotype is proposed. Taeniocampa capsella : syntype ♂, BMNH, examined. Type locality: New York, Albany. Protorthodes lindrothi : holotype ♂, CNC, examined. Type locality: Canada, Newfoundland, Badger.

Diagnosis.

Protorthodes oviduca is mainly a boreal-zone species occurring in Canada from coast to coast. Because of its mainly northern and eastern distribution, its range overlaps that of only two other species, Protorthodes curtica in British Columbia and Protorthodes incincta in southern Canada and the Rocky Mountain region. Adults can be recognized by the reddish-brown coloration of the forewing and the contrastingly pale outline of the reniform and orbicular spots with the reniform spot usually entirely filled with dark shading. The male antenna is strongly bipectinate, 3.8 to 4.1 × as wide as the central shaft. The forewing length varies from 11 to 14 mm. This and the next two species ( Protorthodes orobia and Protorthodes melanopis ) form a structurally similar species group in which the ampulla of the clasper is relatively short and teardrop shaped, and does not extend to the dorsal margin of the valve; the digitus is a broad triangular sclerotized plate extending from the costal margin of the valve and tapers ventrally into heavily-sclerotized process with the apex covered with short spines and minute setae and ends near the middle of the valve, not near the “neck” of the cucullus as in other species. The female genitalia of the group are characterized by the sclerotized area toward the posterior end of the ductus bursae, which is heavily sclerotized on each side of the ductus with the central area being only lightly sclerotized. Protorthodes oviduca can be distinguished from the other two species in the group by the characters given in the key.

Distribution and biology.

Protorthodes oviduca occurs across boreal and temperate areas of Canada and northern United States with extensions in eastern US to central Florida and southern Alabama, and in the mountains in the West as far south as Colorado and Utah. In some areas (e.g., Ohio, Michigan) it is found only in sandy habitats (Eric Metzler, pers. comm.). Adults occur mainly from mid-May to early July with occasional records as late as mid-August. The larva was described by Crumb (1956) and Godfrey (1972).