המועדפים של ptexis

While this is the same species that is currently using the name kinghorni- that name is potentially in error and what is happening in the contact zone in the Torres Strait is unresolved both morphologically and genetically.

A REQUEST:
When recommending an identification, please adhere to current standards of taxonomy as deployed by iNaturalist at this time — as opposed to identifying and classifying organisms based on personal beliefs about what taxonomy can, should, or of right ought to be in opposition to iNaturalist’s current taxonomy. Comments noting such taxonomic disagreements, however, are welcomed and encouraged. I prefer my observations to be inline with current taxonomic standards as deployed by iNaturalist (as opposed to my personal beliefs) so that this and other observations are readily accessible to iNaturalist users with greater efficiency and usability. Thanks!

If you have any questions regarding this observation, feel free to contact me or leave a comment below!

Janson Jones,
http://floridensis.com.

Here's another example of a Pug Moth I'm identifying as E. longidens kerrvillaria. In contrast to the Common Eupithecia, notice the following:

a. FW crossed by two nearly complete fine dark lines, the inner one nearly/actually touching the dark cell spot;

b. dark smudges in a couple of patches along the inner side of the thin white subterminal line; note also that the white subterminal line does not form a conspicuous white dot in the outer angle;

c. Each abdominal segment has a combination of a dull white (buff) spot and a small blackish chevron, resulting in an interrupted line of dark dots down the center of the abdomen; and

d. Something I'm noticing on all my images of this species: At the rear of the thorax, there is a conspicuous pale/white triangular patch which is typically bisected by black (with a dark area immediately in front of it). In the Common Eupithecia, this pale spot is either absent or not bisected by black.

This example showed up at a blacklight on a balmy early February evening.

Compare with:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2572928

This is the earliest image (and best) that I have of what I am now identifying as Eupithecia longidens var. kerrvillaria. This species occurs from Texas, through AZ, NM, CO, and UT. The variety "kerrvillaria" was described originally in 1924 from Kerrville and has been subsequently documented in Edwards and Dallas counties (BG records).

This species is characterized by its light brown color with "two dark, oblique lines enclosing the median space"; the AM line is sharply angled below the costa, [nearly or actually] touching the dark discal dots (McDunnough, 1949, p. 549). In the several images that I've identified as this species, all show a pair of whitish and dark dots on the center of each abdominal segment, lining up to yield an interrupted black-and-white line down the abdomen. I don't know if the latter marks are diagnostic but this does help distinguish it from the common E. miserulata.

Here is a typical living image from Edwards County on BG:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/761014
(MPG apparently doesn't have images of the "kerrvillaria" variety in Texas.)

Ref: McDunnough, J. H. 1949. Revision of the N. Amer. species of the genus Eupithecia (Lepidoptera:Geometridae). Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 93(8):533-728.

Check this out. Last year we saw a hummer get caught and eaten by a large mantis. The mantis was sitting on one of the feeders. I never heard of that happening before. We’ve been feeding hummers and have had dense populations of hummers at our feeders for 25 years now, and we had never seen this before last year. We have seen several instances of large female black-and-yellow garden spiders catching and eating hummers, but lots of mantises are around and so far as we've seen, they have never caught a hummer until last year.

Today a mantis caught a hummer and is eating it right now. The mantis with its prey is sitting on the persimmon bush/tree that is right by the feeders.

It looks like it could be the same mantis, but I googled mantis longevity and apparently a year is the maximum lifespan, so this has got to be a new mantis. It is possible, maybe even likely that this is the offspring of the huge female mantis that caught the bird last year, as she was the only big mantis in the area we ever saw. Maybe mantis catch hummers all the time, but we just don’t see them do it, and I think it is a pretty rare behavior. This one couldn’t have learned the behavior from a mother she never saw. Is there an inheritable bird-eating trait in that particular lineage? I guess it's a simpler hypothesis that it's a trait for quicker growth or larger than average size, and that just allows them to include hummers on the menu by late summer.

Had such a blast with other iNatters at the Del Rio gathering. I saw lots and lots of new plants and animals -- so these ID's are tentative. I'll have to do a little more digging later.
https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/sambiology/15447-spending-time-with-inat-community-in-del-rio

I'm tentatively identifying this very plain pug moth as Eupithecia zygadeniata, a species whose larvae have been documented on Green Lily (Schoenocaulon) in Central Texas.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/315640
Both MPG and BG have just a single image of one pinned specimen (from Texas Lepidoptera Survey):
http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/species.php?hodges=7532
http://bugguide.net/node/view/315640
Blanchard and Knudson (1985, p. 670) describe this species as having "powdery gray" wings.
The BOLD website shows several pinned specimens, some apparently from CO.
http://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=226156

Compared to the Common Eupithecia, E. miserulata, this species has wider or longer FWs. The FWs have numerous but very indistinct crosslines and only the tiniest of dark discal dots, if any. I've noticed on this image that the abdomen has a series of black dots in the center of each segment, each of which is shaped like a minute chevron or crescent, yielding a distinct row of black dots down the length of the abdomen. As well, all available images seem to show a complete, sinuous or dentate pale subterminal line extending the entire breadth of the FW from the costa to the outer angle. Also, most/all images show a conspicuous but thin U-shaped dark line across the first abdomenal segment. I don't know if any of these latter aspects are diagnostic, but they are distinct in these respects from my series of E. miserulata images.

The species was originally described from Bosque Co., TX. Blanchard and Knudson report it from Comal and Kerr Cos. The present image is from a private ranch near Camp Wood in Real Co., TX. IF anyone ever finds the orange and black larvae on Green Lily in the wild, it would be tremendously valuable to raise those to adulthood to get more images of this poorly known species.
Compare also to this tentatively IDed image of E. jejunata:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2572994

Ref: Blanchard, A., and E. C. Knudson. 1985. The Eupithecia (Lepidoptera:Geometridae) of Texas with a description of a new species. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 87(3):662-674.
http://biostor.org/reference/75172

I originally thought this was E. zygadeniata, but I now see it matches images in Blanchard & Knudson (1985) of a different Texas species, the Swift Pug, E. jejunata. This species has obscure crosslines and tiny/absent discal dots like the former species but is smaller and not as "powdery gray"; The PM line (termed "subterminal" in McDunnough, 1949, p. 574) is doubled, enclosing a narrow pale band; this is inside the true subterminal whitish line which crosses the entire width of the FW. Another character mentioned by McDunnough (p. 574) is a pair of small obscure dark patches just inside the subterminal white line, one in the middle and one near the lower end of that line. This species apparently (?) shares with E. zygadeniata the row of black dots on the center of each abdomenal segment. Compare with my concept of E. zygadeniata here:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2572990

Ref.: Blanchard, A. and E.C. Knudson. 1985. The Eupithecia (Lep.:Geom.) of Texas with a description of a new species. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 87(3):662-674.
http://biostor.org/reference/75172

McDunnough, J. H. 1949. Revision of the North American species of the genus Eupithecia (Lep.:Geom.). Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 93(8):533-728.

This was one of the nice discoveries on the first day of March; first for the yard. I keep photographing Eupithecia's in hopes of uncovering something different and it finally worked. This is Bolter's Pug Moth which ranges from AZ east to Central Texas. MPG at present does not show any Texas records:
http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/species.php?hodges=7500
The species is sparsely recorded in Texas but has been documented as far east as Waco (McClennan Co.). This appears to be a 2nd Travis County record, just a few days after the first one was uploaded to BG: http://bugguide.net/node/view/1343373

The first image is a marked-up version to illustrate key points for identifying this species (based on McDunnough's 1949 monograph and a more recent article by Blanchard & Knudson (1985)*).

1. FWs narrower and more pointed than most other common Eupithecia's.
2. Oblique dark marks from costa meeting at the discal spot, forming a conspicuous "triangle" on the costal margin.
3. Discal spot a prominent vertical bar.
4. Thin black line extending from lower end of discal spot towards base of FW.

5. Pale unmarked buff/gray areas flanking the discal spot; also the inner 2/3 of HW similarly unmarked (more so than most other Eupithecia).
   The black inverted "Y" or 3-bladed "propeller" on the thorax seems to be diagnostic for this species, at least among CenTex Eupithecia's.

These ID notes have been added to the BG species page here:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/1043092

• Blanchard, A., and E. C. Knudson. "The Eupithecia (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) of Texas, with the description of a new species." Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington (USA) (1985).

I think this specimen is an example of an overlooked Texas species. Rindge (1959) described it and looked at 21 specimens from the OK border south to Cotulla. He also included a specimen from NM and one from Coah. MX. At BOLD there is a specimen identified as imperdata from Baboquivari, AZ, and one from the OK border of TX. The type locality is Kerrville, TX. The darkly pigmented line on the fold that connects the AM line and PM line is a character of the pattern of imperdata.