Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Leptostales rubromarginaria (Packard, 1871)
* phylogenetic sequence #210525
Acidalia rubromarginaria Packard, 1871
Identification
Adults of L. rubromarginaria and ferruminaria are both variable in color and markings, and resemble each other very closely.
Range
Southern British Columbia to central California , Arizona and Colorado.
(1)
All the DNA determined specimens at
lepbarcoding.org are from British Columbia and California. (2015)
The notes below are older postings:
*There is confusion or disagreement over the eastern distribution of
L. rubromarginaria (see Remarks below) but in the west, this is the only species of
Leptosales listed in
British Columbia,
California, and
Oregon.
Season
There is a single flight from April to July.
(1)Food
Larval host unknown, but adults are often seen near
Prunus americana (American plum) *
usda.gov - plant information.
(1)Remarks
Charles Covell's Guide gives a distribution of "southern Quebec to Florida, west across Canada..." but
CBIF does not list this species in Canada, except in British Columbia (and the
Leptostales species that occurs from Quebec to Alberta is listed as
ferruminaria).
Also, the list of
Florida Lepidoptera includes
L. ferruminaria but not
rubromarginaria, so there seems to be confusion over the eastern distribution of these two species, neither of which is treated as a synonym or subspecies of the other.
Along the west coast of United States and Canada,
rubromarginaria is the only
Leptostales species.
(1)See Also
Likely to be confused only with L. ferruminaria, as other species of Leptostales have distinctive colors and/or markings.
Print References
Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler 2009. Moths of Western North America. pl.31.34m; p.222
(1)
Acidalia rubromarginaria Packard, 1871. Catalogue of the Phalaenidae of California.
Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History. 13:
391 Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - photo of living and pinned adults.
lepbarcoding.org - species account with range map and pinned adults.