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Photo#880348
A smaller Rhadine - Rhadine umbra - male

A smaller Rhadine - Rhadine umbra - Male
Sandia Mountains, Bernalillo County, New Mexico, USA
July 22, 2013
Size: ~9.5mm
Found this smaller Rhadine near the Sandia Ski area which is at a slightly lower elevation from the Rhadine nivalis (group) I posted earlier this year. Could this be Rhadine umbra or is this just a small version of R. navalis?

Small, slender "Rhadine umbra Casey" makes more sense than
larger, more robust R. nivalis Horn. R. umbra was suggested to me by insightful Mark Romero prior to my examination of this male specimen today. I have before me several good specimens of R. nivalis from AZ and NM. While their body size varies quite a bit, none are as slender and small as this one (ABL 9.5 mm). Unfortunately the only key that addresses the three(?) members of the nivalis species group is by Casey (1913). Casey's outdated descriptions are just too difficult to interpret reliably. I'm pretty sure that Mark's specimen represents a distinct species. Besides being proportionatey more slender (notably the pronotum), I believe the eyes are smaller, flatter and the temples behind the eyes are more prolonged before the neck constriction. Thank you Mark for depositing your specimen with PWMC for continued study.

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