Manitoba Oakworm Moth - Anisota manitobensis

Moved

… Ryan St Laurent, 30 November, 2015 - 8:22pm

Anisota

This looks more like the rarely reported Anisota manitobensis, but is way south of its usual range, but also way out of range of the most similar species, A. stigma. Regardless of what this is, this is a very important record.

I don't suppose you collected this?

I will create a BugGuide page for A. manitobensis since that seems like the most likely identification for this specimen.

… Ryan St Laurent, 30 November, 2015 - 8:10pm

Anisota

Ryan,

Thanks for your observation that this is not a Spiny Oakworm. We did not collect it. We just realized that it was in Keya Paha County (instead of Cherry). After looking at our photo and looking more carefully at the BugGuide photos of Spiny Oakworm, we see that it looks quite different. We haven't found any photos of manitobensis on the internet. The area where it was found is on the Niobrara River where a remnant northern forest exists of pine, oak and birch.

Loren and Babs Padelford
Bellevue, NE

… Loren & Babs Padelford, 30 November, 2015 - 9:34pm

Anisota

Thanks for the clarification on the locality. I got a second opinion from Ric Peigler (Anisota expert) and he agrees that this is probably A. manitobensis.

Despite the fact that this specimen was not collected, this offers a significant (and accurate) report of this species' distribution. This is perhaps the most important recent record for this species as it greatly expands the potential distribution.

See here for a comparison with A. stigma: (copy and paste)
http://www.cbif.gc.ca/SpeciesBank/spp_pages/misc_moths/jpgs/image_e.php?image%5B%5D=107717.jpg%2CAnisota+manitobensis&image%5B%5D=107717a.jpg%2CAnisota+manitobensis&image%5B%5D=107716.jpg%2CAnisota+stigma&image%5B%5D=107716a.jpg%2CAnisota+stigma

… Ryan St Laurent, 30 November, 2015 - 9:53pm