Species Datana perspicua - Spotted Datana - Hodges#7908

7908

Datana perspicua Grote & Robinson, 1865

* phylogenetic sequence #930039

Perspicua is Latin for "transparent, clear; evident", perhaps indicating how easily Grote and Robinson believed the species could be distinguished from the other Datana species known at the time.

WS = 45-56mm (1)

Adult: FW straw yellow with variable brownish shading. Sharp brown lines and conspicuous brown orbicular and reniform spots. HW entirely yellow. (1)

The evenly pale yellow coloration of the adult makes it easily separable from all other eastern Datana. Note that many other Datana species can have quite large and bold reniform spots, so the presence of a large reniform spot alone should not be relied upon for identification of this species.

This "species" may in fact be an unresolved species complex. There is a great deal of regional variation, with western specimens averaging paler and with smaller reniform spots than eastern specimens.

Southern Ontario to Florida, west to Minnesota, Missouri and Arizona (1)

May - September (1)

Larvae feed on Sumac (Rhus species, in the family Anacardiaceae) (2)

This species is unusually rare in the Northeast, given how abundant its host plants are in the region. It can be one of the most abundant Datana farther west though.

Powell, J. A. & P. A. Opler, Moths of Western North America, Pl. 33.50f; p. 249

Grote & Robinson, 1865; Proc. Ent. Soc. Phil. 4: 489; in Grote (1875) Can. Ent. 7: 195

Moth Photographers Group - MPG