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Adela trigrapha - Hodges#0225 (Adela trigrapha)
Photo#179782
Copyright © 2008
John Davis
Adela eldorada -
Adela trigrapha
-
Major Creek Road, Klickitat County, Washington, USA
April 11, 2008
Day-flying moth. Adela eldorada. Flower is Phlox gracilis. Habitat is open oak, pine woodland.
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Contributed by
John Davis
on 30 April, 2008 - 12:42pm
Last updated 14 April, 2019 - 11:23pm
eldorada vs trigrapha
Based on my limited experience of the Adela's of central California my impression from just looking at the picture is that it falls into the "difficult to separate" category; but I lean towards eldorada based just on the width of the bands. If one had a specimen in hand he might be able to view the palpi to gain more information useful for determing the species. But you guys make good arguments for trigrapha. I do believe in the two species concept of eldorada/trigrapha. But at present I am waiting for further knowledge to surface before making any decisions about the problematic northern populations. Perhaps that knowledge will be included in the Davis & Medeiros monograph to which Aaron refers.
In the meantime, I, for one, would greatly appreciate the inclusion in anyone's posts of observations of the behaviors the moths. With which plants do you find them associated? Especially interesting would be any observations of ovipositional behavior. Please see Lisa Couper's recent posts on this website.
…
Al Ludtke
, 27 September, 2019 - 7:25pm
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Moved
Moved from
Adela eldorada
.
…
john and jane balaban
, 14 April, 2019 - 11:23pm
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Should we move this
to trigrapha?
…
john and jane balaban
, 14 April, 2019 - 8:52pm
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I'd say yes, it should be moved to A. trigrapha
...for the reasons detailed in my comment of 2/15/15 below. I don't know whether Terry or John read and thought over that comment or not. I didn't move it earlier out of deference to their views.
But if they did read my comment and disagreed, they've had plenty of time to think about the things and provide a compelling rebuttal ;-)
BTW...a new revision of
Adela
is underway. Perhaps it will shed more light on the distinctions between these two species? I'm eagerly awaiting it's appearance...hoping it will provide lots of new info and help us all in identifying
Adela
posts.
…
Aaron Schusteff
, 14 April, 2019 - 9:28pm
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Moved
Moved from
Adela
.
…
john and jane balaban
, 5 May, 2009 - 5:47pm
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Adela ID
Upon looking at Powell (1969), cited below, I would determine this to be
Adela eldorada
. In Powell's key,
A. eldorada
is diagnosed as having the vestiture of the crown mostly or entirely orange, and the inner two bands of the forewing are broad, whereas
Adela trigrapha
has the vestiture of the crown mostly or entirely black, and the inner two bands of the forewing are narrow.
Note, however, that it is stated: "Each of the differences mentioned to distinguish
eldorada
from
trigrapha
breaks down in a few specimens from one locality or another."
Powell, J. A. 1969. A synopsis of Nearctic adelid moths, with descriptions of new species (Incurvariidae). Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 23: 211-240.
…
Terry Harrison
, 5 May, 2009 - 4:20pm
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Adela trigrapha alternative equally (or more?) compelling
Terry, regarding orange vestiture on the head...a significant qualifier was omitted in your statement above, which I've inserted in
red
below:
"In Powell's key,
males of
A. eldorada
are diagnosed as having the vestiture of the crown mostly or entirely orange, [...], whereas
males of
Adela trigrapha
have the vestiture of the crown mostly or entirely black, and [...]."
Thus if this were a male, then the abundance of orange scales on the crown would indeed be indicative of
A. eldorada
, even though that species has previously been associated mainly with lower-to-mid montane locales in the Sierra Nevada of California.
But the individual in the photo above is a female, as evidenced by the relatively small eyes. Per the key on pg. 215 of Powell
(
1
)
: males of both
A. trigrapha
and
A. eldorada
have eyes extending on to the crown, with eye diameter 3× or more the distance between the eyes...which is not the case here. Compare the eyes here with those below:
A. trigrapha
A. eldorada
Note also that...although males of
A. trigrapha
have heads predominantly black...females of
A. trigrapha
have bright orange vestiture on their heads (like females and males of
A. eldorada
), as stated in Powell & Opler
(
2
)
and seen in
this photo
. Thus the conspicuous orange head in the post here does not necessarily make
eldorada
the compelling choice.
Secondly, regarding the relative width of the wing bands...note that the discrepancy is not so great between the female
trigrapha
in the coastal CA post below and the two putative female
eldorada
from Washington:
CA
trigrapha
WA "
eldorada
1" WA "
eldorada
2"
Moreover, in his discussion of
trigrapha
Powell
(
1
)
states on pg. 221 (
purple emphasis mine
):
"Northward in the coast ranges the moths average slightly larger than in the San Francisco Bay area, with
somewhat larger
, somewhat yellowish
forewing bands
and generally more orange in the crown, mostly one-third to one-half the scales comprising the occipital tufts, thus approaching
eldorada
in these regards."
Extrapolating from the above, the width of the wing bands in populations of
trigrapha
as far north as Washington might become hard to distinguish from those of
eldorada
.
Some other things to consider:
1) the description of
eldorada
in Powell
(
1
)
stated that the 3rd white wing band was often broken (in 70% of males and 45% of females sampled)
2) Powell
(
1
)
found
eldorada
tended to occur in semi-shaded spots in the forest or more-or-less open chaparral in canyon situations. In contrast,
trigrapha
occurred in more-or-less open meadow or grassy hillside situations where the larval host plant
Linanthus
grows.
I asked Jerry Powell about the putative WA
eldorada
posts here, and he commented that he'd be more comfortable with a new state record for Washington if it were based on
male
as well as
female
specimens ...which is a very good point, as couplet 7 of the key in Powell
(
1
)
indicates that a preponderance vs. paucity of orange scales on the crown separates
males
of
eldorada
vs.
trigrapha
, respectively.
Apropos to that point, note the lack of any perceptible orange on the crown of the male below:
Note also that the male in that post is from the same locale (Dog Mountain) as the putative female "
eldorada
2" below:
So while, a priori, an extension of the known range of
A. eldorada
from the Sierra Nevada of California to Washington State is certainly possible, until a male with a preponderance of orange on the crown is found, it seems equally possible (and, from the above, arguably more likely) that this is
A. trigrapha
.
…
Aaron Schusteff
, 15 February, 2015 - 8:44pm
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IDs
Thanks for the updates. I wasn't positive on which of the two species was correct because of the variation.
…
John Davis
, 5 May, 2009 - 5:03pm
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Bob Patterson forwarded
. . . this one on to Terry Harrison who looked it up in reference material at Univ. Illinois. He arrived at 0225 A. trigrapha as well.
…
Steve Scott
, 6 May, 2008 - 2:31pm
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