periscelidactylus or sheppardi

See the identification key for Oxyptilini.

See the species accounts in Landry (1987)(1), Landry (1989)(2), Hunt & Matthews (2020)(3), and Barnes & Lindsey (1921)(4) as Pterophorus periscelidactylus.

Geina periscelidactylus and G. sheppardi adults have:

• a forewing second lobe that is broader with a well developed, curved outer margin, as in Sphenarches, other Geina species, Capperia, and Oxyptilus, rather than narrow with an acute apex, as in Buckleria, Dejongia, Trichoptilus, and Megalorhipida.
• a brown and unmarked abdominal segment four, as in Sphenarches ontario and other Geina species, and unlike in Capperia and Oxyptilus.
• a mostly brown metathorax, as in Sphenarches ontario, rather than the metathorax having large, white lateral patches, as in Geina tenuidactylus and G. buscki, or having white lines on the metathorax and and on the mesothorax connecting the white tegulae, as in Sphenarches anisodactylus, Oxyptilus delawaricus, and Capperia.
• tawny brown ground color in the wings and abdomen, as in Sphenarches and Oxyptilus delawaricus, unlike the darker, chocolate brown ground color of Geina tenuidactylus, G. buscki, and Capperia.
• a black transverse line before the cleft base, not extended basad as a dark triangular patch as in Sphenarches ontario.
• a dark scale tooth well developed in both the costal and dorsal fringes of the hindwing third lobe, as in Sphenarches ontario and other Geina species, and unlike in Sphenarches anisodactylus (dark scale tooth developed mostly in dorsal fringe).

Geina periscelidactylus and G. sheppardi adults are difficult to distinguish in photo records, and both species are common and widespread in the eastern United States and Canada. G. periscelidactylus has a slightly brighter ground color and slightly more contrasting forewing lobe color pattern than in G. sheppardi. The color and lobe contrast difference is often difficult to discern in photo records, but they can often be seen when compared with series of curated specimens. Males can be determined by brushing scales off the valvae, females by dissection. See Landry, 1987(1), Landry, 1989(2), and Hunt & Matthews, 2020(3).