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Photo#230943
Palmer's or Mormon Metalmark? - Apodemia mejicanus - female

Palmer's or Mormon Metalmark? - Apodemia mejicanus - Female
Box Canyon, Pima County, Arizona, USA
September 27, 2008

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Palmer's or Mormon Metalmark? - Apodemia mejicanus - female Palmer's or Mormon Metalmark? - Apodemia mejicanus - female

Moved
Moved from Mormon Metalmark.

 
Confused
about A. mormo vs A. mejicanus. I just posted an idividual that I think is A. mejicanus from the same Mt. range as this one. This guy looks like what we used to call A. mormo. Is something going on with the taxonomy I'm unaware of??

 
I don't know for sure, but suspect that the only
species in the Box Canyon area is A. mejicanus. This one is dark, but the orange through the middle of the upper hind wing, which surrounds the somewhat reduced white spots in the median row is characteristic of A. mejicanus. There is a lot of individual variation, and some individuals have much more orange than others. I also suspect that the old idea that A. mejicanus and A. mormo are only variants of a single species may be true, but I don't have a strong opinion about it. Some individuals do seem to be somewhat intermediate.

Seeing more individuals from this area might be interesting. I may have misinterpreted this one, but I don't think so.

Checkerspot?
I do not think this is a metalmark. It looks more like some kind of checkerspot

Looks like
a Mormon Metalmark to me - no red/orange border on upperside of wings.

 
Mormon Metalmark
Yes, I see what you mean. Thanks for the tip.

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