Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Cisthene subrufa (Barnes & McDunnough, 1913)
Ozodania schwarziorum [In Part] Dyar 1899
Illice schwarziorum [In Part] Hampson 1900
(1)
Ozodania subrufa Barnes & McDunnough, 1913
(1)
Illice subrufa Hampson 1914
(1)
Phylogenetic sequence # 930176
Numbers
Lafontaine & Schmidt (2010) included twenty species of the genus
Cisthene in North America north of Mexico.
(2)Identification
Identified by range and a combination of characters
(4):
-- Pale creamy yellow rather than orange color areas.
-- Basal streaks stop well short of the PM band; margins of the basal streaks are convex, resulting in an elliptical pale area surrounding the thoracic disk, like an avocado cut in half.
-- Ground color is brownish gray.
-- PM band flares out much wider on inner (dorsal) margin compared to costal margin. PM band usually complete but may be split into triangles on each margin; the one on the inner margin always larger than the costal one.
-- Leg color is useful: Hind legs are usually all yellow; middle legs are banded yellow and gray, particularly the middle tibia on which the middle 1/3 is yellow, flanked by gray on each end.
-- Small size (FW 5.5 to 7 mm).
Range
Originally described from Cameron Co., TX.
(1)(3) Now documented uncommonly north to Bastrop, Travis, and Edwards counties in Texas. Occurs south into Mexico at least as far as e. San Luis Potosi (iNaturalist)
(4).
Habitat
Subtropical Thorn Woodland in south Texas.
Food
Wagner et al. (2008) collected larvae from Psychia lichens on Texas Ebony (Ebenopsis ebano).
Remarks
Previously confused with
Schwarz's Lichen Moth of AZ, but the ranges of the two are well separated. Previous reports of the species in AZ (e.g. MPG, Wikipedia) were based on that species.
See Also
Thin-banded Lichen Moth is slightly larger, less suffused with brown scales, and ranges outside of Texas.
(1) The basal orange streak nearly or actually reaches the PM band and the PM band is usually narrow and doesn't have the "top-heavy" width shown on Tamaulipan.
One-banded Lichen Moth can be similar but color bands are usually pale orange rather than pale yellow; basal streak almost always touches the PM band; and the PM band is about equally wide where it meets the inner and costal margins.
Print References
Barnes, W. & J.H. McDunnough. 1913. Contributions to the natural history of the Lepidoptera of North America 2(3):
102,
pl.3, f.4,5
(3)
Hampson, G.F. 1914. Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British Museum 1(Suppl.).
672
Knowlton, C.B. 1967. A Revision of the Species of Cisthene Known to Occur North of the Mexican Border (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae: Lithosiinae). Transactions of the American Entomological Society 93(1): 52-56
(1)
Sexton, C., and H. McGuinness. 2017. Identification of lichen moths in the genus Cisthene in the central and eastern U.S. Southern Lep. News (39(4):309-322.
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group (5) NOTE (10/4/17): All of the MPG images appear to be misplaced
C. tenuifascia ssp.
schwarziorum.
Cisthene subrufa, as presently understood
(1), is not found in AZ.
