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Photo#394959
Trirhabda eriodictyonis - male

Trirhabda eriodictyonis - Male
Lightning Ridge, elev. ~7600ft., San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County, California, USA
July 2, 2009
Netted with another insect found on Eriodictyon trichocalyx.

Hi Hartmut
I just learned from reading Hogue(1) that males and females of T. eriodictyonis can be distinguished by the size and shape of the occipital spot (something I had suspected earlier). Males have a thickish, hour-glass shaped spot; females a thinner, linear marking.

When I checked your post here, I saw you had already indicated this was a male. Then I noticed that the ribbon-like aedaegus is actually visible here...exserted but held pressed against the tip of the abdomen and curving to the right. I guess that's how you knew, although perhaps you had also noticed the correlation of occipital spot shape and sex from your field study and photos.

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