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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Erebidae » Erebinae » Catocalini » Underwings (Catocala) » Desdemona Underwing - Hodges#8835.1 (Catocala desdemona)

Species Catocala desdemona - Desdemona Underwing - Hodges#8835.1

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Range · Season · Food · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Moth @ Madera Canyon - Catocala desdemona

Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)

Superfamily Noctuoidea (Owlet Moths and kin)

Family Erebidae

Subfamily Erebinae

Tribe Catocalini

Genus Catocala (Underwings)

Species desdemona (Desdemona Underwing - Hodges#8835.1)

Hodges Number

8835.1

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Catocala desdemona Hy. Edwards, 1882 (1)

Catocala ixion Druce, 1890

Catocala delilah race utahensis Cassino, 1918 (14)

Catocala delilah utahensis form swetti Barnes & Benjamin, 1927

Catocala delilah desdemona form umbra Barnes & Benjamin, 1927

From early in the 20th century considered a subspecies of C. delilah. Returned to species level in 2010 by Hawks. (2)

Phylogenetic sequence #930817

Explanation of Names

Specific epithet for Desdemona, Othelo's wife in Shakespeare's Othelo. Actor and entomologist Henry Edwards was fond of using female characters from Shakespeare.

Range

Central Oklahoma and central Texas westward to central Utah, and southward through Mexico and beyond. (2)

Type locality: Prescott, Arizona (J. Doll). (1)

Season

In the southwest adults fly from May to November, with peaks in June and September. (2)

Food

Oaks; host in the Huachuca Mountains, Arizona is Quercus oblongifolia. (2)

See Also

C. delilah

Print References

Edwards, Hy., 1882. New species of Heterocera. Papilio 2(1): 15. (1)

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group (3)

Barcode of Life (BOLD)

Bill Oehlke's North American Catocala (4)

Henry Edwards (1827–1891)

Works Cited

1.	New species of Heterocera. Henry Edwards. 1882. Papilio 2(1): 9-17.

2.	Review of the Catocala delilah species complex (Lepidoptera, Erebidae) David C. Hawks. 2010. ZooKeys 39 (2010) : Special issue: 13-35.

3.	North American Moth Photographers Group

4.	Bill Oehlke's North American Catocala

Contributed by Chris Mallory on 10 December, 2010 - 12:55pm
Additional contributions by marcie oconnor, Randy Hardy, Steve Morris
Last updated 29 August, 2022 - 2:27pm

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