Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Apantesis Walker 1855
(1)
Explanation of Names
?The first author was presumably
Thaddeus William Harris 1841,
A report on the insects of Massachusetts injurious to vegetation), see biographical note at
Gray Herbarium, also
here.
Apantesis is Greek, and is usually translated as "meeting" or "official greeting". Power and Sedgwick, The New Sydenham Society's Lexicon of Medicine and The Allied Sciences (1881), via Google books, gives the meaning of apantesis (απαντησισ) as the act of going to meet, opposition, antagonism, an event or consequence of disease.
Another possibility for the origin of the name is Greek
apanthesis (απανθησισ), meaning the time of plucking flowers, time of floral fading (Power and Sedgwick, 1881). There is a fossil genus of butterflies with this name,
Apanthesis Scudder 1889.
Identification
Medium-sized tiger moths with very dark forewings. Identification of species is difficult, and the taxonomy may still be rather confused. See photo, print references.
Range
Eastern and Central North America
Habitat
Varied, near fields, lawns.
Food
Flower nectar; also reported to feed on honey and water in captivity.
Life Cycle
Larvae feed on herbs, such as dandelion. Life history refers to three eastern species described by Covell
(3)
Remarks
There is no 100% consistent diagnostic characteristic in wing maculation or spots/no spots on the patagia (the "collar"), to reliably distinguish nais/carlotta/phalerata/vittata. The only full-proof method is dissection and examination of genitalia (the exception is in male phalerata, in which the valve is easily distinguished by its longer, up-curved apex. So one could brush the scales away from the last sternite and see it without dissection. The nais/carlotta/vittata group have rather blunt and rounded apices of the valve.)
However, within this group, using the sum of typical (although not necessarily diagnostic) characteristics, can allow for a reasonably probable species ID.
-- J.D. Roberts
Print References
Covell, pp. 69-70, plate 15
(3) (Apantesis)
Covell, pp. 70-72, plates 14-16
(3) (Grammia)
Schmidt, B.C. 2009. Taxonomic revision of the genus Grammia Rambur (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Arctiinae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 156: 507–597. With 135 figures
