Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Acrolophus propinqua (Walsingham, 1887)
Anaphora propinqua Walsingham, 1887
(1)
Anaphora tenuis Walsingham, 1887
(1)
Acrolophus violaceellus Beutenmüller, 1887
Anaphora busckella Haimbach, 1915
(2)
Phylogenetic sequence #300063
Explanation of Names
Specific epithet is Latin meaning "resembles," for it is "differing very decidedly in form from that of
morrisoni, from which species the whole insect is otherwise scarcely distinguishable."
(1) Acrolophus morrisoni is a junior synonym of
Acrolophus popeanella (Clemens, 1859).
Size
Wingspan 18 mm.
(1) Hasbrouck (1964) indicates a wingspan up to 34 mm.
(3)
Female 12 to 17 mm long. Wingspan 20 to 34 mm.
Male 9 to 12 mm. Wingspan 18 to 26 mm.
Identification
Adult - see Hasbrouck (1964) for description and synonyms.
(3)
Specimen identified by DNA analysis (BOLD).
(4)
Head: Grayish, covered with purplish iridescent speckles. Nose cones (palpi) very long, curved over head and reaching past end of thorax in males, shorter and pointing forward in females; sides of cones grayish, central area an obvious bright brownish-yellow. Eyes have lashes (hair) on inner margin.
Antenna: Short, reaching to end of thorax. Brownish-yellow, thick segments somewhat knife-like (serrated) or laminated on underside.
Thorax: Purplish-gray, no mane.
Wings: Varied in size and colour.
Male: Much smaller than female, wings narrower; grayish, covered with purplish iridescent speckles. A slightly darker, but faint spot at mid wing (discal cell); and usually with some darker shading and a few whitish scales near wing tip (apical 1/3).
Female: Much larger than male, wings wider. Mid wing dark spot barely visible. Sometimes with a purple-white stripe down inner wing margins, speckled with dark and with a dark patch along inner whitish border at mid-wing.
Hind wings gray-brown, fringe slightly paler.
Individuals tend to have variable indistinct patches on the wings that approach poorly marked specimens of texanella and popeanella. Here are the “standard” female and male patterns, brown, splotchy, a bit smaller than popeanella, similar to popeanella and texanella in palp structure:
But melanic forms of propinqua are common, especially in coastal habitats. They are usually black with varying amounts of gray, like these:
And sometimes they are completely black with white overscaling, like these:
Range
Massachusetts to Florida, west to Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas.
(3)Habitat
Forest edges and meadows; cultivated fields.
Season
Mid-June to end of July in the north.
Food
Grasses mostly; some reports of corn.
Life Cycle
Typically Tubeworm larvae bury into the soil, creating silken tubes. They feed on grass thatch at the base of the plant or their roots. Pupate in their tube.
Remarks
Types:
Holotype as Anaphora propinquus male by Walsingham, 1887. Type Locality: Florida. In the British National Museum of Natural History, London, England.
Holotype as Anaphora tenuis male by Walsingham, 1887. Type Locality: North Carolina. In the British National Museum of Natural History, London, England.
Syntype as Anaphora violaceellus male by Beutenmuller, 1887. Type Locality: North Carolina. In the United States National Museum, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C. Type #404 in Beutenmuller Collection. No photos.
Holotype as Anaphora busckella female by Haimbach, 1915. Type Locality: Jamesburg, New Jersey. In the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
See Also
Acrolophus popeanella (Clemens, 1859)
Print References
Walsingham, Lord. 1887. IX. A revision of the genera
Acrolophus, Poey, and
Anaphora, Clem..
Transactions of The Royal Entomological Society of London 35(2):
157.
(1)
Entomologica Americana 1887-88, Vol. 3 by Beutenmuller, pg. 139 as Acrolophus violaceellus.
The Canadian Entomologist, 1900, Vol. 32 by Dyar, pp. 326 to 327 A. violaceellus syn. of Anaphora tenuis.
Entomological News, 1915, Vol. 26 by Haimbach, pg. 325 as Anaphora busckella.
Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, 1923, Memoir #68 by Forbes, pg. 121 misident. A. busckella as A. propinqua; A. tenuis.
Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 1964, Vol. 114 by Hasbrouck, pp. 571 to 576.
