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Species Datana perfusa - Hodges#7914

plain brown wrapper - Datana perfusa Datana sp? - Datana perfusa Datana sp? - Datana perfusa Arizona Moth - Datana perfusa Larva, Datana perfusa? - Datana perfusa Larva, Datana perfusa? - Datana perfusa Datana perfusa Datana perfusa
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 Notodontidae (Prominent Moths)
Subfamily Phalerinae
Genus Datana
Species perfusa (Datana perfusa - Hodges#7914)
Hodges Number
7914
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Datana perfusa Dyar, 1923
Datana chiriquensis of authors not Dyar, 1895
Datana rotundata Draudt, 1934
Phylogenetic sequence # 930045 (1)
Explanation of Names
Datana perfusa Dyar, 1923 is raised from synonymy of D. perspicua Grote & Robinson, 1865 to full species status and includes D. rotundata Draudt, 1934 and D. chiriquensis of authors not Dyar, 1895 as new synonyms, MONA Fascicle 22.1A: 160. (2). (True chiriquensis is not found north of Mexico.)
Size
Wingspan about 60 mm. (Dyar)
Identification
The original description is available online in the print references below.
Specimen identified by DNA analysis (BOLD). (3)


Quite a large Datana species, easily recognized by its size within its limited US range (southern Arizona). Has two distinct color forms, once considered separate species: one plain pale brown with dark scales peppered throughout the forewings, and one very dark reddish brown with all markings virtually obsolete.
Range
Arizona. (4)
Season
Adults are most common from June to August.
Food
Oaks
See Also
Several other Datana species are similar, but range can be helpful for this species.
D. neomexicana in central New Mexico and west Texas, and D. diffidens, in southeastern coastal Texas, are quite similar, but their ranges do not overlap.

Compare on the pinned plates of Moth Photographers Group.
Print References
Draudt, 1934 in Seitz, A. 1940. Die Gross-schmetterlinge der Erde, Die amerikanischen Spinner und Schwärmer. 6: 1053 ? (This reference is a guess based on LepIdex catalog card. It is not available online.)
Dyar, H. G. 1923: New American Lepidoptera. Insecutor Inscitiae Menstruus. 11: 11.
Works Cited
1.Annotated check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America north of Mexico.
Donald J. Lafontaine, B. Christian Schmidt. 2010. ZooKeys 40: 1–239 .
2.The Moths of America North of Mexico. Fascicle 22.1A
Miller, J.S., D.L. Wagner, P.A. Opler & J.D. Lafontaine. 2018. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation.
3.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
4.Moths of Southeast Arizona
5.North American Moth Photographers Group