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Photo#635893
Moth - Malacosoma californica

Moth - Malacosoma californica
Tucson, Pima County, Arizona, USA
April 16, 2012
Size: wingspan 29mm

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Moth - Malacosoma californica Moth - Malacosoma californica

incurva
In my opinion, this specimen better matches incurva than any variation of californica. In Stehr's revision, he states regarding a species he refers to as ssp. Malacosoma incurvum incurvum (pg. 173), that it is "dark chocolate-brown" and that both males and females can be with or without indentations in their AM/PM lines, sometimes indented (having dentation) so much so that they can meet along vein Cu2.

That, along with the fact this specimen has no blending of orangish scaling mixed within the brown, gives me good reason to think this is incurva. Even the darkest californica specimens always have some degree of paler, orangish scaling blended throughout. So I think there's a good chance we've got an incurva here, especially in your location where californica becomes less common.

If you'd be willing to part with the specimen, you could send it to BOLD and see what the DNA sequence tells us. If you want to keep it, maybe they'll let you send in just a couple of legs.

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