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Species Euclea obliqua - Hodges#4690

Euclea obliqua Monoleuca obliqua, 4690 - Euclea obliqua Monoleuca obliqua recently hatched larvae - Euclea obliqua Monoleuca obliqua 10 day old larva - Euclea obliqua Monoleuca obliqua 15 day old larva - Euclea obliqua Monoleuca obliqua 43 day old larva - Euclea obliqua brown with a lightning bolt - Euclea obliqua Arizona Moth - Euclea obliqua
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Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Zygaenoidea (Flannel, Slug Caterpillar, Leaf Skeletonizer Moths and kin)
Family Limacodidae (Slug Caterpillar Moths)
Genus Euclea
Species obliqua (Euclea obliqua - Hodges#4690)
Hodges Number
4690
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Euclea obliqua (Edwards, 1886) (1)
Monoleuca obliqua Edwards, 1886 (1)
Euclea dolliana Dyar, 1905 (1)
Euclea flava Barnes & McDunnough, 1910 (1)
Monoleuca spadicis Grossbeck, 1906
* phylogenetic sequence #141750
Explanation of Names
Epstein & Becker (1993) (1) transferred Monoleuca obliqua Edwards, 1886 to Euclea and synonymized Euclea dolliana Dyar, 1905, Euclea flava Barnes & McDunnough, 1910 and Monoleuca spadicis Grossbeck, 1906 with this species.
Size
Forewing length 11-13 mm. (2)
Identification
Larva - late instars are red, purple, yellow, blue and green beauties with many spines.
Range
Southern Arizona and New Mexico. (2) Described from a specimen collected in Indian River, Florida.
Food
Larval hosts include New Mexican locust (Robinia neomexicana), sandbar willow (Salix exigua) and manzanita. (3), (2)
Remarks
"Euclea obliqua is correct name
This species is not in the genus Monoleuca. Superficially the adult stage look alike and share some venation characters (fused R3 + R4), but this is shared with Adoneta species as well. The genitalia of both sexes more closely match Euclea, which is why I placed there when I synonymized Euclea dolliana with this species. The type of obliqua was mislabeled being collected in Florida by Henry Edwards. [see Epstein, M. E. & V. O. Becker. 1994. Combinations and Synonymies in New World Limacodidae, Megalopygidae, Lasiocampidae and Arctiidae (Lepidoptera). Revista brasileira de Zoologia. 10:289-319. (1993); Becker, V. O. & M. E. Epstein. 1995. Limacodidae. in J. B. Heppner (ed.), The Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera. Checklist: Part II. 3:128-133.
Monoleuca semifascia and Monoleuca rectifascia are the only two species in this genus. Both share uniquely derived features of the male and female genitalia, which include a dense scale pack that covers the eggs, the only known example in the New World (this has occurred independely in Australia). [see Epstein, M.E. 1996. A new name and generic placement for the misidentified type species of Epiclea Dyar, 1905 (Lepidopetera, Limacodidae). Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 98:812-817." -Marc Epstein (2014) (See original comment here)
Print References
Becker & Epstein, 1995:128-133. (4)
Edwards, Hy. 1886. Notes on North American Zygaenidae and Bombycidae with descriptions of new forms. Entomologica Americana 2: 10
Epstein & Becker 1993:298. (1)
Powell & Opler, 2009, p.164; pl.20.31m, 20.32f (Euclea obliqua) (2)
Works Cited
1.Combinations and Synonymies in New World Limacodidae, Megalopygidae, Lasiocampidae and Arctiidae (Lepidoptera)
Epstein, M.E. & V.O. Becker. 1993. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia, 10: 289-319.
2.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
3.Monoleuca obliqua recently hatched larvae
4.The Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera. Checklist: Part 2
Becker, V.O. & M.E. Epstein. Limacodidae. in J.B. Heppner (ed.). 1995. Association for Tropical Lepidoptera and Scientific Publishers, 128-133.
5.North American Moth Photographers Group
6.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems