Liniera istar, Istar Sphinx, Hodges 7799 - Lintneria eremitoides

Great Find!

Ann,
According to BAMONA, Lintneria eremitoides is an endangered species, " Imperiled globally because of rarity (6 to 20 occurrences), or because of other factors demonstrably making it very vulnerable to extinction throughout its range."
Robert

… Robert Lord Zimlich, 10 January, 2013 - 4:19pm

Wow!

Beginner's luck. I would have thought it was great to have an Istar. I will definetelhy keep photographing Sphinx's even when I think I have already ID's them!

I am surely glad you suggested that I crop square.

… A. Hendrickson, 10 January, 2013 - 5:46pm

Moved

Moved from ID Request.

… Ryan St Laurent, 10 January, 2013 - 2:01pm

Lintneria

Definitely Lintneria sp., but there are three rather similar species in your area: L. istar, L. eremitoides and L. separatus.

This is a tough one for me. Assuming the lined paper in the second picture is 1 cm lined paper, then this individual is relatively small. This fact along with the more gray, less brown on the forewings and the very thin black line at the apex of the forewing I'm leaning towards L. eremitoides. I am not positive about this ID, but it seems too small and too light to be either L. istar or L. separatus. September flight is also more indicitive of L. eremitoides. If this is in fact L. eremitoides, it's a new one for the guide and I will create a species page for it. First however, I will try to get a second opinion. Nice find.

… Ryan St Laurent, 9 January, 2013 - 10:07pm

Thank you

Thanks for your recent Sphinx ID's. I am sorry that I did not attempt to enter a size.

Tha paper is 5/16ths inch ruled paper. I have not looked at you suggestions, but will make corrections to my entry and study further.

Very interesting information.

Have now been to the BOLD site. Was very interested in the shape of the "spots" on the abdomen. I wish my moth were in a little better position, but I have no better shot to offer.

… A. Hendrickson, 9 January, 2013 - 10:18pm

Lintneria

The ruling of that paper makes this moth smaller than I thought, further supporting L. eremitoides. Once I get a second opinion I will move these images to the correct file.

I appreciate the additional image. Looks like the forewing length is about 40 mm. According to Tuttle (2007) the FW length of L. eremitoides ranges 32-45 mm while the FW lengths of L. separatus and L. istar are closer to 50-60 mm.

L. eremitoides is rather infrequently reported and your first image is the first I've seen of a live adult (that is, if this is in fact L. eremitoides).

… Ryan St Laurent, 9 January, 2013 - 10:41pm

I was thinking ...

Ryan,
I was thinking L.separatus and have updated our guide page. With all this new information, I returned to check size and key field marks. I'll take a second look ... right after I get something to eat :)
Robert

… Robert Lord Zimlich, 10 January, 2013 - 11:28am

Lintneria

While L. separatus certainly is in the running, Tuttle's description has the FWL of L. separatus as 47-55 mm aligning this particular specimen much more closely with L. eremitoides (FWL of 32-45 mm).

Also, flight times for the two species are known to differ, with this September capture matching more closely with L. eremitoides. L. separatus (admittingly the records for this species are "limited"), is thought to be univoltine with records in July and August. While on the other hand, L. eremitoides flies during a broader season with records from "April through early September," and thus probably bivoltine.

I'm awaiting a response from Bill Oehlke in regards to the
determination of this specimen.

edit: Bill is in agreement with L. eremitoides. I've created a guide page and moved these images accordingly.

… Ryan St Laurent, 10 January, 2013 - 12:22pm