Sympistis cottami: From Blanchard's (1972) description of that species which appears to be limited to extreme southwest Texas
(3):
Sympistis cottami is very close to
S. atricollaris Harvey. The transverse lines of
atricollaris are generally well marked, sometime only partly traceable, rarely completely obsolete; the part of the reniform which falls below the upper black fascia generally shows as a pure white small pupil; the white median band of the collar appears narrower because its top half is much soiled with brown scalcs. If all three of these characters appear doubtful, one has to rely on the genitalia to remove all doubt.
Catebenoides terminellus can appear very similar to forms of
S. atricollaris in which the transverse lines are absent. However,
S. atricollaris has a whitish spot in the reniform area that contrasts with the long dark longitudinal band that crosses the forewing (this spot is not present in
C. terminellus). Also,
atricollaris does not have the broad area of darker shading in ST/terminal area toward the inner margin that is typical of
C. terminellus. In addition,
S. atricollis has a dark thoracic collar with a thin white median band, whereas
C. termininellus has a more of a uniform gray collar that is concolorous with the thorax.