Smerinthus ophthalmica
Encyclopedia
Smerinthus ophthalmica is a moth
of the Sphingidae
family. It was described by Boisduval in 1855 . It is found from California
to Alberta
.
were divided into two species by Pohl, Anweiler, Schmidt and Kondla in 2010. The southern prairie-mountain (Crowsnest Pass southward) populations are now known as S. ophthalmica (type locality: San Francisco, California) and the boreal-mountain populations as S. cerisyi (type locality: North America, limited to New York State). Rothschild and Jordan revised ophthalmica to a subspecies of S. cerisyi in 1903, and Hodges treated it as a synonym of S. cerisyi in 1971, which has been generally followed since, with the exception of Eitschberger, who raised three taxa (astarte, vancouverensis and ophthalmica) from synonymy under S. cerisyi in 2002.
These taxonomic changes pertaining to North American taxa were countered
by Tuttle in 2007. S. ophthalmica however, is distinguished by a pale brown phenotype prevalent in prairie populations, a less scalloped margin on the forewing, less scalloped and smoother postmedian lines on the forewing, a sharper angle of the antemedian line, and narrower serrations of the male antennae, as well as surprisingly large mitochondrial DNA divergence
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the Sphingidae
Sphingidae
Sphingidae is a family of moths , commonly known as hawk moths, sphinx moths and hornworms, that includes about 1,200 species . It is best represented in the tropics but there are species in every region . They are moderate to large in size and are distinguished among moths for their rapid,...
family. It was described by Boisduval in 1855 . It is found from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
.
Taxonomy
The populations of Smerinthus cerisyiSmerinthus cerisyi
The One-eyed Sphinx or Cerisy's Sphinx is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from south-eastern Alaska, the southern parts of all Canadian provinces and in the northern border states of the United States south into northern Indiana, Pennsylvania and Ohio and along the west coast to...
were divided into two species by Pohl, Anweiler, Schmidt and Kondla in 2010. The southern prairie-mountain (Crowsnest Pass southward) populations are now known as S. ophthalmica (type locality: San Francisco, California) and the boreal-mountain populations as S. cerisyi (type locality: North America, limited to New York State). Rothschild and Jordan revised ophthalmica to a subspecies of S. cerisyi in 1903, and Hodges treated it as a synonym of S. cerisyi in 1971, which has been generally followed since, with the exception of Eitschberger, who raised three taxa (astarte, vancouverensis and ophthalmica) from synonymy under S. cerisyi in 2002.
These taxonomic changes pertaining to North American taxa were countered
by Tuttle in 2007. S. ophthalmica however, is distinguished by a pale brown phenotype prevalent in prairie populations, a less scalloped margin on the forewing, less scalloped and smoother postmedian lines on the forewing, a sharper angle of the antemedian line, and narrower serrations of the male antennae, as well as surprisingly large mitochondrial DNA divergence