michael_butler's Favorites

Xylophanes campisi
https://v3.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=1286626
“Holotypus, Xylophanes campisi Haxaire & Melichar 2023” - Costa Rica, Guanacaste, Area de Conservacion Guanacaste.
Etymology: We name this species after our colleague and friend, Marcos Cesar Campis de Morro Agudo (Brasil, São Paulo), an eminent wildlife photographer who constantly amazes us with his images of Brazilian Sphingidae. May he find here the indicarion of nour great gratitude and admiration.

Etimologia: Damos a esta espécie o nome de nosso colega e amigo, Marcos Cesar Campis de Morro Agudo (Brasil, São Paulo), um eminente fotógrafo da vida selvagem que sempre nos surpreende com suas imagens de esfingídeos brasileiros.
Que ele encontre aqui a indicação de nossa grande gratidão e admiração.

Occupied mines were common on an ornamental arbor vitae; larvae collected on 23 March began emerging on 17 April. Larvae were brownish; as reported elsewhere they can vary from green to brown (e.g., https://ag.umass.edu/landscape/publications-resources/insect-mite-guide/argyresthia-thuiella).

first seen here 7/17/2015, then 7/9/2016 and 7/17/2016

Dissection - Knowles, 1967 "A Revison of the Species of Cisthene ..... (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae: Lithosiinae)

Genitalia is closely related to C. barnesii, the difference as related in Knowles is C. picta "with spine in vesica one-fifth the length of the aedoeagus". In C. barnesii "vesica with one spine slightly over one-fourth the length of aedeagus". (diagrams 16, 16a and 16b, plate 3).

Remarks: Knowles "this species (C. picta) is very close to C. barnesii in both genitalia and coloring. There are some C. barnesii that have a wide postmedian band on the forewing, but none exhibit the wide band running from the base to the postmedian band on the inner margin. Neither do any males of C. barnesii possess hair tufts on the anal angle of the hindwing, whereas C. picta does have small tufts on the anal angles in the two males that I examined".

collected by Henry Townes
from the Cornell University Insect Collection
dissected/determined - JoAnne Russo
Vesica with single, heavily sclerotized rod, flattened posteriorly, anteriorly narrowed and recurved, with second, smaller, less heavily sclerotized U-shaped rod and slightly curved thinner piece.

This flesh fly was associated with a Yellow Pitcherplant (Sarracenia flava) at Holly Shelter Game Lands in eastern North Carolina (USA), 19 April 2008. Apparently certain flesh flies breed IN the pitcher, which would be a deadly environment for most insect larvae. This might be a Fletcherimyia or a Sarcophaga.
Flesh fly - Sarcophagidae (Sarcophaginae) species
bugguide.net/node/view/110
Also posted at:
bugguide.net/node/view/1978019
HFDF!

Epinotia subviridis. Photographed at Yarmouth Gardens, Toronto, Ontario on 7 August 2008. This is strictly a western species so I'm at a loss as to why it should occur in my Toronto backyard except as an import. That's always supposing I have the identification correct in the first place!