Spring has come to northern California and moths are on the wing. I took a quick trip up to the Sierra foothills over the weekend and hiked up the steep slopes above the American River. Above is pictured Xanthothrix ranunculi f. albipuncta (Noctuidae: Stiriinae). It happens to be sitting on a beautiful california poppy. The hostplant, fodd bynnag, yw Coreopsis stillmanii and grows in small patches of serpentine soils on southern facing slopes along the central valley. Dyma a Xanthothrix sitting on the host.
This moth was originally described as a form of X. ranunculi yn 1925 (form roughly equals subspecies today), and then completely forgotten about and unseen until 1990. It was left out of a major revision of the subfamily, so the legitimate status as a subspecies or full species remains unknown. Arhoswch diwnio.
