Moth Photographers Group – Smerinthus ophthalmica

Digital Guide to Moth Identification

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Sphingidae

890142 – 7822.1 Smerinthus ophthalmica Boisduval, 1855

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DNA - © Gary McDonald

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Distribution:	Pacific Northwest south to southern CA.
Similar Species:	Smerinthus cerisyi is mostly absent in western US. The blue ring within the hindwing eyespot tends to be solid, not broken into two arc as is often found in ophthalmica. The forewing tends to have outer margin more deeply scalloped; outer margin of apical white mark more deeply notched; pm. line more jagged, composed of a series of wedge shaped dashes between the veins. In ophthalmica the pm. line tends to forms two smooth outwardly convex arcs with dashes straighter. Intermediate examples exist. Best separated by DNA barcode. Smerinthus saliceti is separated by DNA barcode. The status of saliceti north of Mexico is unclear. Smerinthus astarte is found east of west coast states with apparently no overlap. Best separated by DNA barcode. Pinned specimens of related species. (Hint: select View by Region on the related species page.)
Synonymy:	vancouveriensis Butler, 1877 (Smerinthus) Type locality: Vancouver Island, BC. ophthalmica Boisduval, 1855 (Smerinthus) Type locality: California. nigrescens Clark, 1919 (Smerinthus) Type locality: Mission, San Jose, CA. pallidulus Edwards, 1875 (Smerinthus) vancouverensis Butler, 1877 (Smerinthus)
Taxonomic Notes:	Smerinthus ophthalmica Boisduval, 1855, formerly a synonym of 7822 Smerinthus cerisyi, is raised to full species status in Pohl et al. (2010), ZooKeys, 38: 388.

References

Barcode of Life (BOLD) - Caution: DNA barcode provides evidence of relatedness, not proof of identification, and some BOLD specimens shown may not be sequenced.
Barcode of Life (BOLD) - BIN: BOLD:AAA1636 - Caution: DNA barcode provides evidence of relatedness, not proof of identification.
Boisduval, J.B., 1875. Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France, 3: 32.
Kitching, I.J., 2019. Sphingidae Taxonomic Inventory, species page
Pohl, G.R., G.G. Anweiler, B.C. Schmidt, & N.G. Kondla, 2010. An annotated list of the Lepidoptera of Alberta, Canada. ZooKeys, 38: 1-549.
Species Page at Bill Oehlke's moth website - Smerinthus ophthalmica
Species Page at BugGuide.Net