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Digital Guide to Moth Identification

Sphingidae
890141.1 – 7822.2   Smerinthus astarte Strecker, 1885

WY - © Andrew v. F. Block
Distribution: ID, MT, WY, UT, CO, AZ, NM, Sphingidae Taxonomic Inventory, accessed on 11/22/2019. . BOLD includes a specimen from British Columbia.
Syntypes: Colorado, near Denver.
Genitalia: See Kitching's Sphingidae Taxonomic Inventory species page.
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 astarte. 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 astarte the pm. line tends to forms two smooth outwardly convex arcs with dashes straighter. Intermediate examples exist. Best separated by DNA barcode.
  • Smerinthus saliceti may be conspecific and, if so, would have priority. If they are separate species, it may be that astarte replaces saliceti north of Mexico. Some authors have suggested saliceti is found at lower elevations in areas of overlap. Both names are retained pending further study.
  • Smerinthus ophthalmica is found in British Columbia and 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: Smerinthus astarte Strecker, 1885
Taxonomic Notes: Smerinthus astarte Strecker, 1885, formerly a synonym of 7822 Smerinthus cerisyi, is raised to a full species status by Kitching et al. 2018, Biodiversity Data Journal, 6: e22236.
References
  • Barcode of Life (BOLD) - Caution: Some specimens shown may not be sequenced. DNA barcode provides evidence of relatedness not proof of identification.
  • Barcode of Life (BOLD) - BIN: BOLD:ABX5422
  • Kitching, I., R. Rougerie, A. Zwick, C. Hamilton, R. St Laurent, S. Naumann, L. Ballesteros Mejia, A. Kawahara, 2018. A global checklist of the Bombycoidea (Insecta: Lepidoptera). Biodiversity Data Journal, 6: e22236.
  • Kitching, I.J., 2019. Sphingidae Taxonomic Inventory, species page
  • Species Page at BugGuide.Net
Smerinthus astarte
DNA - © Charles W. Melton
Smerinthus astarte
© Jeff Smith
Smerinthus astarte
80mm - LG – © Jim Vargo
Smerinthus astarte
© Teá Montagna LG
2nd Instar
Smerinthus astarte
© Teá Montagna LG
3rd Instar

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