Review of the Catocala delilah species complex ( Lepidoptera , Erebidae )

Th e members of the Nearctic Catocala delilah species complex are reviewed. One new species (C. caesia) and four new subspecies are described, one subspecies is reinstated to specifi c rank (C. desdemona), and one species and three subspecies are placed into synonymy. A neotype is designated for C. calphurnia and a lectotype is designated for C. desdemona.


Introduction
In their monograph of the North American Catocala, Barnes and McDunnough (1918) subdivided the genus into 20 "Groups" based on morphological characteristics.Th ey included four species with primarily southwestern geographical distributions in their Group XII (the Catocala delilah species complex), acknowledging that little information was known of the species and that the placement was provisional.Four additional species in the delilah complex were described subsequent to Barnes and Mc-Dunnough's time, and the monophyly of the complex, species' boundaries, relationships, and life histories of these taxa were examined by Hawks (1986).b. occidentalis Hawks, 2010, ssp.n. c. uniforma Hawks, 2010, ssp AM line thick at costa, gradually becoming thin toward inner margin, or appearing "beaded" due to alternating thick and thin areas; dorsal forewing surface usually evenly brown; dorsal hindwing with bands brownish orange; edges of apical spot on ventral hindwing usually not well defi ned ..... delilah -AM line thick at costa, abruptly becoming thin near radial vein and near inner margin, not conspicuously "beaded;" dorsal forewing highly variable, usually mottled grayish brown; bands of dorsal hindwing yellowish orange; edges of apical spot on ventral hindwing usually well defi ned ......desdemona 6.
Undersides of forewings and hindwings boldly marked with yellow and black; apex and fringe of ventral forewing yellowish gray with few dark scales; apical hindwing spot yellow, sharply defi ned; fringes mostly yellow .... Taxonomic remarks.Th e original description of Catocala calphurnia states "the primaries are of a wholly greenish tinge, and not bright brown… secondaries are wholly black, with the exception of a small central cloud… Exp.wings, 2.10 inch.Kansas.Type, coll.Dr. James S. Bailey." Beutenmüller stated (1907: 149): "Th e type of this form [calphurnia] is a female in the collection of the late Dr. James Bailey, Albany, New York, and was examined by me.Th e specimen looks suspiciously like an exotic species allied to the European nymphaea Esper or it is an undersized aberration of Catocala delilah.Th e fore wings are almost completely uniform dark brown…" Barnes and Mc-Dunnough (1918: 33) stated: "We know nothing regarding calphurnia Hy.Edwards, described from a single specimen in the Bailey Collection ostensibly from Kansas; according to Beutenmüller, the species may be either European or an aberration of delilah; we leave it as the latter for the present."Th e type of calphurnia has not been located, and the Bailey collection has apparently been lost.Th e potential confusion with Palearctic Catocala threatens nomenclatorial stability, hence the neotype designation.Th e neotype is o ne of three dwarfed and perhaps reared Catocala delilah specimens from the Wilhelm collection, with uniformly dark forewings and the yellowish basal area of the hindwing suff used with dark brown.Th e neotype thus agrees closely with Henry Edwards' original description as well as with Beutenmüller's assessment.Th e type locality is hereby amended from the original Kanss, [USA] on the basis of the neotype labels.
Diagnosis.One of the two largest species in the complex, with mean forewing costal margin length 27.1 mm (♂), 30.5 mm (♀).Th e only species similar to C. delilah is C. desdemona.Both are similar in size, with a brown thorax, but C. desdemona has a paler and more yellowish abdomen that contrasts with the thorax.Th e forewing antemedial line is wide (ca. 2 mm) at the costa in both species, but in C. desdemona it abruptly becomes thin just past the radial vein; in delilah the line becomes thinner gradually.Th e brown line just basal to the antemedial line is usually less conspicuous in C. delilah.In contrast to C. delilah, the forewings of almost all specimens of C. desdemona are speckled with white or yellow scales, which gives the wings a distinctly gray cast.Barnes and Benjamin, 1927: 8 Catocala delilah desdemona form umbra Barnes and Benjamin, 1927: 8 Type material.Catocala desdemona: lectotype ♂ [USNM, examined], hereby designated to promote taxonomic stability (Fig. 4).Taxonomic remarks.Th e name ixion has apparently not been previously tabulated in the Nearctic Catocala literature.Druce's illustration is a good representation of the BMNH holotype, which is a typical specimen of Catocala desdemona H. Edwards.Regarding the name utahensis, Cassino used the term "race" in the body of the original description, and off ered a restricted geographic distribution (Utah), and hence the name has been treated as subspecifi c (McDunnough 1938;Franclemont and Todd 1983).However, the name utahensis refers to a lighter infrapopulational variant of C. desdemona with no defi nable geographic basis.
Diagnosis.Catocala desdemona has been treated as a subspecies of C. delilah since early in the twentieth century.However, C. delilah and C. desdemona breed true ex ovis, and remain morphologically distinct in a broad area of sympatry in central Texas and Oklahoma.Besides C. delilah, no other species is similar to C. desdemona.Mean forewing costal margin length 27.2 mm (♂), 29.5 mm (♂); see the species account for C. delilah above for points of separation.C. desdemona is much more variable in maculation than C. delilah, especially in the southern part of its range.Th e variation is continuous, with the form "umbra" (dark brown patch nearly fi lling the area between the antemedial and postmedial lines) being just one extreme example.Adults emerge from May to November, with peaks of abundance in June and September, at least in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico).Th is long fl ight period, especially evident in southeastern Arizona, is apparently due to some eggs hatching in response to the spring growth period of the oaks, while other eggs wait until the summer growth period to hatch.Th ere is no evidence that C. desdemona is ever double brooded.Larvae of C. desdemona undoubtedly feed on several species of oaks in nature, but so far have only been recorded on Quercus oblongifolia Torr.(Huachuca Mountains, Arizona).Diagnosis.Most closely related to C. frederici.Th e ventral surface of the forewing and both surfaces of the hindwing are nearly identical in C. caesia and C. frederici, although C. frederici tends to have paler yellow-orange scales and slightly narrower black bands.However, the upper surface of the forewing of C. frederici is an even grayish to nearly off -white color, and there are almost no black scales present; all lines are less distinct in C. frederici than in C. caesia.Th e forewings are usually browner in C. benjamini than in C. caesia, although the former also may have a bluish cast; the antemedial and postmedial lines are also more distinct in C. benjamini, and the subreniform is sometimes open.Th e hindwing upperside of C. benjamini is a duller orange and more brown scales are present at the base.On the wing undersides, C. benjamini always has substantial dusky suff usion, especially on the forewing, and the apex of the forewing is brown.Th e general appearance of C. caesia is also like C. desdemona, although C. caesia is smaller and can always be separated from C. desdemona by the uniform size of the teeth of the postmedial band, and by the pure pale yellowish-tan color of the ventral surfaces (C.desdemona has a whitish shade along the costa of the forewing, and usually more dusky suff usion at the apex of the forewing underside).

Catocala caesia
Description.Head: eye dark brown; vertex and palpi covered with dark-brown and white scales; antenna 26-28 mm, brown dorsally, reddish brown ventrally.Th orax: patagia and tegulae mottled with white, tan, and dark-brown scales, patagia slightly darker; remainder of thorax covered dorsally by tan scales, especially posteriorly; ventrally covered by long thin off -white scales; tibiae clothed mainly with short, pale-tan scales, speckled with brown scales; mid-section of tibiae with brush of medium to long, straight, off -white and tan scales; tarsi pale tan, banded with dark brown.Abdomen: mostly orange, clothed with sparse, long, pale-tan scales, especially anteriorly; ventrally, pale, yellowish tan.Forewing: mean FW length 22.4 mm (males), 25.0 mm (females).Dorsal surface: patterns composed of black, dark brown, tan, and white scales, some scales iridescent bluish gray; basal line black, ending before meeting 2A; no basal dash; antemedial line and line basal to antemedial line black, blurred; reniform bluish gray and tan outlined indistinctly with black; subreniform closed, whitish or tan, to indistinct, narrowly outlined with black; postmedial line black, indistinct, all teeth between M1 and inner margin subequal in length; area between postmedial and subterminal lines more brownish especially between M2 and inner margin; subterminal line black, blurred, often only teeth near M1 and M2 obvious; terminal line inconspicuous, usually present only as a series of black dots mid-way between ends of veins; fringe brown.Overall appearance of the dorsal forewing is mottled bluish gray and black.Ventral surface: base of wing pale yellowish tan, blending with indistinct postbasal band of yellow and brown scales; antemedial band pale yellowish tan, edges indistinct; medial band black, widest between M2 and Cul, narrowing markedly between Cu and inner margin, occasionally disappearing before reaching inner margin; postmedial band pale yellowish tan; outer band black, often interrupted by pale yellowish tan along a fold between Cu and 2A.Apex pale yellowish tan, blending smoothly with pale yellowish-tan marginal band; fringe pale yellowish tan with a few black scales at end of each vein.Hindwing: dorsal surface: basal area, postmedial band, apical spot, and fringe yellow orange; basal area with a few brown scales; inner band black, usually thin (3-4 mm at widest point); short hook usually apparent just anterior to anal spot; outer band black; anal spot nearly always separated from outer band by 2-3 mm; apical spot large, squared; fringe varyingly checkered with black scales originating from near ends of M1 to 2A.Ventral surface: basal area, postmedial band, apical spot, and fringe pale yellowish tan, a little brighter than ventral forewing; inner band black, distinctly narrower than on dorsal surface; outer band black, often connected with anal spot by thin array of black scales; apical spot sharply defi ned, squared, although occasionally blending with pale yellowish-tan marginal band when band wider than just width of fringe; fringe usually pure pale yellowish tan.Overall, there is no pronounced sexual dimorphism in C. caesia.
Etymology.Th e adjectival name caesia is based on the Latin root caesi, referring to the bluish-gray color of the forewing.Th e "Bluish-gray Underwing" is suggested as a vernacular name.
Distribution and biology.Th e range of C. caesia is limited to the mountains of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, and southward through the Sierra Madre Occidental in Chihuahua.Catocala caesia is sympatric with its closest relative, C. frederici, in the Chiricahua and Huachuca Mountains of Cochise County, Arizona.In collections, C. caesia has usually been identifi ed as C. benjamini, and these two species have likely also been confl ated in the literature.Some paratypes of C. benjamini may actually be C. caesia because Brower's (1937) original description of C. benjamini lists paratypes from the Huachuca Mountains (the author has seen more specimens of C. caesia than C. benjamini in the Huachuca Mountains).Fortunately, the type locality of C. benjamini is Mojave County, Arizona, which is not within the range of C. caesia.Adults fl y from late May to October, although late emerging individuals are much less common than are those from May to July.Several species of oaks are present at each of the known collecting localities.
Type material.Catocala frederici: lectotype ♀ [ZMHU, examined], designated by Gall and Hawks (2002: 246)   Diagnosis.Similar to other subspecies, although slightly larger in size and with an orange-brown ground color, and yellow orange usually infusing other aspects of the maculation; underside with reduced black scaling in both basal and adterminal areas; adterminal not as checkered as in other subspecies.

Catocala benjamini benjamini Brower
Distribution and biology.Known only from Grand and San Juan counties in southeastern Utah, in the most northeastern part of the species' overall range.Adults have been taken in early June.Th e immature stages are unknown.Peacock and Wagner (2009) indicate Quercus × pauciloba Rydb.(= Q. undulata Torr.; a hybrid from Q. gambelii Nutt.and Q. turbinella) is the most prevalent and sometimes only oak species at the known collecting localities; they report the absence of C. benjamini ute from nearby stands of Q. gambelii.Hawks, 3 June 1985).Holotype and allotype deposited at PMNH, paratypes deposited at LACM and other USA museums as well as in private collections.

Catocala benjamini jumpi
Diagnosis.C. benjamini jumpi diff ers from other C. benjamini subspecies in having pale dusky-yellow hindwing bands; forewings distinctly narrower and more pointed; lines less distinct; ventral surface yellow areas paler; black hindwing bands tend to be wider; inner band, outer band, and anal spot sometimes fused.
Description.Forewing: narrow and pointed; dorsal surface with black, darkbrown, tan, and beige scales, few scales iridescent bluish or purplish; antemedial line black, edges indistinct; reniform black, subreniform usually beige, variable in size; apical yellowish area suff used with black; fringes gray, checkered with black.Hindwing: dorsal surface with pale-brown scales suff using much of basal area; medial band dull pale yellowish; fringe yellowish tan with black checkering; bands black; ventral surface pale dusky yellow; fringe pale yellowish beige checkered with black; inner band usually only slightly narrower than on dorsal surface.
Etymology.Th e subspecies is named in honor of Peter M. Jump, who introduced the author to this unique population of C. benjamini, and who collected seven of the type specimens.
Distribution and biology.Catocala benjamini jumpi is known only from the Kofa Mountains of southwestern Arizona.Th e Kofa Mountains and the nearby Castle Dome Mountains are separated from the nearest known suitable locality for C. benjamini by about 140 km.Th e oaks (Q.turbinella) occurring in these two mountain ranges are notably disjunct in the overall range of this oak.Adults have been collected only in late May and early June.Larvae likely feed exclusively on Quercus turbinella since this is the only oak occurring in the area.Diagnosis.Catocala benjamini mayhewi is similar to C. b. benjamini, but diff ers as follows: dorsal forewing surface slightly paler grayish brown; yellowish areas on hindwing dorsal surface slightly paler; inner band almost always thin, occasionally absent.Mean forewing length of C. b. mayhewi (19.0 mm, males; 21.5 mm, females) consistently smaller than all other C. benjamini subspecies.C. b. mayhewi is sympatric with C. andromache throughout most of its range (this fact led Brower (1982) to elevate C. benjamini to a full species).

Catocala benjamini mayhewi
Description.Forewing: dorsal surface with black, dark-brown, tan, and beige scales, few scales iridescent bluish or purplish; overall appearance pale grayish brown; antemedial line black, edges indistinct; reniform black, subreniform usually beige, variable in size; apical yellowish area suff used with black; fringes gray, checkered with black; ventral surface pale whitish yellow with relatively narrow black medial band.Hindwing: dorsal surface with pale-brown scales suff using much of basal area; medial band dull pale orange; fringe yellowish tan with black checkering; bands black; ventral surface pale yellow; fringe pale yellowish beige checkered with black; inner band quite thin and narrow on both surfaces.
Etymology.Th e subspecies is named in honor of W. W. Mayhew, the author's MS thesis advisor.A portion of the type locality (Pinyon Flat) has been protected from encroaching development thanks to Mayhew's foresight and persistence.
Distribution and biology.Catocala benjamini mayhewi occurs along the desert-facing slopes of the Laguna, Santa Rosa, San Jacinto, San Bernardino, San Gabriel Mountains, and Little San Bernardino Mountains in southern California.It also occurs in northern Baja California, Mexico.Adults have been collected from early June to early August.Th e immature stages of C. b. mayhewi have been described and the larva fi gured by Johnson (1985).Th e larvae feed on Quercus cornelius-mulleri Nixon & Steele at the San Bernardino, Riverside, and San Diego County localities.Diagnosis.Th e only closely similar taxon to C. andromache is C. b. benjamini.Th e dorsal forewing of C. andromache is usually liberally speckled with greenish scales (in many freshly eclosed specimens the wings are a mottled moss green), whereas the dorsal forewing of C. b. benjamini is sparsely speckled with bluish scales.Th is distinction breaks down for worn specimens, and for many specimens from desert edge mountains in southern California.However, C. andromache is not sympatric with C. b. benjamini.Catocala andromache is sympatric with C. b. mayhewi along the desert slopes of the mountains of southern California, and there the two species are consistently separated by the larger size, darker forewings, darker yellowish bands, and wider black bands of C. andromache.Th e name wellsi was proposed for specimens with more blackish, unmottled forewings from the central Sierran foothills, but these characteristics break down in larger series and there seems little merit in retaining the name at subspecifi c rank.

Catocala andromache H. Edwards
Distribution and biology.Catocala andromache occurs in the mountains of San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles counties, and northward through the southern Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada of California.County records for USA are as follows.CALIFORNIA: Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Kern, Lake, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Nevada, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Solano, Ventura, Yolo.Larvae of C. andromache have been collected from Quercus chrysolepis Liebm.Th ey also probably feed on Quercus cornelius-mulleri, Q. dumosa Nutt., and Q. wislizenii A. de Candolle, among others.Adults have been collected from mid-June through August, and fl y mostly below 2000 m.Diagnosis.Catocala californiensis is most similar to C. johnsoniana in forewing coloration, and to C. benjamini mayhewi in hindwing coloration.However, on the forewing, C. johnsoniana has a conspicuous basal dash (lacking or very small in C. californiensis), and longer teeth in the postmedial line with a shorter and wider inner hindwing black band than in C. californiensis.

Catocala californiensis Brower
Etymology.I suggest the common name "Ashy-gray Underwing" for C. californiensis based on Brower's description of the forewing ground color.Th e "California Underwing" is probably best applied to C. californica W. H. Edwards (1864).
Distribution and biology.Catocala californiensis occurs in southern California along the desert-facing slopes of the Peninsular and Transverse Ranges to the southeastern edge of the Coast Ranges in Santa Barbara County.County records for USA are as follows.CALIFORNIA: Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura.Th e immature stages of C californiensis have been described and the larva fi gured by Johnson (1985).Larvae feed on Quercus cornelius-mulleri at the San Bernardino, Riverside, and San Diego County localities, and they probably feed on Q. turbinella at the Los Angeles, Kern, Santa Barbara, and Ventura county localities.Adults have been collected from mid-June to late August.Th e northwestern-most populations represent a distinctive new subspecies (Hawks, in prep.).Diagnosis.Catocala johnsoniana is most similar to C. californiensis but the forewing has a distinct basal dash, the subreniform is always widely open, and the teeth of the postmedial line are longer.Also, the hindwing black inner band is relatively short and thick, while the postmedial yellow band is proportionately wider than in most specimens of all other species in the C. delilah complex.

Catocala johnsoniana Brower
Distribution and biology.Catocala johnsoniana occurs mostly in the northern, eastern and southern foothills edging the Central Valley of California, mostly at slightly lower elevations than the other fi ve species found in California.County records for USA are as follows.CALIFORNIA: Butte, Colusa, Kern, Lake, Los Angeles, Madera, Solano, Tuolumne, Yolo.Th e immature stages of C. johnsoniana have been described and the larva fi gured by Johnson (1985).Moths are always collected in areas dominated by Quercus douglasii Hook.& Arn., and this is probably the primary or only host plant.Adults have been collected from late May to early July.

Catocala mcdunnoughi Brower Figs 19, 20
Catocala mcdunnoughi Brower, 1937: 32 Catocala mcdunnoughi browerarum Johnson, 1983: 247, syn Taxonomic remarks.Catocala mcdunnoughi browerarum Johnson was described from four darker and more greenish specimens from Amador County, California.However, other topotypical browerarum material does not diff er from nominate material and variation is not consistent geographically (e.g., many Plumas and Butte county specimens are more evenly greenish brown), so there seems little reason to retain the name.
Diagnosis.Catocala mcdunnoughi is most similar to C. chelidonia, but the more brownish and mottled ground color of C. mcdunnoughi will usually separate these species.No other small Catocala species in the region has postmedial lines with two large teeth only at M1 and M2.
Distribution and biology.Catocala mcdunnoughi occurs from the Laguna Mountains of San Diego County, California, northward to southern Oregon.County records for USA are as follows.CALIFORNIA: Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Orange, Plumas, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego; OREGON: Josephine.Th e immature stages of C. mcdunnoughi have been described and the larva fi gured by Johnson (1985).Larvae have been collected on Quercus chrysolepis Liebm. in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, California, and this is likely the major (or only) host of C. mcdunnoughi.In southern California, C. mcdunnoughi fl ies at somewhat higher elevations than the other fi ve species.It also fl ies later in the year, usually emerging from mid-July to mid-August.At lower elevations in northern California it begins to fl y in late June.
Diagnosis.Catocala chelidonia chelidonia is similar only to C. mcdunnoughi.Th e more brownish and mottled ground color in mcdunnoughi will usually separate these species.Also, in chelidonia, the teeth of the postmedial line at M1 and M2 are usually longer than other teeth, but usually not as conspicuous as in mcdunnoughi.
Distribution and biology.Catocala c. chelidonia occurs from southern Nevada and south-central Utah southward and eastward through Arizona to New Mexico.County records for USA are as follows.ARIZONA: Apache, Coconino, Gila, Maricopa, Mohave, Pinal, Yavapai; CALIFORNIA: San Bernardino; NEVADA: Clark, Lincoln; NEW MEXICO: Bernalillo, Grant, Sandoval, Sierra; UTAH: Garfi eld, Washington.Crumb (1956) described larvae of C. c. chelidonia from Cave Creek, Maricopa County, Arizona.Th e larvae of this subspecies probably feed mostly, if not exclusively, on Quercus turbinella.Adults have been collected from mid-June to late July.Description.Forewing: dorsal surface ground color charcoal to brownish gray, mottled with hoary scales; antemedial and postmedial lines black, modestly apparent; subreniform whitish to yellow, usually visible.Hindwing: pale areas dull yellow orange; bands black, apical spot dull yellow orange; anal spot separated from outer band; conspicuously narrow postmedial band (usually only 1-2 mm near vein M2); anterior half of outer band wide with conspicuous rounded indentation in inner edge of outer band between M2 and Cu1; many dark scales at base.
Distribution and biology.Catocala c. occidentalis occurs along the western desert edge in southern California and northward to at least Trinity County.County records for USA are as follows.CALIFORNIA: Kern, Lake, Los Angeles, Madera, Napa, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Clara, Solano, Trinity.. Th e immature stages of C. c. occidentalis have been described and the larva fi gured by Johnson (1985).At the San Diego, Riverside, and San Bernardino County localities the larvae feed on Quercus cornelius-mulleri.Adults have been collected from early June to late August, with the peak fl ight period in late June at Pinyon Flat.Diagnosis.Th is subspecies has uniform gray forewings with substantially reduced hoary mottling.Th e antemedial and postmedial forewing lines vary from inconspicuous to very distinct.Hindwing as in the nominate subspecies.

Catocala chelidonia uniforma
Description.Forewing: dorsal surface ground color charcoal gray, concolorous, with few hoary scales; antemedial and postmedial lines black; antemedial line fades away toward the inner margin; subreniform whitish to yellow, usually visible.Hindwing: pale areas dull yellow orange; bands black, apical spot dull yellow orange; anal spot separated from outer band; few dark scales at base.Distribution and biology.Catocala chelidonia uniforma is known from mountains of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.Nothing is known of the early stages of this subspecies.Adults have been collected from late May to mid-July, with peak abundance in mid-June (N. McFarland, pers. comm.).

Appendix: Synopsis of actions taken in this paper regarding Nearctic names in the genus
Distribution and biology.Catocala desdemona occurs from central Oklahoma and central Texas westward to central Utah, and southward through Mexico to Guatemala and Honduras.It is sympatric with C. delilah in central Texas and central Oklahoma.County records for the USA are as follows: OKLAHOMA: Comanche, Carter, Oklahoma, Pittsburg, Pottawattamie, Woods; TEXAS: Bexar, Blanco, Brewster, Brown, Burnet, Coleman, Culberson, El Paso, Hays, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Kaufman, Kerr, Kimble, Montague, Real, San Patricio, Taylor, Uvalde, Val Verde, Wise; NEW MEX-ICO: Bernalillo, Colfax, Dona Ana, Grant, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Sandoval, San Miguel, Sierra, Torrance, Union; UTAH: Davis, Garfi eld, Grand, Kane, Utah, Washington; COLORADO: Montezuma; ARIZONA: Cochise, Greenlee, Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Yavapai.Records for MEXICO are as follows: SONORA: 3 km S of Mina Trinidad, 9 km W of Yecora, Rancho Tres Rios, km 60 Colonia Mesa Tres Rios to Huachinera; CHIHUAHUA: 4 km S of Temoresi-Cuiteco, Creel; NUEVO LEON: 22 km W. Linares, 6 km W of Iturbide; SINALOA: 11 km W of El Palmito; BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR: 25 km SE of San Antonio, Sierra de La Laguna, Rancho San Antonio de La Sierra; SAN LUIS POTOSI; GUERRERO: Xucumanatlan; MEXICO DF: Zacualpan.Records for GUATEMALA are as follows: Guatemala City.Records for HONDURAS are as follows: CORTÉS, YORO, and OLANCHO departments.

Catocala desdemona H. Edwards, stat. rev.
Adults fl y from May to July, with most records from May and June.Larvae of C. delilah have been collected from Quercus virginiana Mill.(in Texas and Florida), Q. fusiformis Small (Texas), and Q. laurifolia Michx.(Texas).
. Type locality: Texas, [USA].Diagnosis.Th e ventral surface of the forewing and both surfaces of the hindwing are similar in both C. frederici and C. caesia, although the patterning is less distinct in C. frederici compared to C. caesia.However, the even, generally pale-gray appearance of the forewing upperside in C. frederici is distinctive.Th e black hindwing bands tend to be narrower in C. frederici than in C. caesia.Distribution and biology.Southwestern USA, from east-central Kansas and western Texas, westward to southeastern Arizona.County records for USA are as follows.ARIZONA: Cochise; KANSAS: Douglas, Riley; NEW MEXICO: Bernalillo, Dona Ana, Eddy, Lincoln, Otero, Sandoval, San Miguel; COLORADO: Baca; OKLAHO-MA: Cimarron, Kiowa; TEXAS: Blanco, Bosque, Brewster, Burnet, Coke, Coleman, Culberson, Dallas, Dickens, El Paso, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Kerr, Kimble, Lubbock, Randall, Uvalde, Vale Verde.Biological notes.Adults have been collected from May to September.Several species of oaks are present at most of the known collecting localities.C. frederici tends to inhabit hotter and drier desert mountain ranges than do C. delilah, C. desdemona and C. caesia.Catocala andromache race benjamini Brower, 1937: 185 Catocala benjamini ute Peacock & Wagner, 2009: 89 Catocala benjamini jumpi Hawks, ssp.n.Catocala benjamini mayhewi Hawks, ssp.n.
Holotype and allotype deposited at PMNH, paratypes deposited at LACM and other USA museums as well as in private collections.Diagnosis.Th e forewings of C. c. occidentalis are similar to those of other subspecies.Distinguishing hindwing characters include: dorsal surface has many black scales at the base; wider inner band; narrower postmedial band; yellowish color of the dorsal surface consistently darker.About 5 percent of the specimens of C. c. occidentalis examined could be confused with specimens of the nominate subspecies.