|
[Home]
[Up]
[Geometrinae- Emeralds]
[Geometrinae - Identifying Marks]
[Immature Stages]
[Seasonal Polyphenism]
[Other Geometrid Subfamilies]
[Related Links]
| |
Nemoria obliqua (Hulst, 1898). [7037]
|
 |
 |
|
Nemoria obliqua male
collected July 2005 at Capulin Volcano Nat. Monument, NM |
Nemoria obliqua male
collected July 2005, Cibola N.F., NM |
Nemoria obliqua is a widespread species of the southwestern
United States, recorded extensively from Colorado, Arizona and New
Mexico. It stands out as a very bright olive grass green moth with
strong, often broad white am and pm lines. The wing color is typically a
deep and even green and without any white striations, a characteristic
which can help distinguish it from Nemoria caerulescens, which
overlaps it in certain areas of its geographical range. Nemoria
obliqua also has a strong green coloration on the first four
segments of the ventral surface of the abdomen (see photo below at
right).
Ferguson tentatively established a distinct subspecies, Nemoria
obliqua hennei, based on some minor genitalic differences and an
apparent discontinuity in the range of collected specimens conforming to
the hennei subspecies form. Specimens of Nemoria obliqua
hennei were collected in California and Nevada, in the Sierra Nevada
mountains. In 2005, Friends' Central researchers collected individuals
of Nemoria obliqua with unusual wing lines at Capulin, NM;
genitalic dissection revealed characteristics closely matching the form
of Nemoria obliqua hennei figured in Ferguson 1969. Nemoria obliqua collected the same week from another New Mexico site just 200
miles south in the Sandia Mountains matched the form of the nominate
subspecies Nemoria obliqua obliqua. It seems likely that the
differences in genitalia and wing patterning are within the normal range
of intraspecific variation, and that the populations of Nemoria
obliqua should be treated as a single group ranging from New Mexico
to California.
Another interesting variation within the obliqua species relates
to the variability in spacing and patterning of the line markings on
both forewings and hindwings. Nemoria obliqua was named for the
oblique angle formed by the straight white am line on the forewing. The
distance between the pm line and the am line on the hind margin of the
forewing is highly variable, with the lines often set far apart, but
sometimes approaching each other very closely where they meet the
margin. In the most extreme cases, the two lines may even converge in
front of the hind margin and form a U-shaped pattern on the forewing
(photo below, right). A similar sort of plasticity in the line markings
on the hindwings can be observed in other specimens. The am and pm lines
may be irregularly convex, and may also join into a U-shape, sometimes
with a crescent shaped tail beyond the curve of the U (see photo below
at left). This crescent may align with a transverse white line on the
abdomen to complete a pattern that extends from one hindwing across the
abdomen to the opposite wing when the wings are held out at rest.
For
additional images of immature stages of Nemoria obliqua, click
here:
Nemoria obliqua, larvae and pupae.
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Nemoria obliqua
male with
convergent hindwing
lines and minor crescent.
|
Nemoria obliqua male with
strong U-shaped convergent forewing lines. |
Nemoria obliqua female
showing even green coloration on ventral surface of abdomen. |
|
