The life history of Schinia sanguinea (Geyer) (Noctuidae:Heliothentinae) with a report on a survey for Heterocera in southwestern Ontario

1998 
A survey of the Lepidoptera of the sand dunes and wetlands in an area southeast of Lake Huron in the province of Ontario has yielded adults of Schinia sanguinea for life history studies. Data on the species were not available for inclusion in the senior author's monograph on the Heliothentinae. Additional key words: Lepidoptera survey. immature stages. Liatris cylindracea, Liatris spicata, Schinia carrrwsina. During the last several years, the junior author together with K. Zufelt have been conducting a survey of the moths in an area of Ontario southeast of Lake Huron. The study area is a 10,000 acre Great Lakes wetland and dunes complex that includes both Pinery and Ipperwash Provincial parks. The region consists of a series of sand ridges, interspersed with streams, lakes and wetlands, forested areas, oak savannah and prairie remnants, The purpose of the project is to obtain flight data for resident moth species over many years. The records will establish a faunal list as well as provide data on flight periods, number of generations per year, annual fluctuations in population size and species composition. The ultimate objective of the undertaking is to generate interest in conservation of habitats within the region. To date, the survey has recovered 46 species of Arctiidae and 526 species of Noctuidae. Among the interesting captures during the survey have been Trichoclea artesta (Smith) and Agrotis stigmosa (Morrison) from the beach barrier habitat, and Oncocnemis riparia Morrison and Iodopepla u-album (Guenee) from the first interdunal swale, The dry ridges yielded Chaetaglaea tremula Franclemont and a single specimen of Cobubatha dividua (Grote), Trichosilia manifesta (Morrison) and Acronicta albarufa Grote were taken in the oak savannah, and Lemmaria digitalis (Grote) and Spartiniphaga inops (Grote) characterized wetland and stream habitats. Papaipema aweme (Lyman) had been collected in the Grand Bend area in 1936 but was not seen during the present survey. One of the most noteworthy recoveries from this survey has been adults of Schinia sanguinea (Geyer, 1832) which were collected by K. Stead at black light. He obtained the specimens in an open dunes area 382 JOURNAL OF THE LEPIDOPTERISTS' SOCIETY near Port Franks, Ontario in which Liatris cylindracea Michaud was abundant. In his monograph to the North American Heliothentinae, Hardwick (1996) indicated that he considered sanguinea to be a separate taxon from the floridian Schinia carmosina Neumogen (1883). At the time, few data were available to substantiate this separation. When the immature stages of sanguinea were studied recently, it became evident that differences between these and those of carmosina warranted recognition of the two as distinct species. Both species are present in central Florida. The larva of Schinia sanguinea is reddish brown with multiple fine broken longitudinal lines and feeds on species of Liatris. The larva of Schinia carmosina is grey with broad longitudinal bands and feeds on Carphephorus corymbosus (Nuttall) Torrey & A. Gray and Garberia !ruiticosa. (Nuttall) A. Gray. Although the adult of carmosina is usually smaller and darker than that of sanguinea, I cannot, at present, reliably distinguish the two adult moths.
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