Lasionycta leucocycla

Key to the L. leucocycla species-group 1. Forewings and hindwings mottled gray without other color scales, all forewing lines and spots including claviform spot present, AND ventral hindwing nearly uniform gray except for faint dark discal spot and postmedial line (L. perplexa and L. subfuscula sub-groups (Figs 106–122))............................... 2 – Forewings and hindwings otherwise; if forewing gray then claviform spot absent, hindwing lighter colored, OR ventral hindwing with dark marginal band in addition to discal spot and postmedial line.................................. 10 2. Male.......................................................................................................... 3 – Female....................................................................................................... 6 3. Antenna broadly bipectinate, total width greater than 4× width of shaft..................................................................................................... L. subfuscula – Antenna less than 4× width of shaft........................................................... 4 4. Antenna bipectinate, total width greater than 2.5× width of shaft.................................................................................................................. L. perplexa – Antenna biserrate, less than 2.1× width of shaft......................................... 5 5. Ventral hindwing lighter gray than ventral forewing, hindwing discal spot darker than postmedial line (Figs 110–112); occurring north of southern Washington............................................................................ L. perplexella – Ventral hindwing and forewing similar in color, hindwing discal spot similar in darkness to postmedial line (Figs 113–115); occurring from southern Idaho and Beartooth Plateau on Montana-Wyoming border southward (including California)................................................................... L. subalpina 6. Corpus bursae angled 30° to left from ductus bursae............... L. subfuscula – Corpus bursae and ductus bursae nearly straight........................................ 7 7. Occurring south of southern Idaho and Beartooth Plateau (including California)........................................................................................................ 8 – Occurring in Oregon or farther north........................................................ 9 8. Ventral hindwing much lighter gray than ventral forewing, hindwing discal spot darker than postmedial line (Figs 106–109)........................ L. perplexa – Ventral hindwing and forewing similar color, hindwing discal spot and postmedial line similar in darkness (Figs 113–115)......................... L. subalpina 9. Orbicular spot filled with whitish scales, lighter than other spots and lines, irregular diamond, ovoid, or teardrop shaped (Figs 106–109) [character will not separate all specimens]......................................................... L. perplexa – Orbicular spot round, slightly paler than ground color, similar to filling of lines, with a faint central ocellus (Figs 110–112) [character will not separate all specimens].......................................................................... L. perplexella 10. Male costal lobe of sacculus extending above costal margin of valve with broad flattened apex (Figs 183, 184); female corpus bursae without prominent constriction at base of appendix bursae (Figs 238, 239) AND hindwing yellow brown, not white; Forewing bluish gray, usually with warm yellow and reddish areas, AND hindwing yellow brown with gray marginal band, prominent dorsally and faint ventrally (Figs 101–105)............. L. impingens – Costal lobe rounded, variable in size; corpus bursae with at least ¼× diameter constriction near ductus bursae, or if weakly constricted then hindwing ground white; appearance without above combination of characters........ 11 11. Digitus of male valve flat, triangular, tapering evenly from base to apex (Figs 163–168), or strap-like with bluntly pointed apex (Fig. 169); corpus bursae of female weakly constricted (̴ ¼× diameter) near ductus bursae (Figs 219–225); ventral and dorsal hindwing similar with pure white ground, dark basal suffusion, discal spot and sharply defined gray or black marginal band, and absent or very faint postmedial line (rarely prominent in heavily suffused specimens) (Figs 47–59) (L. staudingeri sub-group).................... 12 – Digitus of male cylindrical (or rarely, tapering to a cylindrical apex if base triangular); corpus bursae with at least 50 % posterior constriction; hindwing without above combination of characters, if pure white then dorsal and ventral patterns dissimilar OR postmedial line prominent even in pale specimens........................................................................................................ 18 12. Discal spot of dorsal hindwing large, ratio of width to height> 0.5 (Figs 54– 58); male antenna weakly bipectinate (total width <2× width of central shaft)....................................................................................................... 13 – Discal spot of dorsal hindwing normal, width to height <0.5; male antenna bipectinate (> 2× width of central shaft)................................................... 15 13. Forewing light yellowish gray with distinct lines and spots (Fig. 54); occurring in Colorado............................................................ L. q. quadrilunata – Forewing slate gray with faint or absent lines; occurring north of Beartooth Plateau on Montana-Wyoming border..................................................... 14 14. Forewing with faint sinuous am line (Fig. 55–56); male digitus short and broad like an obtuse triangle and ending above valve margin.................................................................................................... L. quadrilunata yukona – Forewing even slate gray, am line absent or straight if visible (Figs 57–58); digitus long, shaped like an acute triangle and extending below valve......... L. lagganata 15. Forewing medium gray to dark gray with well-defined markings (Figs 47–49, 52–53)..................................................................................................... 16 – Forewing otherwise, either light gray with indistinct lines and spots OR uniform dark gray without markings (Figs 50–51, 59).................................. 17 16. Forewing dark gray with patches of olive green; occurring in arctic (Figs 47–49)..................................................................... L. staudingeri – Forewing pale gray, lacking olive; occurring in Colorado (Figs 52–53)............................................................................................................... L. dolosa 17. Forewing uniform slate gray, lacking all lines and spots (Fig. 59)................................................................................................................... L. carolynae – Forewing light gray with discernible lines and spots (Figs 50–51)............................................................................................................... L. subfumosa 18. Ventral hindwing postmedial line closer to marginal band than discal spot, or postmedial line too faint to assess; usually small species with forewing expanse less than 30 mm (Figs 19–46, 60, 91, 93) (exceptions to size rule: L. sasquatch (Figs 40–42), L. benjamini (Figs 43–46), L. pulverea (Figs 91, 93)) (L. leucocycla sub-group; L. phoca sub-group (part))................................ 19 – Ventral hind wing postmedial line appearing closer to discal spot than marginal band; most species with expanse greater than 30 mm (exceptions to size rule: L. phoca (Figs 61, 62) and L. macleani (Fig. 94)).............................. 30 19. Eye reduced when viewed from anterior (2× eye width / distance between outer eyes <0.5)....................................................................................... 20 – Eye normal size (above ratio> 0.5)........................................................... 23 20. Forewing light gray checkered with dark gray along costa, in median area, and preceding subterminal line (Fig. 60); occurring in Sierra Nevada.................................................................................................................. L. mono – Forewing more uniform, appearing mottled but not checkered; occurring elsewhere................................................................................................. 21 21. Dorsal hindwing dark gray (Figs 31–32); restricted to northern Yukon, northwestern Northwest Territories, and northern Alaska.......... L. coracina – Dorsal hindwing white or yellow; more widely distributed, including in region described above................................................................................ 22 22. Male antenna bipectinate, total width> 2.1× central shaft; occurring in northern British Columbia, southern Yukon, and Alaska; ventral hindwing postmedial line complete (Figs 38, 39)........................................... L. illima – Male antenna biserrate, <2.1× central shaft; widely dist

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