Frequently found flying during the day and therefore at first, mistaken for a butterfly. There are two species in the area, Xanthotype sospeta and X. urticaria, but impossible to ID in the field because the species are very similar. Recent work "shows that DNA barcodes for urticaria and sospeta are identical. The two species appear to be inseparable by COI sequence data, as is the case with many closely related species studied in this paper. Some have suggested that these two are a single species because of the DNA similarity..." (Bug Guide)At one time it was thought possible to ID the two species visually, but that no longer applies.
Please login or register.