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Phenology of the adult angel lichen moth (Cisthene angelus) in Grand Canyon, USA

November 1, 2016

We investigated the phenology of adult angel lichen moths (Cisthene angelus) along a 364-km long segment of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA, using a unique data set of 2,437 light-trap samples collected by citizen scientists. We found that adults of C. angelus were bivoltine from 2012 to 2014. We quantified plasticity in wing lengths and sex ratios among the two generations and across a 545-m elevation gradient. We found that abundance, but not wing length, increased at lower elevations and that the two generations differed in size and sex distributions. Our results shed light on the life history and morphology of a common, but poorly known, species of moth endemic to the southwestern United States and Mexico.

Publication Year 2016
Title Phenology of the adult angel lichen moth (Cisthene angelus) in Grand Canyon, USA
DOI 10.1894/0038-4909-61.3.233
Authors Anya N. Metcalfe, Theodore A. Kennedy, Jeffrey D. Muehlbauer
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Southwestern Naturalist
Index ID 70178336
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Southwest Biological Science Center