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Greya variabilis Davis and Pellmyr

Olle Pellmyr
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Containing group: Greya

Adult Characteristics

The most variable of all Greya species. Wing expanse 12-18 mm. Body pale ochreous to dark brown. Forewings generally with a purplish brown base color, with many patches and streaks of pale ochreous in different patterns. In some individuals, light areas are so extensive as to anastomose. Rare individuals have completely tan colored forwings. Variation is distributed both within and among populations. Pollex of male valva sometimes the result of two or more fused spines.

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Assorted G. variabilis from range of species.

Comparison with Similar Species

Different color forms are often very similar to G. pectinifera, but are readily told apart by the genitalia. In the male, pectinifera has a pectinifer rather than a pollex. In the female, variabilis has lost the signa whereas two prominent signa are present in pectinifera.No other species approaches the general habitus of G. variata. G. kononenkoi is said to differ in having perpendicularly oriented forewing patches, and by having the tergum and sternum of segment VIII of equal length (tergum>sternum in variabilis).

Host, Oviposition, and Larval Feeding Habits

Unknown, but individuals often kicked up from areas with Saxifraga spp. (Saxifragaceae).

Geographic Distribution

Widely distributed, from the Chukchi peninsula of northwestern Siberia, the Pribilof Islands, interior Alaska, and several Pleistocene refugia along the North American west coast, including the Queen Charlotte Islands, the Olympic peninsula, and portions of the coastal range of northern Oregon.

Habitat

In the northern portion of the range, the species occur in tundra habitats. In more southern localities, it occurs in moist coniferous forest at intermediate elevation.

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Characteristic habitat for G. variabilis on Olympic peninsula, Washington, USA. See also picture under G. punctiferella.

Type

Holotype in USNM.

References

Davis, D.R., O. Pellmyr & J.N. Thompson. 1992. Biology and systematics of Greya Busck and Tetragma n. gen. (Lepidoptera: Prodoxidae). Smiths. Contrib. Zool. 524:1-88.

Kozlov, M.V. 1996. Incurvariidae and Prodoxidae (Lepidoptera) from Siberia and the Russian Far East, with descriptions of two new species. Ent. Fenn. 7:55-62.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Greya variabilis
Location Pribilof Islands, Alaska, USA
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Life Cycle Stage adult
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 1996
About This Page


University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA

Page: Tree of Life Greya variabilis Davis and Pellmyr. Authored by Olle Pellmyr. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Pellmyr, Olle. 1996. Greya variabilis Davis and Pellmyr. Version 01 January 1996 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Greya_variabilis/12306/1996.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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