Lasionycta impingens (Walker) Figs 101–105, 183, 184, 238, 239. Map 21 Anarta impingens Walker, 1857: 700. Lasiestra impingens; McDunnough 1938: 72. Lasionycta impingens; Lafontaine et al. 1986: 264. Mamestra curta Morrison, 1875a: 96. Anarta curta; Dyar 1903: 160. Lasiestra impingens curta; McDunnough 1938: 72. Orthosia perpura Morrison, 1875b: 66. Anarta perpura; Dyar 1903:160. Lasiestra perpura; McDunnough 1938: 72. Anarta nivaria Grote, 1876: 107. Lasiestra nivaria; McDunnough 1938: 72. Type material. Anarta impingens: syntype ♁. [BMNH, examined]. Type locality: [Canada, Alberta] Rocky Mountains. Mamestra curta: syntypes 1 ♁, 1 ♀. [MSU, examined]. Type locality: Colorado. Wilterding (1997) states that there is a holotype, but both specimens are labeled “Type.” Orthosia perpura: holotype ♀. [MSU, examined]. Type locality: Colorado, not New York as stated in Poole (1989). Anarta nivaria: holotype ♁. [BMNH, examined]. Type locality: Colorado Territory. Diagnosis. Lasionycta impingens is a small to medium-sized species (expanse 25– 32 mm) with a gray forewing with orange scales in the medial area and a light yellowbrown hindwing. Th e dorsal hindwing has equally dark discal spot and wide marginal band whereas the marginal band is suffused with the ground color and is more faint than the discal spot on the ventral side. Lasionycta impingens occurs from Yukon to Colorado. It can usually be identified without dissection. Male and female genitalia characters are given in the L. impingens sub-group section. Distribution and biology. Lasionycta impingens occurs from southern Yukon to Colorado. It is diurnal and nocturnal and comes to light. Adults are common in alpine tundra and are often collected by butterfly enthusiasts. It feeds on nectar of a Penstemon species (Scrophulariaceae) on the Beartooth Plateau, Montana, as well as on Mertensia paniculata (Ait.) G. Don (Boraginaceae), and a Senecio, likely S. lugens Richardson (Asteraceae) at Pink Mountain, British Columbia (BC. Schmidt, pers. comm.). Th e moth is found in July and August. Geographical variation. Populations of L. impingens are arranged in two subspecies. Th ere is only slight overlap in the appearance of the subspecies and we considered treating them as species despite absence of structural differences. However, occasional specimens from the range of each taxon are very similar indicating that use of subspecies is appropriate (compare Fig. 102 with Fig. 105 and Fig. 104 with Figs 101 and 103). The CO1 sequences of subspecies L. i. impingens and L. i. curta (Morrison) differ by 0.16 %.

{"references": ["Walker F (1857) List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum 11: 493 - 764. Edward Newman, London.", "McDunnough J (1938) Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of America. Part 1 Macrolepidoptera. Memoirs of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 1: 1 - 275.", "Lafontaine JD, Kononenko VS, McCabe TL (1986) A Review of the Lasionycta leucocycla complex (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) with descriptions of three new subspecies. The Canadian Entomologist 118: 255 - 279.", "Morrison HK (1875 a) Notes on North American Lepidoptera. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York 11: 91 - 104.", "Dyar HG ([1903] 1902) A list of North American Lepidoptera and key to the literature of this order of insects. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 52, xix + 723 pp.", "Morrison HK (1875 b) Notes on the Noctuidae, with descriptions of certain new species. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1875: 55 - 71. Issued 1876.", "Grote AR (1876) On a new species of Anarta and on an allied genus, with a note on the genus Adita. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York 11: 107 - 109.", "Wilterding JH (1997) Type specimens of Lepidoptera in the Tepper collection at Michigan State University. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 105: 65 - 104.", "Poole RW (1989) Lepidopterorum Catalogus (New Series), fascicle 118, Noctuidae. E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1314 pp."]}

Published as part of Crabo, Lars & Lafontaine, Donald, 2009, A Revision of Lasionycta Aurivillius (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) for North America and notes on Eurasian species, with descriptions of 17 new species, 6 new subspecies, a new genus, and two new species of Tricholita Grote, pp. 1-156 in ZooKeys 30 (30) on pages 93-94, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.30.308, http://zenodo.org/record/576576