This taxon is variously described in many reference books as having - and I am paraphrasing here - :
- a pale "face" (= frons, eclyptus and labrum; sometimes with a fuzzy darker wash on the frons).
- pale spots on segment 7 that are large, broad, ovoid but with straight dorsal edge along the carina that does not diverge away from the carina distally.
- hamules shaped like a sickle or question mark.
- extensive pale areas on segments 2 and 3.
- the two lateral thoracic pale stripes broad, with
a narrower partial intervening stripe that is still fairly conspicuous.
This holds true for many individuals, but recent examination of examples of this taxon from southern and western Texas
has shown that some vary from this morphology in one or more ways. There seems to be a geographic component to some of this variation, but the precise location of potential boundaries is yet to be worked out.
Below are links to my photos of this species, grouped by general location. Within each section there are comments on the features of various individuals. It is possible that some of the physical variation has a temporal component, thus dates are provide for each individual. Most of the examples are males, and the variation in females seems much less pronounced.
Group A: Laredo area (mostly Webb county on the Rio Grande, but also south as far as Salineno in western Starr county). The numbers refer to those in the .jpg file names.
