Why does Pearson's Tiger Beetle Field Guide distribution map for Hairy-necked Tiger Beetle show C. h. rhodensis as the only form found in Wisconsin?
Additionally, the guide states under C. h. hirticollis:
"Along the Atlantic seashore on Long Island, New York, and the southern boundary of the Great Lakes it intergrades with the northern subspecies C. h. rhodensis, which is typically larger, darker brown above and with thin and disrupted maculations."
Northern subspecies?
Again, I say the above and what I wrote a few days ago seems to indicate a very fuzzy picture of the Hairy-necked Tiger Beetle's status with respect to various subspecies. The field guide authors admit as much and are rather dismissive about the veracity of most subspecies of Hairy-necked. I don't think anyone in Wisconsin ought to claim legitimacy of a C. h. rhodensis observation with so much to doubt they even exist genetically
What is a subspecies?
"A category in biological classification that ranks immediately below a species and designates a population of a particular geographic region genetically distinguishable from other such populations of the same species and capable of interbreeding successfully with them where its range overlaps theirs."
Meh.
Hairy-necked Tiger Beetle © 2021 Mike McDowell