Family: Rhagionidae
Subfamily: Rhagioninae
Length: 7-10 mm
Some authorities treat Chrysopilus hirtus as a valid species, while others consider it to be a junior synonym of Chrysopilus vertebratus. To add to the confusion, variant Latin species names have also been used: C. hirta and C. vertebrata.
Leonard (1930) did not list Chrysopilus hirtus as a species, but as a variety of C. vertebratus. He described the hirtus variety as having black bands on the abdomen of the male rather than black spots, and having longer and paler hairs on the abdomen. Females of both varieties had banded rather than spotted abdomens.
The range map below is based on Leonard (1930) and his list of records for Rhagio vertebratus, including variety hirtus.
Insects of West Virginia