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Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984) | Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, GBIF, BOLD | Technical Description, Adults: McDunnough (1943); Forbes (1954); Rings et al. (1992) | Technical Description, Immature Stages: Forbes (1954), Wagner et al. (2011) | |
| Adult Markings: Obliqua is one of the easier species in this group to recognize: smoothly patterned pale brown and blue gray, with only a slight contrast between the antemedial and postmedial areas (before and after the medial line). The medial line forms a boundary between a lighter, more basal area and a darker, more distal area; this line is contiguous with the inner edge of the reniform in obliqua and Z. squamularis but crosses the wing before the reniform in the other pine-feeding species. Obliqua is larger than squamularis and differs by having a much less contrasting medial line (which is blackish in squamularis) and showing much less contrast between the pale antemedial area and the darker postmedial area. |
| Wingspan: 40 mm (Forbes, 1954) |
| Adult Structural Features: Male reproductive structures are illustrated by McDunnough (1943) and Forbes (1954), but the main differences between squamularis and obliqua is size: the left valve is about 7 mm long in obliqua compared to 5 mm in squamularis. For other structural differences separating squamularis and obliqua from the other pine-feeding Zales, see key to the male genitalia in Forbes (1954). |
| Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens. |
| Immatures and Development: Larvae of obliqua are very similar to those of squamularis and some of the other pine-feeding Zales; identification requires rearing them to the adult stage (Wagner, et al., 2011). |
| Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable only through rearing to adulthood. |