Hemileuca sp. (Buck Moths)

[Trehopr1]

The large and very diverse family Saturniidae
contains numerous subfamilies and (Buck Moths)
(Hemileucinae) make up one of them. There are
some 19 confirmed species along with an additional
14 that are still being sorted out (but are named).

These quite beautiful medium-sized (dayflying) moths
are for the most part found in the western (1/2) of the
U.S.

Amongst collectors living out west these seem to be
wildly popular, a challenge to capture (in good shape),
and very much the envy of eastern hobbyists.

I have acquired over time just a few of the species but,
I have managed some pretty fine examples overall....

I have never discussed this topic before and have not posted
pictures of my wonderful findings yet, its a topic well worth
bringing up.

I do hope others will join-in as I am certain you have much
more to add about these moths in terms of field experiance
and holdings.

Below, I feature some of my acquisitions....





I did do very well with this species....



Some rather outstanding "aberrations" of the same species.

[evra]

Nice. I’m not sure what qualifies as an aberrant H. eglanterina. Everything that you have pictured except for the male H. chinatiensis is eglanterina. There are collectors with not only entire drawers of eglanterina, but entire cabinets, and they still don’t have every color variant.

Generally speaking it is a very hard group to collect. Most species fly in the daytime in specific spots for a relatively short period (10 AM - 1 PM usually). The known locations are a long ways from each other, usually 100-200 miles. So if you mistime the flight or are just unlucky, you can’t just go to another spot that day. On top of that, they are extremely powerful fliers that fly high and fast. Rearing is a better way to go, but a lot of species feed on really weird, specific bushes, and the larvae take a long time, have stinging spines, and usually a high rate of parastoids. That’s why they are rare in collections.

[Trehopr1]

Thankyou evra for your fascinating insights !

I'm sure you know a lot more about these than I ever will
but, I'm happy to have brought up the topic for discussion.

Appreciate it all.

[58chevy]

More USA buck moth species, top photo:
H. electra mojavensis (top)
H. electra clio (lower two)

lower photo, top to bottom:
H. grotei (top)
H. electra electra
H. electra mojavensis
H. electra mojavensis
H. burnsi

[jhyatt]

Nice. I’m not sure what qualifies as an aberrant H. eglanterina. Everything that you have pictured except for the male H. chinatiensis is eglanterina. There are collectors with not only entire drawers of eglanterina, but entire cabinets, and they still don’t have every color variant.

Generally speaking it is a very hard group to collect. Most species fly in the daytime in specific spots for a relatively short period (10 AM - 1 PM usually). The known locations are a long ways from each other, usually 100-200 miles. So if you mistime the flight or are just unlucky, you can’t just go to another spot that day. On top of that, they are extremely powerful fliers that fly high and fast. Rearing is a better way to go, but a lot of species feed on really weird, specific bushes, and the larvae take a long time, have stinging spines, and usually a high rate of parastoids. That’s why they are rare in collections.

The first eglanterina I ever collected (in Kittitas Co., WA) was cruising along pretty fast, head-high, almost in a straight line in very open woods. I was young enough then to run the thing down and catch it - all the while thinking it was some kind of Speyeria butterfly! I was very surprised when I saw what I had taken. A 2nd individual taken later that day was extremely pale, not remotely Speyeria-like.

Cheers,
jh

[evra]

They generally don’t fly in straight lines. They zig-zag everywhere constantly. Some species like hera bob along the Z axis too, going up and down 25-30 feet in the air in their normal flight. You need a shotgun, not a net for them.

The strange-looking, variable individuals of eglanterina, nuttalli, and hera all seem to inhabit south-central Oregon, along the eastern edge of the Cascades. I‘m not sure what‘s so special about that area. The eglanterina in this area are especially weird. Some are jet black. Others have no black markings at all. But there are also lots of very normal looking ones as well. The H. hera from this area are extremely white. Both were given subspecific status, which I’m not 100% sure of.

The other species don’t seem to have a whole lot of variation in them. Some, like H. electra have variation between localities, but if you’ve seen one H. electra electra from coastal S. CA, you’ve seen them all. The same is true with electra mojavensis, or electra clio.

[evra]

Here’s one drawer of mine. Hemileuca grotei diana, H. stonei, H. juno, H. electra clio, H. electra mojavensis, H. electra electra. I reared or collected all of them.

[58chevy]

Nice drawer, Evra. Did you rear your specimens from eggs, larvae or pupae?

[evra]

The electra clio from 1st instar larvae. Older larvae can be found, but in my experience the parasitism rate is 70-80% by the third or fourth instar, so it is almost a futile effort at that point. Although I’ve found egg rings of electra, like most species of Hemileucas, the egg rings are very hard to find because the host plants aren’t fully deciduous. The only ones that are easy to find are H. neumoegeni and H. nevadensis because their hosts are fully deciduous and the egg rings stick out like a sore thumb in the winter. Unfortunately these are two of the easiest species to collect as adults, so rearing them isn’t as rewarding as it should be.

The rest I caught with a net.

[vabrou]

Only one species in Louisiana, Hemileuca maia. Have taken several thousand over the past half century in my high-wattage light traps. Here are 60 taken December 6, usual annual peak of the one annual brood for this species. Most collectors collect this species mid-day using a hand net as it is both diurnal and nocturnal in activity. Also, one of two drawers I currently have of pinned and spread adults. Males have red on caudal end of abdomen.

[Christophe]

Really a very beautiful genus that I didn't know about.