[Ctleps-l] New England Buck Moth

[Wagner, David]

Richard Peigler and Dan Rubinoff are in need of larvae of New England Buch Moth (Hemilueca lucina) for a molecular phylogenetic study on buck moths.  There is an additional concern that this species may be declining in the Northeast (which includes the moth’s entire known global range) (this is one of New England’s few endemics—we have very few endemic taxa, especially at the species level), and thus there is also a need to assess the status of this beautiful moth.  (It could be a  victim of the introduced fly Compsilura coccinata, which has been linked to the decline of some native silkmoths in the Northeast by Jeff Boettner and others; Compsilura has been documented attacking Hemileuca maia—close evolutionary sister of H. lucina.)

If anyone is interested in rearing clutches of H. lucina caterpillars to see what parasitoids might be lurking inside our Hemileuca populations please contact me.  Larvae would be reared to last instar and then released at the site of discovery.

In May look for dense clusters of  black spiny caterpillars on (Spiraea latifolia, meadowsweet), especially along powerline ROWs and in wet meadows . If you find larvae, please send one to three to David Wagner at the University of Connecticut (david.wagner at uconn.edu<mailto:david.wagner at uconn.edu>).  Peigler and Rubinoff ideally would like to get molecular data for five different Massachusetts populations.

Remember:  these cats sting a little, but harmless if handled gently with finger tips.

Thank you,

David L. Wagner Professor
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT 06268-3043
o: 860-486-2139; c: 860-942-1796; f: 860-486-6364

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