RFI:Buck Moth

[MJS323]

Mike;
   The representative of the maia/nevadensis group of Hemileuca in Wisconsin is
probably more closely related to nevadensis from the west than maia to the
south.  As you go across Minnesota into Wisconsin and the Great Lakes, the
larvae become darker, lined yellow and black, until they become mostly dark in
eastern Wisconsin.  Also, they remain wetland for habitat, but their larval
hostplants go from Salix and Poplar or Cottonwood until they occur in bogs in
eastern Wisconsin and feed on Bog Buckbean and Dwarf Birch among other hosts. 
This also occurs in western New York and Canada around the Great Lakes. 
Whether this trend extends further east and becomes Hemileuca lucina is still
not understood.  The best thing to call the Wisconsin representative of this
complex is probably Hemileuca maia complex until all of the relationships are
better understood.

Mike Smith

 
 ------------------------------------------------------------ 

   For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:

   http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl