DISTRIBUTION:

Single-brooded electra mojavensis (wingspan: males: 50-58mm; females: 51-62mm), flies in the Mojave desert of southwestern Utah through southern Nevada, western Arizona and southeastern California.

This subspecies is characterized by dense white scaling in the medial area of the forewing.

Hemileuca electra mojavensis male, San Bernardino Co., CA,, courtesy of Kirby Wolfe Copyright

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Electra mojavensis fly from late September to mid October. The preferred foodplant is flat top buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum).

Hemileuca electra mojavensis female, courtesy of JCM Digital Imaging.

Data for the H. electra mojavensis:

"They were collected in the Granite Mountains of San Bernardino Co., CA, just NW of Rabbit Dry Lake on 3-20-2005. They were found eating Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum polifolium) as 3rd, 4rth and 5th instars. We (Dave Wikle and I [JCM Digital Imaging]) also found clusters of earlier instars as well. They were brought home and finished on local buckwheat (Eriogonum f. fasciculatum), a very similar plant."

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING: Eclosions take place in the morning and females call from 9:00 am until 10:00 am. Pairing with the slightly smaller males is very brief (10 - 40 minutes) and females make their ovipositing flights from 3:00 to 7:00 pm. The female to the right, courtesy of JCM Digital Imaging, is still in the hanging position, waiting for her wings to fully inflate and stiffen. Moths typically rest with the forewings folded tent-like over their backs as in the image at the top of the page. The orange underside of the forewing is in striking contrast to the dark brown and white dorsal surface. It is not difficult to see why the species name "electra" was chosen for this insect.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Grey-blue eggs are laid in rings of 25-35 eggs/ring on dead flower heads or plant stems.

Larvae emerge, triggered by winter rains, from February to March and thus avoid the dry seasons of late summer and early fall. In the early instars, larvae are black and gregarious, but become more colourful in the final stage. In the fifth and final instar, larvae are grey with black spines and three yellowish-white lateral lines. They frequently strip the new growth from plant stems making them easy to find.

Pupation is in a shallow underground chamber or under loose debris.

Hemileuca electra mojavensis, Bullhead City, Arizona, March 24, 2003,
courtesy of Jay Johnson

Larval Food Plants

Listed below are primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants listed in Stephen E. Stone's Foodplants of World Saturniidae. It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

Bursera microphylla Eriogonum fasciculatum..... Idria columnaris Simmondsia chinensis Tamarix gallica

Elephant tree California buckwheat Boojum Jojoba French tamarisk

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