DISTRIBUTION:

Stone's Buckmoth, Hemileuca stonei (wingspan: males: 43-51mm; females: 55-58mm) flies in oak woodlands from southern Arizona to northern Sonora, Mexico at elevations of 1500-2000m.

"Males and females differ. Male abdomen is black with a red tip, female abdomen is all black. Female upperside is black with white median bands on all wings; on the forewing the band runs along the outside of the white cell spot. Male upperside is orange-brown on the forewing and dark brown on the hindwing; all wings have a tan median band. On the forewing the median band is indented by a tan cell spot. "

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

This species flies from September-November.

Mexican blue oak (Quercus oblongifolia) and Emory oak (Quercus emoryi) are the favorite host plants of the larvae.

Hemileuca stonei male from Arizona. Photo by Bruce Walsh.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Adults emerge in the early morning and mate in early afternoon..

Males use well developed antennae to track the female's pheromone plume.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are deposited in rings around twigs of the host plants, and hatch in April. Young caterpillars feed together on oak flowers, and older caterpillars feed mostly on leaves. Fully-grown caterpillars spin loose cocoons in leaf litter. Image courtesy of Chris Conlan.

Hemileuca stonei fifth instar larva, courtesy of Kirby Wolfe copyright.

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.

Quercus oblongifolia....... Quercus emoryi

Mexican blue oak Emory oak

Return to Main Index

Return to Hemileuca Genus

Goto Canada - U. S. A. Index