Stone's buckmoth Hemileuca stonei Lemaire, 1993

Family: Saturniidae

Subfamily: Hemileucinae

Identification: 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.

Wing Span: 2 3/16 - 2 7/8 inches (5.6 - 7.3 cm).

Life History: Adults emerge in the early morning and mate in early afternoon. Females lay rings of eggs around twigs of the host. Eggs overwinter and usually 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.

Flight: One brood from September-November.

Caterpillar Hosts: Mexican blue oak (Quercus oblongifolia) and Emory oak (Q. emoryi).

Adult Food: Adults do not feed.

Habitat: Oak woodlands.

Range: Southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico.

Conservation: Populations should be inventoried to determine conservation status.

NCGR: GU - Unable to assign rank due to lack of available information.

Management Needs: None reported.

Comments: NULL

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