Hemileuca maia orleans Pavulaan, 2020

Pavulaan, Harry, 2020, A phenotypic comparison of regional populations of Hemileuca maia (Drury, 1773) with designations of new subspecies (Bombycoidea, Saturniidae, Hemileucinae)., The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey 8 (5), pp. 1-17 : 7

Hemileuca maia orleans Pavulaan, 2020 New Subspecies

Gulf Coast Buckmoth

ZooBank registration: urn:1sid:zoobank.org:act: EB65773F-B937-45F5-A58D-9C30478A8281

This taxon ( Figs. 7 , 8 & 13) represents Louisiana populations, mainly around New Orleans and the Mississippi River delta. This is a unique phenotype with a variable brownish-black ground color.

Type locality: Holotype (male): Dec. 11, 2003. 4.2 mi. NE of Abita Springs, sec. 24.T6.SR12E, St. Tammany Parish , Louisiana, leg. V. Brou . 45 paratypes (males) from St. Tammany Parish , 1 paratype (female) from Ascension Parish . [Holotype, allotype (female) and 16 male paratype specimens deposited in the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera & Biodiversity, Gainesville, FL., the remainder in the author s collection.]

Range: Primarily southern portions of Louisiana around New Orleans and adjacent portions of Mississippi ( Fig. 16 ). Range into eastern Texas requires morphological examination of specimens, but all viewed images of eastern Texas maia are black. Some Texas records may be confused with H. peigleri but adult morphology is very different.

Habitat: Known to be an urban pest on host trees in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, experiencing heavy infestations, leading to mass defoliation of city trees ( Martinat et al., 1997).

Flight period: LA (New Orleans region): Nov. 15 Jan. 9. Eastern TX records are: Dec. 4 17 but may not be ssp. orleans .

Hosts: Quercus virginiana (Live Oak) . Martinat et al. (1997) conducted host suitability studies to determine alternate host suitability. They report that late-instar larvae have been found on almost any type of foliage but it was unknown whether they can complete development on non- Quercus species. In their study, 1 st through 4 th instar larvae were raised on Quercus nigra (Water Oak) , then switched to various alternate hosts in the 5 th instar, while others were successfully reared to pupation on Q. nigra . Suitable alternate hosts included: Q. velutina (Black Oak) , and Prunus serotina (Black Cherry) . Lower survival rates occurred on Lagerstroemia indica (Crape Myrtle) , Liquidambar styraciflua (Sweetgum) , and Salix nigra (Black Willow) .

Description: Male FW length 25-32 mm., female FW length 35 mm. The largest of all maia populations. Wings decidedly brownish-black, solid opaque. The brownish tint is variable. While some individuals are black, a small percentage are clearly brown. Median bands are cream-colored. The forewing median band is located exterior to the discal streak in most specimens, thus maintaining a continuous band (inner edge of the median band intersects the discal streak). Some individuals have the posterior portion of the forewing median band faded or reduced to small white patches

Figures

Fig. 7. Hemileuca maia orleans Pavulaan, 2020. Holotype. Dec. 11, 2003. 4.2 mi. NE of Abita Springs, sec. 24.T6.SR12E, St. Tammany Parish, LA., leg. V. Brou. Male. Dorsal view.

Fig. 8. Hemileuca maia orleans Pavulaan, 2020. Holotype (same specimen), ventral view.

Fig. 16. Documented range of Hemileuca maia Drury (1773) and subspecies.