Hemileuca maia sandra 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 : 5-6

Hemileuca maia sandra Pavulaan, 2020 New Subspecies

Eastern Buckmoth

ZooBank registration: urn:1sid:zoobank.org:act: 9EDBE62F-2415-4EC0-BE24-6E2C4BB20712

This taxon ( Figs. 3 , 4 & 12) represents interior continental (inland) populations. Insufficient published or available collected material makes it difficult to ascertain the full extent of its distribution. Common name Eastern Buckmoth per NatureServe Explorer (2020) reflects distribution throughout the interior eastern United States. The New York Natural Heritage Program (2020) refers to this as Inland Barrens Buckmoth and considers this the nominal subspecies because adults are determined to fall within the range of variation of southern populations. The subspecies is named in honor of my older daughter, who provides invaluable field assistance in all my lepidoptera studies.

Type locality: Holotype (male): Oct. 15, 2019, ex-larva, Chatsworth , Woodland Township, Burlington Co., New Jersey, leg. I. Osipov. 24 paratypes (20 males, 3 females) from same location . Holotype, allotype (female) and 8 paratype specimens (6 males, 2 females, from TL) are deposited in the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera & Biodiversity , Gainesville, FL.; the remainder in the author s collection. A series of 32 southern Indiana specimens (males) were analyzed for morphological comparison and matched the range of variation in the New Jersey series [10 specimens from Mishawaka and West Lafayette, IN. are deposited in the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera & Biodiversity, Gainesville, FL.; the remainder in the author s collection.]

Range: Known to be common in parts of the southern New Jersey Pine Barrens region. N.J. phenotype matches specimens from Virginia, Georgia, southeastern Ohio, southern Indiana, northern Alabama and northern Mississippi. This subspecies likely ranges west to Oklahoma ( Fig. 16 ). It is likely that inland populations in New York, from the Shawangunk Mountains to Albany are represented by this taxon.

Habitat: In New Jersey and inland New York, primarily Pitch Pine/Scrub Oak barrens but also in dry, mixed forest dominated by Quercus . In northern Virginia, mixed deciduous forest with presence of different species of Quercus , but apparently Q. ilicifolia is absent. Reportedly associated with pine barrens and sand barrens in other northern states: NY (inland sites), GA, OH, PA, VA, WV. In the Appalachian Mountains, the habitat is mixed, dry Quercus -dominated woodland and granite balds. In the southeastern coastal plain, the habitat is described as sandhills. Fragmentation and fire suppression of Pitch Pine/Scrub Oak habitat in northern portions of the species range are a threat to the habitat.

Flight period: Southern IN: Sep. 27 Nov. 2. NY (populations around Albany, believed to be this subspecies): Sept. 25 Oct. 5. NJ: Sep. 27 Nov. 1. PA: Sept. 25 Nov. 1. MD: Oct. 25 - Nov. 12. VA: Oct. 17 - Nov. 12. WV: Oct. 8 Oct. 19. NC: Nov. 4 Dec. 26. SC: Jan. 1. Southeastern OH: Oct. 18 Nov. 4. KY: Oct. 3 Nov. 14. TN: Nov. 14 Nov. 30. GA: Nov. 4 - Dec. 2. Northern AL: Nov. 7 Dec. 3. Northern MS: Dec. 7.

Hosts: Quercus alba (White Oak) , Q. bicolor (Swamp White Oak) , Q. falcata (Southern Red Oak), Q. hemisphaerica (Darlington Oak), Q. ilicifolia (Scrub Oak) , Q. laevis ( Turkey Oak), Q. marilandica (Blackjack Oak) , Q. montana (Chestnut Oak) , Q. muehlenbergii (Chinquapin Oak) , Q. prinoides (Dwarf Chinquapin Oak) , Q. rubra (Red Oak) , Q. stellata (Post Oak) and Q. velutina (Black Oak) . Larvae are known to wander to additional, non- Quercus, hosts in the later instars, such as Prunus cerasus (Sour Cherry). In Clifton, VA found on Rosa multiflora (Multiflora Rose) in July; in KY and MD, found on cultivated Fragaria (Strawberry sp.). In laboratory experiments, Smith (1974) successfully reared larvae from eggs collected on Q. ilicifolia in Colonie, N.Y. on alternate hosts Q. chrysolepis (Canyon Live Oak) and Salix hindsiana (Sandbar Willow) . Leeuw (1974) reported rearing them on Salix babylonica (Weeping Willow) . Many other hosts are listed in Tietz (1952, 1972) and Heppner (2003), but they do not specify what states or regions these records are from.

Description: Male FW length 24-31 mm., female FW length 29-36 mm. Larger than ssp. maia . Wings black, opaque [text cannot be read through the wings when placed against the wings]. Median bands white but with slightly more yellow tint than in ssp. maia . Forewing median band intersects the discal streak which breaks the band into two segments in less than half of individuals, but in most specimens the median band is located exterior to the discal streak, thus maintaining a continuous band. Indiana and Virginia specimens tend to have the continuous median band (inner edge of the median band intersects the discal streak) and the bands are clearly cream-colored. Specimens from northern Alabama and northern Mississippi are deep black, matching northeastern populations, and do not possess the brownish-black color of the nearby Gulf Coast population.

Figures

Fig. 3. Hemileuca maia sandra Pavulaan (2020). Holotype. Chatsworth, Woodland Township, Burlington Co., N.J., leg. I. Osipov.

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