Hemileuca nuttalli

Nuttall's sheep moth
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Saturniidae
Genus:	Hemileuca
Species:	H. nuttalli
Binomial name
Hemileuca nuttalli (Strecker, 1875) [1]
Synonyms
Pseudohazis nuttalliStrecker, 1875 Pseudohazis arizonensisStrecker, 1878 Pseudohazis washingtonensisMedlar, 1944 Pseudohazis nuttalli uniformisCockerell, 1914

Hemileuca nuttalli, or Nuttall's sheep moth, is a moth in the Saturniidae family. It can be found in regions ranging from south-eastern British Columbia to eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, north-eastern California, Idaho, Nevada, northern Arizona, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and north-western New Mexico. The species was first described by Ferdinand Heinrich Hermann Strecker in 1875 under the name Pseudohazis nuttalli. ^[2]

Identification

The wingspan of Nuttall's sheep moth ranges from 60 to 65 mm. ^[3] The forewings are yellowish on the bottom and gradually morph into white on the top. The veins are black at the tips, and there is a black eyespot on each wing with a white center. The hindwings are yellow-orange with black-tipped veins and a thick black stripe that curves through the middle of the wing, up through the forewings. Additionally, there is a small black eyespot in the middle of each wing. The body of the moth is yellow-orange.

Life history

The female moth lays eggs in rings around small twigs of the host plant. The larvae, which have been recorded feeding on Purshia tridentata , Symphoricarpos species, and Ribes species, are black and covered with yellow spines that can sting upon contact with skin.

References

1. Savela, Markku. "Hemileuca nuttalli (Strecker, 1875)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
2. Strecker, Herman (1875). "Meagre descriptions of some new species; to be followed in a subsequent part by what is infinitely better - good representations". Lepidoptera, Rhopaloceres and Heteroceres, Indigenous and Exotic; with Descriptions and Colored Illustrations. 12: 106–108. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.9929. hdl: 2027/nyp.33433011575457 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
3. Pacific Northwest Moths