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Project Noah Nature School
Hemileuca sp. (probably H. mania)
Large spotted, dark grey moth larva with clusters of black and yellow spines, of the genus Hemileuca (Family Saturniidae).
Semi-urban area on the outskirts of the city, 2,200 meters.
This larva has multi-branched urticating spines, which can deliver an unpleasant sting when touched.
Spotted on Oct 29, 2012
Submitted on Nov 1, 2012
6 Comments
Thank you Bill :)
I suspect it is the larva of Hemileuca mania, but I am not sure. I am going by process of elimination and comments in Lemaire's Hemileucinae, indicating that Hemileuca mania is a grass feeder from your area.
Bill Oehlke
Thank you EarlyStages for the references. They helped me find the adult Hemileuca that we have here in Chiapas. They are likely the same.
Unfortunately my experience doesn’t extend beyond immature butterflies, Lauren, so please consult these websites for a possible ID of your adult moth and its potential caterpillar.
http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.ed...
http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/kirbywo...
http://www.saturniidae-web.de/Hemileuca....
Thank you EarlyStages for your help with the identification of this larva. We have a very common Hemileuca adult moth here which might be its match: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/147.... What do you think? What species might this moth be? It doesn't look similar to anything I was seeing.
Neither a nymphalid nor a butterfly, but rather an immature saturniid moth probably in the genus Hemileuca.