Arizona caterpillar - Hemileuca tricolor

Another specimen in SE Arizona

I was looking at different pages of H. nevadensis and I found the posting "Unknown caterpillar - Hemileuca" by mfhanson. It was found at the AZ-Sonora Desert Museum as well! It was found this September in fact. Maybe there's something going on there? Maybe some were brought in on an imported plant to the museum?

… T Saenger, 31 December, 2008 - 9:25am

Looks to be a Hemileuca

Be careful of the spines. Mothguy will likely know which one. Wait for his comment.

… john and jane balaban, 29 December, 2008 - 9:07am

This looks like Hemileuca nev

This looks like Hemileuca nevadensis, although im not sure that they range in southern AZ. I'm away from home and don't have my proper identificatin resources with me.

… Ryan, 30 December, 2008 - 9:47pm

When you get back to your books

can you check on this possibility that nevadensis would be in Nevada but also in the Great Lakes. Or whether there is a nevadensis like species not yet named that lives in the Great Lakes area. We tried to read through the comments on the Great Lakes images posted to nevadensis, but weren't sure exactly how to place the images in the guide. It would be nice to refer to you as something other than mothguy too, if you care to share a name at some point. Thanks

… john and jane balaban, 31 December, 2008 - 3:44pm

My name is Ryan, you can call

My name is Ryan, you can call me that =) As for the H. nevadensis from the great lakes region, its hard to fully explain. That population is considered a species complex, between nevadensis, lucina, and maia. Research is being done on the "intermediate" populations of Hemileuca in that region.

… Ryan, 1 January, 2009 - 1:13pm

Interesting - Thanks for all the great work

you have been doing here for contributors, Ryan. Should we move this one to nevadensis too, or are you still waiting to consult your books about Arizona.

… john and jane balaban, 1 January, 2009 - 2:43pm

no problem

I just love saturniids and I love ID'ing them. I'm pretty certain this is nevadensis, but it would probably be best to check my resources.

… Ryan, 1 January, 2009 - 4:32pm

hmmmmm

According to both of my best resources that I use, nevadensis does not range that far south in Arizona. This looks like H. nevadensis though so I am at a loss. Perhaps someone else will know precisely

… Ryan, 4 January, 2009 - 7:44pm

Here is the other caterpillar

referred to in the comment above

… john and jane balaban, 4 January, 2009 - 8:28pm

Hemileuca tricolor

The specimen in that picture seems like H. tricolor and it is very similar to this unidentified image here. I wasn't able to research H. tricolor before but now after reading about it this could actually be H. tricolor which does range in the area of this photo.

… Ryan, 7 January, 2009 - 1:59pm

Thank you

Thank you to everyone that commented on my caterpillar! What a great opportunity for listening in on knowledgeable discussion and having the benefit of your expertise! I really appreciate knowing the species. Thanks again. :)

… T Saenger, 7 January, 2009 - 2:59pm