Download high resolution image here.
The pictured
Automeris io neomexicana (f) (io moth, neomexicana subspecies) developed from a larva found on 13SEP2009 crawling on the ground under a pinion tree in a pinion-dominated forest between 7000-8000 ft. alt. along Pino Trl. (No. 120),
Sandia Mountain Wilderness, Bernalillo County, New Mexico. Not knowing its identity or host plant at the time, I kept it in an aquarium with a supply of pinion branches, which I've since learned io moths do not eat. It pupated three days later (16SEP2009). I stored it at room temperature, and it emerged 23FEB2010. I then mounted and photographed it as shown. From the distribution map of the
Automeris io subspecies in
Tuskes, Tuttle, and Collins, The Wild Silk Moths of North America (1996), p. 151(1), the location that the larva was found indicates that it is the
neomexicana subspecies.
Other nice pictures of adult
neomexicana (from Sacramento Mountains, Otero county, NM) can be found at
Hunter and Joel's Collectors website. David J. Ferguson posted
photos of neomexicana larvae collected in the wild in nearby Sandoval County, New Mexico. There, he identified a natural host plant as Sandbar Willow. Very recently, a BugGuide photo of a
larva found on Netleaf Hackberry (Celtis laevigata) was identified as
neomexicana. These are significant because Tuskes, et al p. 153 states of
neomexicana, "There are no reports of field-collected eggs, larvae, or cocoons, and the natural host plants remain unknown" (as of 1996). Furthermore,
neomexicana is on the list of
"Species of Greatest Conservation Need in New Mexico", according to
New Mexico Game and Fish. If anyone can cite your own or other reports of
neomexicana larvae being found in the wild, please post a comment here.
This submission extends the sitings of the larva found in the wild to the Sandia Mountains, Bernalillo County, NM. Unfortunately, it was found on the ground (apparently looking for a place to pupate since it did so soon afterwards), so it only indicates a good place to look for more. If you go out looking for larvae, be careful not to confuse it with
Automeris zephyria (Zephyr Eyed Silkmoth), as those larvae have similar appearance and habits. I've
posted one myself from the same area as the
neomexicana that matured into the adult pictured here. It becomes easier to distinguish between the two in the latter stages due to the different colors and fewer stripes of
io larvae. The spiny proturberances are also less pronounced in
io.
