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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Silkworm, Sphinx, and Royal Moths (Bombycoidea) » Giant Silkworm and Royal Moths (Saturniidae) » Buck and Io Moths (Hemileucinae) » Hemileucini » Automeris » Rand's Eyed Silk Moth - Hodges#7745 (Automeris randa)

Species Automeris randa - Rand's Eyed Silk Moth - Hodges#7745

Classification · Hodges Number · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle

Automeris randa female - Automeris randa - female

Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)

Superfamily Bombycoidea (Silkworm, Sphinx, and Royal Moths)

Family Saturniidae (Giant Silkworm and Royal Moths)

Subfamily Hemileucinae (Buck and Io Moths)

Tribe Hemileucini

Genus Automeris

Species randa (Rand's Eyed Silk Moth - Hodges#7745)

Hodges Number

7745

Range

se. Arizona, sw. New Mexico, south into central and western Mexico

Distribution is patchy and populations are widely distributed in montainous areas

Habitat

arid montane forests (usually oak dominant)

Season

in the sw. USA the adult flight period is usually associated with the late summer rains

adults can be collected between late July & early August

Males are readily attracted to lights and fly between 1:30 am - 3:00 am

Food

Captive notes:

early instar larvae seem to prefer and feed almost exclusively on oaks, Quercus spp.

late instar larvae will eat beech, chestnut and occasionally privet.

Life Cycle

eggs laid singly or in clusters on the host plant (twigs, branches, & leaves)

larvae may be abundant between August & October

(5 instars take approx. 6 to 8 weeks to mature and pupate)

Seem to over winter as pupae in silk cocoons

The silk cocoon is similar in size and texture to that of Actias luna (thin and papery). The cocoon is spun in leaf litter on the ground or falls to the ground with the hosts leaves in fall.

adult eclosion occurs the following year

there may be more than one generation annually depending on area

Contributed by Bill Reynolds on 2 March, 2010 - 3:49pm
Additional contributions by Bob Patterson
Last updated 5 October, 2010 - 3:18pm

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