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Photo#578096
Hemileuca sp - Hemileuca hualapai

Hemileuca sp - Hemileuca hualapai
Las Cienegas, Pima County, Arizona, USA
September 18, 2011
Found this attached to a friend after we'd been romping around a mesquite woodland. Anyone know which Hemileuca this is specifically?

Images of this individual: tag all
Hemileuca sp - Hemileuca hualapai Hemileuca sp - Hemileuca hualapai Hemileuca sp - Hemileuca hualapai Hemileuca sp - Hemileuca hualapai

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Hemileuca
Based on the habitat, range, and September sighting, I would say this could be Hemileuca tricolor. The only thing is, the colors seem a bit off for H. tricolor, but I don't know how variable this species is as a larva.

This larva seems almost like a perfect physical match for Hemileuca hualapai, the problem with that is that H. haulapai is found mainly in grasslands and is found farther south in Pima Co.

I recommend you forward your images to Bill Oehlke (just google his name for email address). He can probably give you a more definitive answer.

 
Might be tricolor
More information that might make the tricolor identification a bit more likely:

Although the caterpillar was found in a mesquite area, the mesquite area was small and in the middle of a big grassland.

The location is about half a mile north of Santa Cruz County, so pretty far south in Pima County.

Last, we had a strange monsoon this year, so things are out late and on a bit of a different schedule than usual.

Think it might be tricolor based on this additional information?

 
Do you mean hualapai?
Your comments regarding southern locale and grassland habitat support hualapai rather than tricolor... I assume you meant that this larva is more likely haulapai.

Based on this new info I would say with much more confidence that this is H. hualapai.

 
Yes of course...
hualapai and not tricolor. My mistake - was typing on my phone. It occurs to me that I have a local expert I can contact to ask about the moth to be 100% certain, but this has definitely helped me narrow down the options! Thanks!

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