Hemileuca grotei

Hopffer, 1868

Grote's buck moth

Hemileuca grotei, or Grote's buck , is a saturniid moth native to North America. are , colorful, and strong fliers that typically fly well above vegetation . Males have been experimentally shown to lack attraction to Argiope aurantia spider lures, suggesting potential coevolutionary countermeasures against deception. The includes two recognized : H. grotei diana and H. grotei grotei.

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Hemileuca grotei: /ˌhɛ.mɪˈluː.kə ˈɡroʊ.taɪ/

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Identification

Males of H. grotei can be distinguished from related Hemileuca by their lack of attraction to Argiope aurantia lures in behavioral assays, a trait shared with H. maia and H. nevadensis within the same clade. Specific morphological diagnostic features are not detailed in available sources.

Habitat

Grassland and shrub-dominated ; males typically fly well above vegetation .

Distribution

Southern and western United States; range broadly overlaps with Argiope aurantia. Specific state records include Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The H. grotei diana has been recorded from far northwestern Oklahoma near the Colorado border.

Life Cycle

lack functional feeding mouthparts and incomplete ; adults do not feed and are short-lived. Mate location is accomplished through volatile emitted by unmated females.

Behavior

Males are vagile, strong-flying, and . They typically fly well above the vegetation except when courting females. Males perform circular locating (500 m to 1 km diameter) then follow gradient (~100 m) to locate females. Males showed no attraction to Argiope aurantia pheromone lure in experimental assays, unlike some other Hemileuca .

Ecological Role

Prey for Argiope spiders; subject to -prey coevolutionary dynamics involving chemical deception. The lack of male attraction to spider lures suggests potential evolutionary countermeasures against predator trapping.

Similar Taxa

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Subspecies

Two are recognized: Hemileuca grotei diana Packard, 1874 and Hemileuca grotei grotei Grote & Robinson, 1868. The subspecies diana was identified from a caterpillar collected in far northwestern Oklahoma, representing a potential new state record.

Research significance

H. grotei has been used in studies of -prey , specifically regarding chemical arms races between saturniid and orb-weaving spiders. Its placement in a clade with other non-responsive (H. maia, H. nevadensis) supports hypotheses about clade-level patterns in anti-predator trait evolution.

Taxonomic identifier

MONA or Hodges number: 7733

Sources and further reading