I don’t hunt, at least not for anything with less than 6 legs. My weapons of choice are a camera and a net. Since I was a kid paging through my Golden Field Guide to the Butterflies and Moths (I still keep one of these awesome little field guides around), I’ve always wanted to see a buck moth, so over the past few weeks I finally went buck moth hunting. Unlike some of my friends and colleagues that have recently been pheasant hunting and have been skunked, my hunting excursion was successful. It did take me four trips to the woods, but the persistence paid off when I finally held my first buck moth this past weekend. I owe a huge thank you to Harry Zirlin for helping me find my first buck moths and to Wade Wander for his help with the ecology of the species and directions to some northern New Jersey sites.  

Buck moths fly during the day in late fall. In New Jersey there are two species, the relatively widespread (in appropriate habitat) Barrens buck moth (Hemileuca maia) and the rare Schweitzer’s buck moth, an as yet undescribed species that is known from only 6 locations in New Jersey. The Barrens buck moth occurs in both the Pine Barrens and on ridgetops where scrub oak, the caterpillar host plant, is abundant. Schweitzer’s buck moth is restricted to limestone fens in northern New Jersey where the caterpillar food plant, shrubby cinquefoil occurs. Both buck moths are really beautiful with grayish-black and white wings and bright red spots between the legs and on the abdomen. The males also sport a bright red tip on their abdomen. The one I was able to catch was a bit worn, but it likely survived both Hurricane Sandy and the subsequent snowstorm and worn or not, it was no less exciting for me to finally see one.