''Hemileuca nuttalli'', or Nuttall's sheep moth, is a moth in the family

Saturniidae Saturniidae, commonly known as saturniids, is a family of Lepidoptera with an estimated 2,300 described species. The family contains some of the largest species of moths in the world. Notable members include the emperor moths, royal moths, and gi ...

. It is found from south-eastern

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

to eastern

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, eastern

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, north-eastern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, northern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

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Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

and north-western

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. The species was first described by

Ferdinand Heinrich Hermann Strecker Ferdinand Heinrich Herman Strecker (24 March 1836, in Philadelphia – 30 November 1901, in Reading, Pennsylvania) was an American entomologist specialising in butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera). Strecker was born in Philadelphia to Ferdinand and ...

in 1875 under the name ''Pseudohazis nuttalli''.

Identification

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 60–65 mm.''Pacific Northwest Moths''
/ref> The forewings are yellowish on the bottom, gradually morphing into white on the top. The veins are black at the tips and there is a black eyespot on each wing with a white center. The hindwings are yellow orange with black-tipped veins and a thick black stripe that curves through the middle of the wing, up through the forewings. There is a small black eyespot in the middle of each wing. The body is yellow orange.

Life history

The eggs are laid in rings around small twigs of the host plant. The larvae have been recorded feeding on ''

Purshia tridentata ''Purshia tridentata'', with the common name bitterbrush, is a shrub in the genus '' Purshia'' of the family Rosaceae. It is native to mountainous areas of western North America. Common names include antelope bitterbrush, antelope bush, buc ...

'', ''

Symphoricarpos ''Symphoricarpos'', commonly known as the snowberry, waxberry, or ghostberry, is a small genus of about 15 species of deciduous shrubs in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae. With the exception of the Chinese coralberry, '' S. sinensis'', wh ...

'' species and ''

Ribes ''Ribes'' is a genus of about 200 known species of flowering plants, most of them native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The various species are known as currants or gooseberries, and some are cultivated for their edible f ...

'' species. The larvae are black and are covered with yellow spines that will sting on contact with skin.

References

Moths of North America Hemileucinae Moths described in 1875 {{Saturniidae-stub