rubicunda (F.) in Louisiana by Vernon Antoine Brou Jr., 74320 Jack Loyd Road, Abita Springs, Louisiana 70420 email: [email protected]

In Louisiana, the very pretty pink and yellow ceratocampid Dryocampa rubicunda (F.) (Fig. 1) occurs commonly across the state (Fig. 2). The pale Midwest form, mostly cream-colored with minimal pink markings Dryocampa rubicunda alba Grote was considered a valid entity by Ferguson (1971), but dismissed by Tuskes et.al. (1996) who found no justification for such status. Reported to have two broods by Ferguson

a b

Fig. 1. Dryocampa rubicunda : a. male, b. female. Fig. 2. Parish records by this author.

90 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

60

30 number of adults

0 Fig. 3. Dryocampa rubicunda captured at sec.24T6SR12E, 4.2 mi.NE Abita Springs, Louisiana. n = 4946 (1971); Tuskes et. al. (1996) pondered the possibility of a third brood in the south. Tuskes et. al. reports "first brood early April through late May, …second … late-June through mid-September". It is clearly evident that in Louisiana and probably elsewhere in the southeast that rubicunda has five annual broods, the populations of each brood peaking at about 36-day intervals. On (Fig.3), the abundant populations of broods three and four overlap end of June early July and the resulting peak displayed on the graph is simply an artifact of displaying multi-year dates on a composite graph. D. rubicunda has been reared in captivity on numerous species of and oaks as well as beech and butternut (Oehlke 2004). Oehlke offers an image of a live moth and and some information at http://www3.islandtelecom.com/~oehlkew/zrosymap.htm Literature cited Ferguson, D.C. in Dominick, R. B. et al., 1971. The of America North of Mexico, fasc. 20.2A, Bombycoidea (in part). The Curwen Press, London, England. Oehlke, Bill 2004. Giant Moths (Saturnidae) of , Canada. http://www3.islandtelecom.com/~oehlkew/index.html Tuskes, P.M., J. Tuttle, M.M.Collins 1996. The Wild Silk Moths of North America . Cornell Univ.Press. ix + 250 pp.