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| Species Profile |
| Pine Barrens Buck Moth |
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Size: Wingspan 2 - 3 inches (5 - 7.5 cm) Description:The forewing and hindwing are black with a white band running laterally across its wingspan, The white band ends with a black patch with distinctive white sideways "V". The tip of the abdomen is red in the smaller males, black in the females. The Buck Moth caterpillar is variably colored, ranging from black to almost white. Its thorax and abdomen are densely flecked with white dots. Its many-branched spines can deliver a painful sting, placing it into a "poisonous" status in some locales. Behavior: The Buck Moth is a nocturnal moth that buries itself into the sand during the hot dry days for protection, atypical of other moths, and most certainly an evolutionary departure that enables them to thrive in the extremely arid Dwarf Pine Plains environment (see below). However, during its egg laying activity, it flies rapidly during the day, making it quite difficult to photograph. Only the act of egg-laying (and presumably, mating) slows the moth down, when photographing it becomes rather easy. The moths lay their eggs on small oak twigs to winter over within the protection of the oak leaves that hang tenaciously on the trees for most of the winter. In the spring, the caterpillars emerge. Range: Eastern North America: Maine to Florida, west to Wisconsin, Kansas, Texas. However, it is relatively rare in parts of its range, being considered a "species of special concern" by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, though alleged to approach pest status in the South at times.
The eggs over-winter, and when they hatch the next spring the young caterpillars feed in groups. Caterpillars wander about and make their cocoons in leaf litter on the ground or a few inches underground in soft soil. Larvae feed on Oaks, Quercus, especially Scrub Oak, Quercus ilicifolia, a primary plant species of the Dwarf Pine Plains. Adults do not feed. The Dwarf Pine Plains: When photographing Buck moths, learning about its habitat, and the overall importance of the habitat to the species, is the story. Without the habitat, as with so many other species of plants and animals, there would be no buck moth. And, the Dwarf Pine Plains is host to New York's largest population of this NYS-listed Species of Special Concern. In fact, the Long Island Pine Barrens, and specifically, the Dwarf Pine Plains, which was once considered little more than a wasteland, is truly a magical place. The Long Island Pine Barrens is located in the eastern/central part of Long Island, and extends from Coram on the west to Riverhead to the east; from the Calverton coastal ponds/Manorville area to its north and Westhampton Beach/Quogue to its south. The most common trees are pitch pines, scrub oaks and larger oaks and a host of low-growing ground covers, such as bearberry and lichens. Included within the Pine Barrens of Long Island are coastal ponds, pine forests, wetlands, and the favored habitat of the Buck Moth, the Dwarf Pine Plains.
Within 10 days of that fire, pitch pine and scrub oaks began sprouting. And, the buck moths thrived. Today, the landscape is lush with new growth that sprouts around the remnants of dead, burned trees. Palm warblers are a fairly frequent occurrence, as are chickadees. No doubt, I will be returning in the spring to the location where I photographed the moth laying her eggs. My mission will be to photograph the distinctive Buck Moth caterpillar. If I'm lucky, I'll come across an Eastern Kingbird, a Northern Harrier, and/or a hognose snake, other species known to inhabit the Dwarf Pine Plains. References: Bug Guide, Butterflies and Moths of North America, Long Island Trail Lovers Coalition, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Regina Marcazzo, "From Pines' Ashes, a Different Landscape", New York Times, August 20, 2000, South Shore Estuary Reserve, "Dwarf Pine Plains", |
| Editor's Comment: Let us know what you think! Please email the Editor to let us know your thoughts. I am a Landscape Architect/Park Planner for the National Park Service at Fire Island National Seashore. However, work is such an imposition on my life, wherein photography is my real passion, with nature photography giving me the constant exercise to stretch my photographic skills and limits. But, working for the NPS certainly gives me lots of opportunities to do what I love most, by providing me with beautiful places to photograph and paying me a salary to just be there. :-) ...Diane Abell |
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Species Name: Pine Barrens Buck Moth (Hemileuca maia maia).
Habitat: The Buck Moth is a relatively rare moth on Long Island, New York, where its primary habitat is the Dwarf Pine Plains of Long Island's Pine Barrens Region. Interestingly, it always has a portion of its population remaining underground in the pupal stage. If adults, caterpillars and eggs are destroyed by fire, as was the case in during the Westhampton fire of 1995, the Buck Moth population is re-established by that underground colony.
The Long Island Dwarf Pine Plains is considered to be a globally imperiled community, which is noted for dwarfed pitch pines (Pinus rigida), scrub oaks ( (Quercus ilicifolia) (, and groundcovers, but without the canopy of larger oaks. It is, indeed, a dwarf species environment, and one that is specifically favored by Buck Moths. The Plains is located in Westhampton, NY. Some may remember that awful Westhampton fire of 1995. Although 3,000 burned acres seems like a small fire when we think of the western forest fires, it was huge for Long Island, which is, in and of itself, a relatively small environment. Ecologically, however, the worst damage was to the Plains. When the fire was finally out, 225 acres of the Dwarf Pine Plains were completely destroyed. But, were they?