Like H. larex, Hemileuca lex was recorded as a species in the nineteenth century. The naturalist who named it was called Druce. He was probably remembering that the Hemileucas were traditionally named after major goddesses. The list of major goddesses known to Europe at this period was short, and Druce had undoubtedly remembered that, in addition to worshipping their ancestral spirits collectively as the Lares, the Romans also worshipped abstract ideals--often "personified" in images or words as dignified, motherly women--such as Lex, "The Law." From the genitive form of lex, legis, we get words like "legal" and "legislature."
Mr. Druce sent back to the Entomological Society only one specimen of Hemileuca (he called it Euleucophaeus) lex, a male from Durango, Mexico. Right away some people said it was the same thing as H. tricolor, and some said it was very similar to H. oliviae. The study of H. lex as a species has progressed very slowly, although it's still listed as a species and has been further documented. Its habitat along the Mexico--New Mexico border has helped it remain obscure. It likes to stay high and dry, not at the peaks of the Sierra Madre, but high up in their foothills.
It has been called the New Mexico Range Caterpillar. Its food plant is the black locust tree. Caterpillars have been reported to be able to eat other things, raising the question whether, if they do, they grow up looking like either oliviae or tricolor, and, if so, whether they're accepted as oliviae or tricolor by moths clearly identified with those species.
Moths have soft, subtle color patterns, heavy fur capes on the thorax, and an egg-stuffed body shape if young and female. Their colors vary from gray to light brown to rich redwood brown. Some show bright red hairs on the abdominal segments.
Same moth, wings folded, exploring Lidize's hand:
I'd prefer to see actual measurements.
Photo by Coletoobservador, San Cristobal de las Casas.
And Huracan in Fraccionamiento del Santuario found both the resemblance to the more vividly marked H. tricolor and the tendency, shared with other Hemileucas, to curl up their bodies as they did when they were caterpillars. It's not at all an effective survival move for the moths. This raises the question to what extent the caterpillars are aware that curling up with their birstles out turns them into formidable weapons. Their bristles protect them from stinging one another. The stingingworms don't necessarily know how venomous they are.
This species remains under-documented on the Internet. Yahoo reports about 23,000 occurrences of the phrase "hemileuca lex" but shows that most of them are on lists. Even Spanish Wikipedia and Naturalista.mx lack specific information about this species.
If scientists agree to accept a DNA-based working definition of "species," there are only half a dozen distinct species of Hemileuca, and lex isn't one of them. Still, as a distinct type, it deserves to have its life cycle documented...though the current lack of documentation of its life cycle suggests that at least it does a good job of avoiding humans.Avoiding humans seems like a very good trait for a Hemileuca to have.
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