The BOG buck moth (hemileuca maia menyanthevora)( H. Iroquois)is one of the most threatened speciesof moth (LEPIDOPTERA) in new york state, where IT was historically known from only six sites

This Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 5 under the Candidate Species Conservation program (CFDA 15.660) provides $120,000 in funding to The Research Foundation For The State University Of New York (Suny ESF) to carry out a project focused on the conservation of the threatened Bog Buck Moth (Hemileuca maia menyanthevora) in New York. The key objectives of the project are to: (1) conduct comprehensive surveys using pheromone monitoring and larval surveys to delineate the current geographic distribution and relative abundance of the species, and (2) develop a captive rearing program with the goal of reintroducing the species to formerly occupied sites. The award period runs from June 26, 2023 to June 25, 2025.

Its currentgeographic distribution is not fully resolved but BBM appears to be extant in only two of the historic sites as well as in two disjunct sites in ontario canada. Formal listing of the species was impeded by unclear taxonomic status, but recent molecular resolution shows that IT is an evolutionarily distinct species and in 2022, the USFWS formally proposed endangered species status. The BBM has very specific habitat needs and is in grave danger of extinction given its apparentoccupancy at just two localities in new york. This project will address two important aspects of theconservation of this species. (1) a full assessment of sites within the former range using pheromonemonitoring will be conducted to delineate its current distribution and relative abundance and conclusively establish whether habitat is occupied or not. Synthetic pheromone will be purchased from a commercial manufacturer and deployed during adult flight season to monitor presence absence at a high resolution.companion larval surveys will be conducted at any sites positive for adult detection. (2) a captive rearingprogram will be developed with the longer-term objective of recolonizing formerly occupied sites.adapting an approach used for a threatened sister species, collected BBM larvae will be reared on itsaquatic host plant in childrens wading pools. Eggs produced by adults in the captive rearing program will be used to establish a breeding colony and eventually, progeny will be used to recolonize sites where populations of BBM are known to have existed previously.