Hickory - Ecology

Ecology

Hickory is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species. These include:

• Luna moth (Actias luna)
• Brown-tail (Euproctis chrysorrhoea)
• Coleophora case-bearers, C. laticornella and C. ostryae
• Regal moths (Citheronia regalis), whose caterpillars are known as hickory horn-devils
• Walnut sphinx (Amorpha juglandis)
• The Bride (nominate subspecies Catocala neogama neogama)

The hickory leaf stem gall phylloxera (Phylloxera caryaecaulis) also uses the hickory tree as a food source. Phylloxeridae are related to aphids and have a similarly complex life cycle. Eggs hatch in early spring and the galls quickly form around the developing insects. Phylloxera galls may damage weakened or stressed hickories, but are generally harmless. Deformed leaves and twigs can rain down from the tree in the spring as squirrels break off infected tissue and eat the galls, possibly for the protein content or because the galls are fleshy and tasty to the squirrels.

The banded hickory borer (Knulliana cincta) is also found on hickories.