Other Common Names
Oak Clearwing Borer
Southern Yellowjacket Clearwing
"Hornet" Clearwing - an unfortunate misnomer as the mimic is a yellowjacket and not even a hornet
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Paranthrene simulans (Grote, 1881)
Trichilium simulans Grote, 1881
* phylogenetic sequence #079150
Explanation of Names
similāns = participle form of the Latin
similō, meaning "to imitate."
(3) Size
Wingspan: ♂ 27-36 mm, ♀ 30-40 mm.
(1)
Forewing length 12-18 mm.
(2)Identification
Adult - closely resembles a queen southern yellowjacket,
Vespula squamosa.
(1)
Larva - purple-brown with black head and yellow-brown thoracic shield. Prominent elliptical spiracles.
(1)Range
Eastern two thirds of the United States and southern Canada. From Novia Scotia to Florida, west to Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi.
(2),
(4),
(5)Season
Adults fly April to June in the south and June through July in the north.
(1)Food
Larvae bore into solid wood of many species of oaks, preferring young or damaged trees.
(1),
(2) Also American Chestnut (
Castanea dentata)
(1)Life Cycle
Two year life cycle heaviest in odd-numbered years. See Solomon in Print References.
(1),
(2)Remarks
Woodpeckers consume many larvae.
Pterocormus saucius is a known parasite.
(1)
The common name of "hornet clearwing" is a misnomer as this species is a mimic of a species of yellowjacket, not a hornet.
See Also
Queen (♀♀) Worker (♀) Male (♂)
Print References
Beuttenmüller, W. 1901. Monograph of the Sesiidae of America, north of Mexico. Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 1(6):
250-251,
pl.29, f.16
(6)
Brown, L.N. & R.F. Mizell, III 1993. The Clearwing Borers of Florida (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae). Tropical Lepidoptera 4(4): 1-21 (
PDF)
(2)
Covell Jr., C.V. 1984. A field guide to Eastern Moths. Houghton Mifflin Company. p.425, pl.61.6
(7)
Edwards, Hy. 1881. A new species of North American Aegeriadae. Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 3:
78-79
Engelhardt, G.P. 1946. The North American Clear-wing Moths of the family Aegeriidae. United States National Museum Bulletin 190:
145-146,
pl.27, f.163
(5)
Solomon, J.D. 1995. Guide to insect borers in North American broadleaf trees and shrubs. USDA Forest Service Agriculture Handbook AH-706: 35-38, f.13 (
download menu)
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