Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29


Previous events


TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Species Vitacea admirandus - Hodges#2528

some kind of clearwing moth on a hackberry leaf - Vitacea admirandus Vitacea admiranda - Vitacea admirandus Bentsen Vitacea - Vitacea admirandus Bentsen Vitacea, ventral view - Vitacea admirandus Bentsen Vitacea, side view - Vitacea admirandus Tirista argentifrons - Hodges #2533.6  - Vitacea admirandus wasp mimic moth - Vitacea admirandus - female Vitacea admirandus
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Cossoidea (Carpenter and Clearwing Moths)
Family Sesiidae (Clearwing Moths)
Subfamily Tinthiinae
Tribe Paranthrenini
Genus Vitacea
Species admirandus (Vitacea admirandus - Hodges#2528)
Hodges Number
2528
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Vitacea admirandus (Hy. Edwards, 1882)
Sciapteron admirandus Hy. Edwards, 1882
Tirista admirandus
Tirista admiranda
Memythrus admiranda
Paranthrene admiranda
Tirista argentifrons of authors not Walker, [1856]
* phylogenetic sequence #640067
Explanation of Names
Admiranda is derived from Latin for "admirable/astonishing."
Some (all?) records of Tirista argentifrons north of Mexico appear to be Vitacea admirandus. The type locality for T. argentifrons is southern Mexico. There are separate BINs at BOLD for these two species. They are each others closest neighbors and form a branch separate from the branch containing other species in the genus Vitacea, suggesting the possibility that admirandus might belong in the genus Tirista. Coloration of abdominal segments and a lack of pencil tufts may not separate these two species.
Size
Wingspan: ♂ 25-30 mm, ♀ 34 mm. (1)
Forewing length: ♂ 9.5-15 mm (Bordelon & Knudson, 1998).
Identification
Adult - resembles Polistes paper wasps.
Range
Throughout Texas south into Mexico.
Season
Adults active June though November in late afternoon and early evening (Bordelon & Knudson, 1998).
Food
Larval hosts are likely grapes (Vitaceae). Knudson & Bordelon observed the adults in association with mustang grape (Vitis mustangensis).
Remarks
This species was practically unknown before synthetic pheromones, only three specimens in major collections for the first 100 years. It is now known throughout Texas, and is exquisitely sensitive to pheromone residues on skin or clothing. (2)
Males attracted to 1:1 ratio of Z,Z,ODDA and E,Z,2,13,ODDA pheromones, but some males flew directly to the Z,Z,ODDA lure (Bordelon & Knudson, 1998).
Print References
Bordelon Jr., C.W. & E.C. Knudson 1998. Abundant Occurrence of the "rare" Vitacea admiranda (Hy. Edw.) (Sesiidae) in the coastal Bend of Texas. News of the Lepidopterists' Society 40(1): (PDF)
Druce, H., 1881. Insecta, Lepidoptera, Heterocera. Biologia Centrali-Americana, 33. (Tirista argentifrons)
Edwards, Hy. 1882. Notes on N. American Ageridae, with descriptions of new forms. Papilio 2(4): 54
Engelhardt, G.P. 1946. The North American Clear-wing Moths of the family Aegeriidae. United States National Museum Bulletin 190: 157-158 (1)
Knudson, E.C. & C.W Bordelon Jr. 2008. Illustrated Checklist of the Lepidoptera of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas, Vol. 3C: Micro-Moths and Geometroids. Texas Lepidoptera Survey, Houston. 30 pp., 18 plates (2)
Walker, F., 1865. List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum, 31: 22. (Tirista argentifrons)
Works Cited
1.The North American Clear-wing Moths of the family Aegeriidae.
George P. Engelhardt. 1946. United States National Museum Bulletin 190: 1-222, pl.1-32.
2.Illustrated Checklist of the Lepidoptera of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas, Vol. 3C: Micro-Moths and Geometroids
Ed Knudson & Charles Bordelon. 2008. Texas Lepidoptera Survey, Houston. 30 pp., 18 plates.
3.North American Moth Photographers Group
4.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems