Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Register · Log In
HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp
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
Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Carpenter and Clearwing Moths (Cossoidea) » Clearwing Moths (Sesiidae) » Sesiinae » Synanthedonini » Synanthedon » Buckwheat root borer - Hodges#2581 (Synanthedon polygoni)

Species Synanthedon polygoni - Buckwheat root borer - Hodges#2581

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Food · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Synanthedon polygoni Buckwheat Root Borer - Synanthedon polygoni ? - Synanthedon polygoni Moth - Synanthedon polygoni Unknown on eriogonum parvifolium4 - Synanthedon polygoni Clear winged moth - Synanthedon polygoni Orange and Black Clear-wing Moth - Synanthedon polygoni Carmenta mariona? - Synanthedon polygoni
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 Sesiinae
Tribe Synanthedonini
Genus Synanthedon
Species polygoni (Buckwheat root borer - Hodges#2581)
Hodges Number
2581
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Synanthedon polygoni (Hy. Edwards, 1881)
Pyrrhotaenia polygoni Hy. Edwards, 1881
* phylogenetic sequence #080650
* Ten synonyms were described from the highly variable forms. (1)
Explanation of Names
Named for the plant genus Polygonum on which it was first discovered.
Size
Forewing length 7-12 mm. (1), (2)
Identification
Adult - highly variable in color and is associated with higher elevations (Taft, W., 2007).
Range
Chihuahua and northern Baja California (Mexico) to Alaska, Nevada to Colorado and North Dakota east to southern Quebec. (2)
Season
Adults fly March through September.
Food
Larval food plants: known to use different kinds of buckwheat (Eriogonum), as well as other plants in the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae) such as beach knotweed (Polygonum paronychia Cham. & Schltdl., Polygonaceae) (Williams, 1909).
Print References
Beuttenmüller, W. 1901. Monograph of the Sesiidae of America, north of Mexico. Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 1(6): 308, pl.32, f.8f, f.9m (3)
Duckworth, W.D & T.D. Eichlin 1978. The Clearwing Moths of California (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae). California Department Of Food and Agriculture Occasional Papers in Entomology 27: 1-80, f.1-40, pl.1-8 (PDF) (2)
Edwards, Hy. 1881. New genera and new species of the family Aegeridae. Papilio 1(10): 202
Eichlin, T.D. 1992. Clearwing Moths of Baja California, Mexico (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae). Tropical Lepidoptera 3(2): 135-150 (PDF) (4)
Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler 2009. Moths of Western North America. University of California Press. pl.14.8m, 14.9, p.125 (1)
Williams, F.X. 1909. Notes on the Life-Histories of certain Wood-Boring Lepidoptera. Entomological news, and proceedings of the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 20(2): 58
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - range map, flight chart, photos of living and pinned adults.
University of Alberta E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum
BOLD - Barcode of Life Data Systems
Moths of Southeastern Arizona
Works Cited
1.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
2.The Clearwing Moths of California (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae).
W. Donald Duckworth & Thomas D. Eichlin. 1978. California Department Of Food and Agriculture Occasional Papers in Entomology 27: 1-80, f.1-40, pl.1-8.
3.Monograph of the Sesiidae of America, north of Mexico.
William Beutenmüller. 1901. Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 1(6): 218-352, pl.29-36.
4.Clearwing Moths of Baja California, Mexico (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae).
Thomas D. Eichlin. 1992. Tropical Lepidoptera 3(2): 135-150.
Contributed by john and jane balaban on 29 December, 2007 - 8:44pm
Additional contributions by Hartmut Wisch, Maury Heiman, Harsi S. Parker, Randy Hardy
Last updated 17 March, 2014 - 4:03pm

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2025 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Contact