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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Carpenter and Clearwing Moths (Cossoidea) » Clearwing Moths (Sesiidae) » Tinthiinae » Paranthrenini » Vitacea » Grape Root Borer - Hodges#2530 (Vitacea polistiformis)

Species Vitacea polistiformis - Grape Root Borer - Hodges#2530

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Life Cycle · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Moth-wasp mimic - Vitacea polistiformis Moth? - Vitacea polistiformis Grape Root Borer Moth - 2530 - Dorsal - Vitacea polistiformis - male Grape Root Borer Moth - Vitacea polistiformis - female Vitacea polistiformis - female backyard bug #1 - Vitacea polistiformis Unknown Clearwing Moth - Vitacea polistiformis - male Lepidoptera - wasp mimic - Vitacea polistiformis
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 polistiformis (Grape Root Borer - Hodges#2530)
Hodges Number
2530
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Vitacea polistiformis (Harris, 1854)
Aegeria polistiformis Harris, 1854
Trichilium polistiformis
Sciapteran polistiformis
Memythrus polistiformis
Paranthrene polistiformis
* phylogenetic sequence #079250
Explanation of Names
Specific name polistiformis means "Polistes-like", a genus of paper wasp.
Size
Forewing length 12-19 mm. (1)
Wingspan 26-42 mm. (2)
Larva matures to 25-35 mm. (2)
Identification
Adult - excellent mimic of a paper wasp. (1)
Range
Found throughout the midwest and south to Florida and Texas (William H. Taft).
Food
Larvae bore in the horizontal roots of wild and cultivated grapes (Vitis). Can be a serious pest. (1)
Life Cycle
See Solomon in Print References.
Print References
Beuttenmüller, W. 1901. Monograph of the Sesiidae of America, north of Mexico. Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 1(6): 249-250, pl.30, f.7-8 (3)
Brown, L.N. & R.F. Mizell, III 1993. The Clearwing Borers of Florida (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae). Tropical Lepidoptera 4(4): 1-21 (PDF) (1)
Engelhardt, G.P. 1946. The North American Clear-wing Moths of the family Aegeriidae. United States National Museum Bulletin 190: 152-154 (4)
Solomon, J.D. 1995. Guide to insect borers in North American broadleaf trees and shrubs. USDA Forest Service Agriculture Handbook AH-706: 104-106, f.40 (Download Options) (2)
Williams, R.N. & J.W. Snow 1991. Annotated bibliography of the Grape Root Borer (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae). Florida Entomologist 74(2): 320-334 (PDF)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group
Works Cited
1.The Clearwing Borers of Florida (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae).
Larry N. Brown & Russel F. Mizell, III. 1993. Tropical Lepidoptera 4(4): 1-21.
2.Guide to insect borers in North American broadleaf trees and shrubs
Solomon, J.D. 1995. USDA Forest Service Agriculture Handbook. 735 pp.
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.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.
Contributed by john and jane balaban on 1 February, 2008 - 7:42pm
Additional contributions by Tom Bentley, Randy Hardy
Last updated 19 June, 2013 - 8:01pm

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