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

Clickable Guide

Interactive image map to choose major taxa 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

National Moth Week was July 19-27, and the Summer 2025 gathering in Louisiana, July 19-27

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

Species Vitacea polistiformis - Grape Root Borer - Hodges#2530

Representative Images

Moth-wasp mimic - Vitacea polistiformis Grape Root Borer Moth - 2530 - Lateral Dorsal - Vitacea polistiformis - male Grape Root Borer Moth? - Vitacea polistiformis Wasp-like moth in Southwest Florida - Vitacea polistiformis - female Vitacea polistiformis ? - Vitacea polistiformis - male wasp-mimic moth - Vitacea polistiformis Wasp mimic? - Vitacea polistiformis - male Clearwing moth? - Vitacea polistiformis - male - female
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

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