Species Melittia snowii - Clearwing Borer Moth - Hodges#2538

2538

Melittia snowii Edwards, 1882

* phylogenetic sequence #079500

Named in honor or Prof. F.H Snow.

Forewing length 8-12 mm. (1)

Wingspan 24-26 mm. (2)

Larva to 23 mm (Williams, 1913).

Cocoon 17 mm (williams, 1913).

Kansas and eastern Colorado to Texas, southern Arizona and New Mexico. (1)

Larval foodplant is Cucurbita foetidissima (buffalo gourd).

Eggs are laid on leaf petioles or tender shoots on the host plant. Young larvae bore inside the shoots and cause conspicuous gall-like swellings up to 3" x 1". Mature larvae drop to the ground from a hole made in the bottom of the gall and create slik-lined cocoons below the surface where the pupate. For rearing purposes, large occupied galls can be covererd with soil in a cage. If empty galls are found the larvae/pupae are easily found by carefully scratching the soil near the plant (Williams, 1913; Engelhardt, 1946). (2)

Beuttenmüller, W. 1901. Monograph of the Sesiidae of America, north of Mexico. Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 1(6): 234-235, pl.29, f.9 (3)

Edwards, Hy. 1882. Notes on N. American Aegeridae, with descriptions of new forms. Papilio 2(4): 53

Engelhardt, G.P. 1946. The North American Clear-wing Moths of the family Aegeriidae. USNM Bulletin 190: 186-187 (2)

Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler 2009. Moths of Western North America. University of California Press. pl.13.19f, p.124 (1)

Williams, F.X. 1913. Notes on three Sesidae (Lepidoptera) affecting the "The Missouri Gourd" (Cucurbita foitidissima) in Kansas. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 8(5): 219-220

Moth Photographers Group - species page with photographs of living and pinned adults.

Moths of Southeastern Arizona - photoraph of pinned adults.