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Photo#347601
Clearwing moth - Podosesia syringae, Lilac Borer? - Podosesia syringae

Clearwing moth - Podosesia syringae, Lilac Borer? - Podosesia syringae
Frontenac, Ontario, Canada
July 28, 2009
Size: ~30mm
Encountered in late July on a dead tree, very near an old cocoon that I presume it had just emerged from. Adding for confirmation of ID and addition of data point.

Images of this individual: tag all
Clearwing moth - Podosesia syringae, Lilac Borer? - Podosesia syringae Clearwing moth - Podosesia syringae, Lilac Borer? - Podosesia syringae

Moved
Moved from Clearwing Moths.

Moth ID
I would agree that this is a lilac borer (P. syringae). In the description, P. aureocincta has a faint yellow band on abdominal segment number 4.

Moved
Moved from ID Request. Probably easier to get an ID here

 
Thanks
Thanks, John. Are new additions to the guide (as opposed to ID Request) monitored as well? Can you upload directly to a species/family?

 
Depends
Some experts monitor ID Request, some monitor an order, some a family, some a single genus depending on their specialty. Many are avoiding ID Request due to the mix of things they aren't interested in and require some sorting before they will begin to look. Others want to look in ID Request!

I think so.
Podosesia syringae - Lilac Borer

 
Another possibility
That was my first thought, Roar. It was also suggested to me that it could also be Podosesia aureocincta, Banded Clearwing, which, according to Moth Photographers' Group, doesn't always show bands. BugGuide doesn't seem to have a page for P. aureocincta, so I'm not sure. My understanding is that P. syringae flies here in the north from June-July, and P. aureocincta from July-September; unfortunately, this individual was in that overlap month.

 
Band on banded clearwing moth
I'm pretty sure my dad said exactly this to me several months ago: presence/absence of band not diagnostic for Podosesia aureocincta Purrington & Nielsen. I'll ask him again.

 
I wouldn't know
That one was the only one that stuck out. I don't know my Sesiidae.

Cool Mimicry
Sure looks a lot like a Polistes paper wasp.
Compare to -


 
Neat!
That is a pretty amazing look-alike!

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