Species Synanthedon exitiosa - Peachtree Borer - Hodges#2583

2583

Synanthedon exitiosa (Say, 1823)

Aegeria exitiosa Say, 1823

Trochilium exitiosum

Sanninoidea exitiosa

* phylogenetic sequence #080700

Wingspan 27-38 mm. (1)

Forewing length 6-15 mm. (2)

Larva to 32-38 mm. (1)

Pupa 19-24 mm. (1)

Adult - Male black with yellow marks, transparent wings with black edges; male has black scales between the eyes, and yellow scales between the antennae, which differentiates it from the male Lesser Peachtree Borer (S. pictipes) - see See Also section below. Female bluish-black, with broad yellow or orange band on abdomen, dark wings; likely a wasp mimic. Antennae completely black in both sexes.

Larva - grey-white to cream with a brown head. (1)

United States and southern Canada, excluding most of Great Plains, Great Basin, and desert Southwest. (2)

May-September, 1 flight.

Larvae bores into trunks of peach trees and relatives in the family Rosaceae; including Prunus persica, P. amygdalus, P. armenzizca, P. cerasus, P. domestica, P. hortulana, P. persica var. nectarina, P. serrulata, P. virginiana var. demissa. Native hosts are wild cherry and wild plum. (2), (1)

See Duckworth & Eichlin and Solomon in Print References.

Can be a major pest in orchards.

Males attracted to (Z,Z)-3,13-ODDA and (Z,Z)-3,13-ODDA/(E,Z)-3,13-ODDA/(Z,Z)-3,13-ODDOH blended pheromone lures (Meyer & Cranshaw, 1994). (2)

Larvae are parasitized by the Ichneumon wasp Bracon sanninoideae. (3)

Male of Lesser Peachtree Borer (S. pictipes) has yellow scales on top of head between the eyes, and black scales between the antennae, whereas male of exitiosa has the reverse combination: black scales between the eyes, and yellow scales between the antennae.

Apple Bark Borer has yellow apical half of antennae.

Willow Borer has white apical half of antennae.

Beuttenmüller, W. 1901. Monograph of the Sesiidae of America, north of Mexico. Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 1(6): 266-269, pl.30, f.16-17 (4)

Brown, L.N. & R.F. Mizell, III 1993. The Clearwing Borers of Florida (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae). Tropical Lepidoptera 4(4): 1-21 (PDF) (5)

Covell Jr., C.V. 1984. A field guide to the moths of eastern North America. Houghton Mifflin Company. p.427, plate 60 (6)

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)

Engelhardt, G.P. 1946. The North American Clear-wing Moths of the family Aegeriidae. United States National Museum Bulletin 190: 10-11 (7)

Meyer, W.L. & W.S Cranshaw 1994. Capture of Clearwing Borers (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) with three synthetic attractants in Colorado. Southwestern Entomologist 19(1): 71-76 (PDF)

Powell, J.A. & P A. Opler 2009. Moths of Western North America. University of California Press. pl.14.2m, 14.3f, p.125 (8)

Salsbury, G.A. & S.C. White 2000. Insects in Kansas. Kansas Dept. of Agriculture S310: p.302 (photos of male and female) (9)

Solomon, J.D. 1995. Guide to insect borers in North American broadleaf trees and shrubs. USDA Forest Service Agriculture Handbook AH-706: 59-62, f.22 (download menu) (1)

Moth Photographers Group

Univ. Florida: Featured Creatures

Forestry Images

identification field marks distinguishing male Peachtree Borers from Lesser Peachtree Borers (Pennsylvania State U.)