The Moths of the British Isles, Second Series: Comprising the Families Noctuidæ to HepialidæSouth, Richard
History
The Moths of the British Isles, Second Series: Comprising the Families Noctuidæ to Hepialidæ
South, Richard
Lepidoptera -- Great Britain; Moths -- Great Britain
Most of the known localities for the species are in Kent, but it has also
been found in Surrey, Dorset, Gloucester, Hertfordshire (Tring district),
and Northamptonshire (Oundle). Possibly it will be discovered in other
parts of the country. I am indebted to Mr. L. W. Newman, of Bexley, for the
specimen figured on Plate 1, Fig. 1. For the caterpillar mine in stem of
_Viburnum_ (Plate 156, Figs. 2, 2a) my thanks are due to Mr. Rayward, who
kindly sent me a living pupa, from which the moth duly emerged, but, I
regret to add, escaped from the box in which the stick containing the
chrysalis was kept.
Newman, in 1833, described this species as _Trochilium allantiformis_, and
in 1842 it was figured by Westwood and Humphreys as _T. andreniforme_. It
is distinguished from _Sesia tipuliformis_ by the two yellow belts of the
body (the first sometimes indistinct) and the orange-yellow tuft in the
blue-black tail; on the underside of the body there is a broad yellow band
on the fourth ring, sometimes extending to the fifth and sixth.
CURRANT CLEARWING (_Sesia tipuliformis_).
In this species the body is narrowly belted with yellow, usually four belts
in the male and three in the female; the tail tuft is black in both sexes.
The outer marginal border of the fore wings has a bronzy tinge, due to
orange patches between the veins. (Plate 154, Figs. 5 [male], 6 [female].)
The caterpillar lives in the stems and shoots of black and red currant
bushes; it feeds on the pith, and works its way downwards. When full grown,
about May, it gnaws an outlet to the {355} side of the stem, but does not
penetrate the outer skin, although it reduces this to a very thin layer,
through which the reddish brown chrysalis is able to force itself when the
moth is ready to emerge. A figure of the caterpillar will be found on Plate
156, Fig. 1; the chrysalis protruding from currant stem (Fig. 1a) is from a
photo by Mr. H. Main. In June or July, the moths are not infrequently seen
on leaves of shrubs in gardens where there are currant bushes in or around
such gardens, but the foliage of the food plant is a favourite resting
place.
Generally distributed throughout England, the range extending into Wales,
and South Scotland, but is apparently rare in these countries and also in
some of the northern counties of England. Kane states that the species is
common near Dublin, and is probably widely distributed in Ireland.
This species seems to have been introduced into North America, where its
caterpillar is known as the "currant borer," and, as in England, is
regarded with little favour by bush-fruit growers.
YELLOW-LEGGED CLEARWING (_Sesia vespiformis_).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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