''Synanthedon formicaeformis'', the red-tipped clearwing, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of ...

of the family

Sesiidae The Sesiidae or clearwing moths are a diurnality, diurnal moth family (biology), family in the order Lepidoptera known for their Batesian mimicry in both appearance and behaviour of various Hymenoptera. The family consists of 165 genus, genera ...

and can be found in all of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, the eastern

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Si ...

, and the Near East. The larvae sometimes form pear-shaped

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external Tissue (biology), tissues of plants, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissu ...

s on

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist ...

s (''Salix'' spp). It was first described by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1783.

Description

The eggs are laid in axils, bark crevices or stump edges of ''Salix'' species from the end of May to late-July. The larvae feed inside the stems of various ''

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

'' species, including ''

Salix viminalis ''Salix viminalis'', the basket willow, common osier or osier, is a species of willow native to Europe, Western Asia, and the Himalayas.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook No. 4. .Rushforth, K ...

''. According to

Heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

and Emmet (1985) the larvae give little external sign apart from a slight browning, and at the edge of a broken stem

frass Frass refers loosely to the more or less solid excreta of insects, and to certain other related matter. Definition and etymology ''Frass'' is an informal term and accordingly it is variously used and variously defined. It is derived from the G ...

may be seen. The larvae feed between the wood and the bark and can be found in their tunnels when the bark is peeled back. When there are galls they can be pear-shaped, or a ″peculiar shape″ with the ″diameter of the stem above the gall greater than that below, which continues for some distance″. Galls can be similar to the sallow clearwing (''

Synanthedon flaviventris ''Synanthedon flaviventris'', the sallow clearwing, is a moth of the family Sesiidae. The larvae form pear-shaped galls on sallows (''Salix'' spp). Description The eggs are laid in the axils on slender shoots (<10 mm diameter) of sallows, ...

''). The pupa is 12–14 mm long and does not make a cocoon. The emergence holes have a diameter of circa 2.5 mm and before pupation can be hidden by a thin cap. The exuviae can remain protruding from the emergence holes for some time. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan ...

is 17–19 mm. Adults have clear wings, which are covered in scales only on the wing veins, the discal area and the wing edges. They have reddish patches at the tips of the forewings. The forewings are reddish coloured on the edges. The fringes are brownish. The discal stain is crescent-shaped, olive or reddish brown and extends from the front to the back edge. The hindwings have a narrow dark edge, as well as a small black-brown discal stain. The antennae, head, thorax and abdomen shine blue black. A red ring is located respectively on the fourth and fifth segment of the abdomen. Sometimes, also the sixth segment is reddish in colour. The hind tufts are strongly fan shaped, blue-black in colour, clear yellowish white on the sides. There is a certain similarity to '' Pyropteron chrysidiformis''. Adults are on wing from May to July, at higher elevations until August. They are particularly active in the sunshine and visit the flowers of different plants, such as those of elderberry ''

Sambucus nigra ''Sambucus nigra'' is a species complex of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae native to most of Europe. Common names include elder, elderberry, black elder, European elder, European elderberry, European black elderberry and tramman (Isl ...

'', '' Origanum vulgare'', ''

Jacobaea vulgaris ''Jacobaea vulgaris'', syn. ''Senecio jacobaea'', is a very common wild flower in the family Asteraceae that is native to northern Eurasia, usually in dry, open places, and has also been widely distributed as a weed elsewhere. Common names inc ...

'', ''

Ligustrum vulgare ''Ligustrum vulgare'' (wild privet, also sometimes known as common privet or European privet) is a species of '' Ligustrum'' native to central and southern Europe, north Africa and southwestern Asia, from Ireland and southwestern Sweden south to ...

'' and ''

Rubus idaeus ''Rubus idaeus'' (raspberry, also called red raspberry or occasionally European red raspberry to distinguish it from other raspberry species) is a red-fruited species of ''Rubus'' native to Europe and northern Asia and commonly cultivated in othe ...

''.

References

Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at :de:Synanthedon formicaeformis; see its history for attribution.

Gallery

Synanthedon_formicaeformis1.jpg {{Taxonbar, from=Q1638206 Sesiidae Gall-inducing insects Moths described in 1783 Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Moths of Japan Taxa named by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper