David Element
Wildlife Photography and Digital Video Images
_________________________________________________________________Moths
11 – Red-belted Clearwing Moths
RED-BELTED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon myopaeformis
RED-BELTED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon myopaeformis
RED-BELTED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon myopaeformis
RED-BELTED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon myopaeformis
RED-BELTED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon myopaeformis
RED-BELTED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon myopaeformis
RED-BELTED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon myopaeformis
·
The
Red-belted Clearwing Moth Synanthedon myopaeformis has, in common with the other members of the family Sesiidae, evolved to (rather unconvincingly to human eyes) resemble
a solitary wasp, a subterfuge that is reinforced by the shedding of most of the
wing scales shortly after emergence (note that many scales are still attached
to the wings of the moth in the fifth photograph). They are therefore
exhibiting Batesian mimicry by simulating another more dangerous or distasteful
organism as a form of defence. The larvae develop in Apple (so the decline of
orchards will have had a detrimental effect on their population) or other trees
and the presence of a breeding colony may be betrayed by the exuviae projecting
from holes in the bark from which the adults have emerged. The moths will mate
almost immediately and, unusually for moths, they are able to fly in tandem. It
seems likely that their life as adults is short and the females’ eggs will be
deposited in the cracks of the bark of a tree (quite possibly the same one from
which they have emerged). Pheromone lures are often used by lepidopterists to
attract these otherwise rather elusive and under-recorded insects but the
photographer was fortunate to have had an old Midland Hawthorn Crateagus
laevigata tree growing
opposite his house that had a thriving population of these moths until it
finally split apart and became too unsafe to be allowed to remain in situ.
-> Moths 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40,
41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122
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