David Element
Wildlife Photography and Digital Video Images
________________________________________________________________Moths
56 – Red-tipped Clearwing Moths
RED-TIPPED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon formiciformis
(m)
RED-TIPPED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon formiciformis
(m)
RED-TIPPED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon formiciformis
(m)
RED-TIPPED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon formiciformis
(m)
RED-TIPPED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon formiciformis
(m)
RED-TIPPED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon formiciformis
(m)
RED-TIPPED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon formiciformis
(m)
RED-TIPPED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon formiciformis
(m)
RED-TIPPED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon formiciformis
(m)
RED-TIPPED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon formiciformis
(m)
RED-TIPPED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon formiciformis
(m)
RED-TIPPED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon formiciformis
(m)
RED-TIPPED CLEARWING MOTH Synanthedon formiciformis
(m)
·
The Red-tipped
Clearwing Moth Synanthedon formiciformis is,
in common with other members of the family Sesiidae, an elusive creature. The author has only seen this
species twice, on both occasions at a site in London. Red-tipped Clearwings
resemble black-and-red solitary wasps, both in appearance and their
flight-pattern. They are small, easily overlooked, and they only rarely feed on
flowers. The larvae inhabit the wood of Willows
Salix spp. and checking
trees for exuviae is quite a good method of locating the adults immediately
after emergence, although a modern entomological trend is the use of pheromone
traps as lures. One was not used on this occasion. The clear areas of the wings
would have been covered with scales until shortly after emergence, whereupon
only those scales covering these ‘windows’ would have been shed – presumably
they are loosely attached. These delightful and very colourful little moths are
equipped with antennae that have a large surface area relative to their size,
ideal for detecting pheromones emitted by females, and the fan-like structure
at the tip of the abdomen, with its unusually long scales, is almost certainly
used for wafting molecules of pheromones as it has no other obvious purpose.
Most distribution is probably quite localised as the flight is rather weak, but
sufficient to broaden the gene pool.
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