''Bembecia ichneumoniformis'', the six-belted clearwing, is a moth of the family Sesiidae.
Distribution
This species can be found in most of Europe and Asia Minor, the Caucasus, northern Iran and the
Near East
The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...
''Bembecia ichneumoniformis'' prefers calcareous soils, sea-cliffs and quarries.
Description
The wingspan of ''Bembecia ichneumoniformis'' can reach . The body of these moths is black, with six yellow narrow transversal bands in males (hence the common name), while the females may have only five yellow bands. Antennae are relatively thick. In males they are usually black, while in the females they may be either black with an ocher band or basically ocher with a black apex. The front wings show a yellowish or orange apex, a yellow orange spot separating two transparent areas and brownish orange margins. The abdominal brush is black with yellow lines. Legs are yellow.
Rather similar species are '' Pyropteron muscaeformis'', '' Bembecia scopigera'' and '' Bembecia albanensis''.
Like all the moths of the family Sesiidae, this species is similar in appearance and flight to a
hymenoptera
Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...
n more than to a
lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...
n. The wings are partially free of scales (transparent areas) and narrower and more elongated than those of other butterfly families. In fact the Latin name ''ichneumoniformis'' means that its shape and colors, as well as the structure of its wings, evokes certain ichneumonids, not a butterfly.
It is likely that the alternating yellow and black bands protects this species from certain predators that associate these colors with those of insects with darts and venom such as wasps and bees.
Biology
Adults are on wing from June to August in western Europe. It is a day-flying species.
The larvae feed on the roots of ''
Lotus
Lotus may refer to:
Plants
*Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly:
** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae
**Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...
Dorycnium pentaphyllum
''Lotus'', a latinization of Greek '' lōtos'' (), is a genus of flowering plants that includes most bird's-foot trefoils (also known as bacon-and-eggs) and deervetches and contains many dozens of species distributed worldwide. Depending on th ...
Dorycnium herbaceum
''Lotus herbaceus'' is a herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the genus ''Lotus'' of the family Fabaceae
The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,Dorycnium hirsutum'', ''
Medicago
''Medicago'' is a genus of flowering plants, commonly known as medick or burclover, in the legume family (Fabaceae). It contains at least 87 species and is distributed mainly around the Mediterranean basin. The best-known member of the genus is ...
'', ''
Hippocrepis comosa
''Hippocrepis comosa'', the horseshoe vetch, is a species of perennial flowering plant belonging to the genus '' Hippocrepis'' in the family Fabaceae.
Description
The overall appearance depends on its habitat: sometimes it forms upright clump ...
'', ''
Lupinus polyphyllus
''Lupinus polyphyllus'', the large-leaved lupine, big-leaved lupine, many-leaved lupine, blue-pod lupine, or, primarily in cultivation, garden lupin, is a species of lupine (lupin) native to western North America from southern Alaska and Britis ...
'', ''
Tetragonolobus maritimus
''Lotus maritimus'' is a species of plant in the legume family, native to Europe, Africa and temperate Asia. It is one of several species known as dragon's teeth.Walter Erhardt et al. ''The Timber Press Dictionary of Plant Names,'' 734, 794 (20 ...
'' and ''
Lathyrus pratensis
''Lathyrus pratensis'' or meadow vetchling, yellow pea, meadow pea and meadow pea-vine, is a perennial legume that grows to 1.2 m in height.
The hermaphrodite flowers are pollinated by bees. As a perennial, this plant reproduces itself over m ...
''.
The caterpillar may be parasitized by other insects, particularly by '' Tachinidae'' species (especially ''
Bithia demotica Bithia may refer to:
*Bithia or Bithiah, a traditional name attributed to the biblical Pharaoh's daughter
* Bithia, a city in ancient Sardinia and Corsica
The Province of Sardinia and Corsica ( la, Provincia Sardinia et Corsica) was an ancient ...
'' and ''
Bithia proletaria Bithia may refer to:
*Bithia or Bithiah, a traditional name attributed to the biblical Pharaoh's daughter
* Bithia, a city in ancient Sardinia and Corsica
The Province of Sardinia and Corsica ( la, Provincia Sardinia et Corsica) was an ancient ...
'', ''
Bithia glirina Bithia may refer to:
*Bithia or Bithiah, a traditional name attributed to the biblical Pharaoh's daughter
* Bithia, a city in ancient Sardinia and Corsica
The Province of Sardinia and Corsica ( la, Provincia Sardinia et Corsica) was an ancient ...
'' and ''
Leskia aurea
''Leskia aurea'' is a European species of fly in the family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). ...
'').Æeljko Predovnik & Hans-Peter Tschorsnig, ''Tachinidae (Diptera) Rearded from clearwing moths (Lepidptera: Sesiidae) in Slovenia'', Acta entomoligca Slovenica Ljubljana, July 2007, Vol. 15, øt. 1: 47–50 Article) /ref>
Males are attracted by certain molecules, some of which also attract other species of butterflies ( Tineidae et
Choreutidae
Choreutidae, or metalmark moths, are a family of insects in the lepidopteran order whose relationships have been long disputed. It was placed previously in the superfamily Yponomeutoidea in family Glyphipterigidae and in superfamily Sesioide ...
).V. Būda, U. Mäeorg, V. Karalius, G. H. L. Rothschild, S. Kolonistova, P. Ivinskis and R. Mozūraitis, ''C18 Dienes as attractants for eighteen clearwing (Sesiidae), tineid (Tineidae), and choreutid (Choreutidae) moth species'' ; Journal of Chemical Ecology ; Volume 19, Number 4, 799-813,
Gallery
File:Britishentomologyvolume5Plate53.jpg, Illustration from John Curtis's ''
British Entomology
''British Entomology'' is a classic work of entomology by John Curtis, FLS. It is subtitled ''Being Illustrations and Descriptions of the Genera of Insects found in Great Britain and Ireland: Containing Coloured Figures from Nature of the Most ...
'' Volume 5
File: Sesiidae - Bembecia ichneumoniformis (male).JPG, ''Bembecia ichneumoniformis''. Male, side view
File: Bembecia Ichneumoniformis FemelleMorgat2011Lamiot003.jpg, Female, side view
File: Bembecia Ichneumoniformis FemelleMorgat2011Lamiot980.jpg, Close-up on abdominal brush