Sesiidae

52.003 Lunar Hornet Moth Sesia bembeciformis (Hübner, [1806])

Common

Similar species: Hornet Moth Sesia apiformis has yellow top to the head and yellow shoulder patches and lacks the complete yellow collar.

Forewing: 15- to 19mm

Habitats: It inhabits its host trees wherever they grow, which is often in damper areas. Open woodland, hedgerows, marshland carr, lake margins, fens and even sapling sallows on housing estates.

Habits: The moth is diurnal, males are attracted by the new pheromone lures and both sexes can be found by searching inhabited sallows early in the morning to find newly emerged moths.

Foodplant: The larva at first feeds under the bark then within the inner wood of Goat Willow, Grey Willow, Crack-willow and sometimes poplars, usually close to the ground and often in small as well as mature trees. The larva overwinters twice. In the second year it may be in the wood of low branches up to fifty centimetres up the trunk or in emerged roots up to fifty centimetres away from the trunk. Piles of brown frass are often present below the third season exit holes around the base of the trunk.