Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFSesiidae Members: Synanthedon Members: 18 NC Records

Synanthedon scitula (Harris, 1849) - Dogwood Borer Moth

Synanthedon scitula
view caption 		Synanthedon scitula
view caption 		Synanthedon scitula
view caption 		Synanthedon scitula
view caption
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Sesioidea		 Family:
Sesiidae		Subfamily:
Sesiinae		Tribe:
Synanthedonini		P3 Number:
55a0090		 MONA Number:
2549.00
Comments: North America has 136 or more species in the family Sesiidae, and the large genus Synanthedon constitutes around half of the 37 species found in North Carolina, many being similar in appearance to one another. Some sesiids, known broadly as clearwing borers, are significant pests of commercial crops. Almost all are mimics of wasps and hornets.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Eichlin and Duckworth (1988)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Engelhardt,1946; Solomon, 1995                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The males of this species are best identified using a combination of characters, including a bluish-black antenna; a yellow band on abdominal segments segment 2 and 4, with the latter broader; mostly transparent wings with yellow dusting along the basal half of the costa; and a fan-shaped anal tuft that is narrowly margined with yellow along the sides. The females are generally similar, but have an additional narrow yellowish band on the last abdominal segment, and a yellowish bar on segment 3. In addition, the anal tuft is more broadly margined with yellow. The following detailed description of the males is based on the descriptions by Engelhardt (1946) and Eichlin and Duckworth (1988).

The antenna is steel bluish-black, with a golden spot at the base beneath. The head is blackish above, with the front mostly white, while the labial palp is yellow and sometimes tipped with black. The collar is yellow and the thorax varies from black to lustrous steel blue or coppery. It has a narrow, long, yellow stripe along the sides on the patagia, and a small yellow transverse patch posteriorly. The abdomen varies from steel-blue to black, and has a narrow band on the posterior margin of segment 2 and a broader yellow band encircling segment 4. The ventral region is variously powdered with pale yellow medially on all segments except segment 3. The anal tuft is fan-shaped, black, and edged with yellow at the sides. The tibiae of the legs are mostly yellow, but banded with purplish black between the spurs, while the tarsi are yellow with narrow blackish bands at the joints. The forewing is mostly transparent, with the veins, discal spot, and broad outer border bluish-black to brownish-black. The area between the outer veins are powdered with golden-yellow, while the costa and inner margin are black with varying amounts of intermixed yellow scales. The hindwing is transparent, with the margins very narrowly bluish-black, and with the costa powdered with yellow.

Females are generally similar to the males but are larger and stouter, tend to have more yellow shading on the forewing, have a broader yellow band on segment 4, and an anal tuft that is more brushlike and more broadly banded with yellow above. In addition to yellow bands on segments 2 and 4, females frequently have a narrow yellowish band on the last abdominal segment, and a yellowish bar on segment 3. Ventrally, yellow coloration is mostly restricted on segments 4-6 (Engelhardt, 1946; Eichlin and Duckworth, 1988).
Wingspan: 14-18 mm for males and 16-20 mm for females (Engelhardt, 1946).
Forewing Length: 5-9 mm (Eichlin and Duckworth, 1988).
Adult Structural Features: Eichlin and Duckworth (1988) and Rogers and Grant (1990) have illustrations of the male and female genitalia.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larvae are borers that feed on a diverse array of deciduous hardwoods and shrubs. After emerging and mating during the spring or summer months, the females typically lay their eggs near damaged areas of the host plant. These include areas near wounds, woody or soft galls, outgrowths due to fungi, rusts, and blights, burr knots on the rootstock grafts, or bore holes and frass from beetle damage (Engelhardt, 1946; Pless and Stanley, 1967; Eichlin and Duckworth, 1988; Solomon, 1995; Bergh and Lesley, 2003). Development to hatching takes 8-9 days during the warmer summer months. The hatchlings are vulnerable to desiccation and quickly seek out entrance points into the bark using wounds or insect burrows for easy entry. The larvae may feed in the bark for several weeks before entering the cambium where they feed in irregularly shaped galleries for the remainder of the growing season. Each gallery has a single occupant, but galleries can reach high local densities where there are large wounds on the host plant (Engelhardt, 1946; Solomon, 1995). The older larvae have off-white to cream-colored bodies, a reddish-brown head, and a prothoracic shield that has two reddish-brown spots dorsally. They can reach 15 mm or more when mature (Pless and Stanley, 1967). Depending on the number of annual generations and time of year, the larvae either pupate during the summer months, with the adults emerging shortly thereafter, or overwinter in the galleries, then resume feeding and pupate the following year. Pupation occurs in an oblong cocoon within a gallery that is constructed next to the outer bark. In southern populations, the larvae may feed during bouts of warm winter weather. The adults emerge in 8-12 days following pupation (Pless and Stanley, 1967).

Many populations are thought to produce a single generation each year, with the larvae passing through seven instars, and the life cycle completed in about one year. However, long-term monitoring at a Louisiana site by Brou and Brou (2019) suggests that southern populations may have as many as three generations per year, with the adults flying from March through December. Our data for North Carolina indicates that there may be three generations per year in the Coastal Plain and two in the Piedmont, but additional data is needed to clarify this. Leskey et al. (2009) ran pheromone traps for two years in an apple orchard in Lincoln County, North Carolina and collected males (N = 47,319) from late-May through mid-October, with seasonal peaks in June and again in September, which is consistent with at least two broods being produced annually.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Synanthedon scitula is found throughout most of the eastern US and adjoining areas of Ontario, and has been introduced into the Pacific Northwest. In the eastern US, the range extends from Maine southward along the Atlantic Seaboard to northern Florida, and westward to central Texas, central Oklahoma, eastern Kansas, Colorado, eastern Nebraska, Minnesota and eastern North Dakota. As of 2024, we have records from all three physiographic regions of the state, but only a single site record from the Blue Ridge where this species appears to be rare.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Synanthedon scitulaAlamance Alexander Alleghany Anson Ashe Avery Beaufort Bertie Bladen Brunswick Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Caldwell Camden Carteret Caswell Catawba Chatham Cherokee Chowan Clay Cleveland Columbus Craven Cumberland Currituck Dare Davidson Davie Duplin Durham Edgecombe Forsyth Franklin Gaston Gates Graham Granville Greene Guilford Halifax Harnett Haywood Henderson Hertford Hoke Hyde Iredell Jackson Johnston Jones Lee Lenoir Lincoln Macon Madison Martin McDowell Mecklenburg Mitchell Montgomery Moore Nash New%20Hanover Northampton Onslow Orange Pamlico Pasquotank Pender Perquimans Person Pitt Polk Randolph Richmond Robeson Rockingham Rowan Rutherford Sampson Scotland Stanly Stokes Surry Swain Transylvania Tyrrell Union Vance Wake Warren Washington Watauga Wayne Wilkes Wilson Yadkin Yancey
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge 		Image showing flight dates by month for High Mountains greater than 4,000 feet, Low Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain: adults.
Flight Comments: The adults have a long flight period is southern populations such as those in Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas and have been taken mostly from March through October. Northern populations have shorter flight seasons and typically fly from May through September (Bergh and Lesley, 2003). As of 2024, our rather limited records are from mid-April through early-September. Leskey et al. (2009) ran pheromone traps for two years in an apple orchard in Lincoln County and trapped male adults from late-May through mid-October.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: Local populations are generally associated with hardwood or mixed hardwood-conifer forests, in addition to semi-wooded residential neighborhoods. Populations often do well in residential settings or nurseries where Flowering Dogwood is grown. Rogers and Grant (1990) reported that infestation rates are low where Flowering Dogwood grows naturally in forests, and high in residential settings where the trees are often injured from lawn mowers and weed trimmers.
Larval Host Plants: Synanthedon scitula is thought to have the broadest dietary niche of any of the eastern species of clearwing moths (Forbes, 1923; Engelhardt, 1946; Pless and Stanley, 1967; Eichlin and Duckworth, 1988; Solomon, 1995; Heppner, 2003). It can be a major economic pest on Flowering Dogwood, Pecan and Common Apple where it can kill ornamental plantings, nursery stock and orchard trees, but uses many other species of trees and shrubs. The reported hosts for the eastern US include Flowering Dogwood (Benthamidia florida [= Cornus florida]), Supplejack (Berchemia scandens), birches (Betula spp.), hickories (Carya spp.), including Pecan (C. illinoiensis), American Chestnut (Castanea dentata), hazelnuts (Corylus), hawthorns (Crataegus), Quince (Cydonia oblonga), American Beech (Fagus grandifolia), Common Apple (Malus domestica), Northern Bayberry (Morella pensylvanica), Common Waxmyrtle (M. cerifera), Common Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius), American Plum (Prunus americana), Common Plum (P. domestica), Black Cherry (P. serotina), Peach (P. persica), oaks, including White Oak (Quercus alba), willows (Salix spp.), American Mountain-ash (Sorbus americanus), elms (Ulmus), viburnums (Viburnum), and Wisteria. In addition to these, other species of hardwoods are undoubtedly used. - View
Observation Methods: The adults are mostly diurnally active and are often seen resting on tree trunks or vegetation, and nectaring on flowers. They are also attracted to pheromone lures, and occasionally appear at lights in the early evening hours.
Wikipedia
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR SNR [S3S4]
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments: This species is probably much more common than our records suggest due to the fact that this species is mostly diurnally active and is not strongly attracted to lights.

 Photo Gallery for Synanthedon scitula - Dogwood Borer Moth

Photos: 8
Synanthedon scitulaRecorded by: Jim Petranka on 2025-06-12
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Synanthedon scitulaRecorded by: Thom Worm on 2023-04-15
Orange Co.
Comment:
Synanthedon scitulaRecorded by: Larry Chen on 2022-07-01
Durham Co.
Comment: CC BY-NC		Synanthedon scitulaRecorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-08-20
Guilford Co.
Comment:
Synanthedon scitulaRecorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-06-06
Guilford Co.
Comment: 		Synanthedon scitulaRecorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-06-06
Guilford Co.
Comment:
Synanthedon scitulaRecorded by: Randi on 2020-05-10
Onslow Co.
Comment: CC BY-NC (cropped)		Synanthedon scitulaRecorded by: Harry Wilson on 2015-08-19
Wake Co.
Comment: