Moths of North Carolina
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Podosesia Members:
4 NC Records

Podosesia aureocincta Purrington & Nielsen, 1977 - Banded Ash Clearwing

Podosesia aureocinctaPodosesia aureocinctaPodosesia aureocincta
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Sesioidea		 Family:
Sesiidae		Subfamily:
Sesiinae		Tribe:
Synanthedonini		P3 Number:
55a0131		 MONA Number:
2588.00		 Other Common Name:
Banded Ash Borer Moth
Comments: Of the 136 or more members of the Sesiidae that occur in North American north of Mexico, 37 have been recorded in North Carolina. Some sesiids, known broadly as clearwing borers, are significant pests of commercial crops. The great majority are mimics of wasps and hornets. Podosesia aureocincta is one of two species of Podosesia found in the state.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984).Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Eichlin and Duckworth (1988)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: Podosesia aureocincta and P. syringae are sibling species and the adults are indistinguishable except for a distinctive orange-yellow band on abdominal segment 4 that is absent on P. syringae (Purrington and Nielson, 1977). In addition, local populations that are sympatric fly at different times of the year, with P. syringae typically flying in April-July in North Carolina and P. aureocincta in August and September. Both species are mimics of Polistes paper wasps. As of 2024, P. aureocincta is only known from a single site in Madison County, while P. syringae is widely distributed across the state.

As with P. syringae, the antenna of P. aureocincta is orange to reddish-orange and blackish on the apical third. The thorax is brownish-black with red scales scattered above the base of the wings and immediately adjacent to the abdomen. The abdomen is brownish-black and is constricted at the base in males, but less so in females. There is a narrow, orangish-yellow band on the posterior margin of abdominal segment 4. The anal tuft is brownish-black and pointed, while the forewing is brownish-black, except for a small hyaline area at the base where there is red on the margins. The hindwing is hyaline with narrow, black margins. The terminal half of the legs are yellow, and the proximal half mixed with red, yellow, and black. The hindlimb is very long and is dangled beneath the body as the moth flies in a slow, hovering flight that resembles that of a paper wasp. The detailed description that is presented in the P. syringae account also applies to this species.
Forewing Length: 10-17 mm (Eichlin and Duckworth, 1988).
Structural photos
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larvae are borers that feed on ash trees, but details of the larval life cycle are poorly documented. The larval life-history and ecology is thought to be essentially identical to that of P. syringae (see detailed life cycle account of that species), with the females laying eggs on the bark and the larvae tunneling in the trunks and limbs of Fraxinus spp. from ground level to several meters above ground (Nielsen and Purrington, 1974). Because the adults emerge late in the year, the larvae have only a short time to grow before overwintering, which typically occurs in the second instar in Ohio, as opposed to fully grown larvae of P. syringae overwintering. The overwintering larvae continue burrowing throughout the summer months, then pupate a few weeks before the adults emerge in late-summer or early-fall.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Podosesia aureocincta is endemic to eastern North America where the range extends from New York and Pennsylvania southwestward through the Appalachian region to western North Carolina and northern Georgia, then southeastward to northern Florida. The range extends westward to eastern Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, western Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio, with apparent geographic isolates in Minnesota, Ontario and Quebec. As of 2024, our only site record is from Madison County in the Blue Ridge.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Podosesia aureocincta
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge
Flight Comments: The adults have been found from June through December in different areas of the range, with most typically flying from July through September, except in the southernmost area of the range where the adults may fly through November and December. As of 2024, all of our records are from a brief period in early September.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: Local populations are found in rural, urban and forested areas where native ash trees are present.
Larval Host Plants: The only known hosts are ash trees (Fraxinus spp.; Purrington and Nielson, 1977), but details about the specific species that are used are mostly not available. Specimens that were using Green Ash (F. pennsylvanica) in Mississippi late in the year were mistakenly identified by Solomon (1975) as Podosesia syringae, and were actually P. aureocincta (Purrington and Nielson, 1977). - View
Observation Methods: The adults are diurnally active and are not attracted to lights, but do visit flowers. The males can be collected using synthetic pheromone traps (see Taft et al., 2004, for a list of species-specific pheromone blends).
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for General Ash Forests
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR [S1S2]
State Protection:
Comments: This species appears to be uncommon throughout its range. As of 2024, we only have a single site record that is from a lower-elevation site in Madison County. The arrival of the Emerald Ash Borer beetle (Agrilus planipennis) in the state in 2013 could potentially impact populations of P. syringae in the future. The one site where P. aureocincta is known from in North Carolina has suffered the near complete loss of ash trees due to the Emerald Ash Borer.

 Photo Gallery for Podosesia aureocincta - Banded Ash Clearwing

Photos: 5

Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2019-09-07
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-09-10
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-09-10
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-09-08
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-09-05
Madison Co.
Comment: Specimen was captured in a pheromone trap and identified by JB Sullivan based on genitalia (see structural photos above). The collection site was at 2200’ near a mixed pine-hardwood forest with numerous American Ash saplings.