Sesioidea

Lilac borer Podosesia syringae, copyright Ken Childs.

Belongs within: Apoditrysia.

The Sesioidea are a group of mostly diurnal moths with prominent ocelli. The Sesiidae are often brightly coloured moths with narrowed, partially hyaline wings that bear an overall resemblance to wasps (Nielsen & Common 1991).

Synapomorphies (from Nielsen & Common 1991): Small to medium sized; head usually smooth; ocelli usually present; chaetosemata present or absent; proboscis naked or scaled at base; fore wing with M sometimes retained in cell, chorda sometimes present, CuP usually weak or absent; wing coupling sometimes specialised; abdomen without dorsal spines, S2 of tortricoid type. Larva usually with 3 L setae on prothorax. Pupa with abdominal segments 3–7 movable in male, 3–6 in female and segments 2–7 with one or two dorsal transverse rows of spines; cremaster absent, but often with posterior hooked setae; pupae protruded at ecdysis.

<==Sesioidea
    |--Brachodidae [Atychidae] NC91
    |    |--Nigilgia adjectella NC91
    |    |--Miscera androgyna NC91
    |    |--Synechodes NC91
    |    `--Euthorybeta NC91
    `--Sesiidae [Sesiicae, Sesiinae] GE05
         |  i. s.: Melittia GE05
         |         Synansphecia muscaeformis (Esper 1783) JP05
         |         Zenodoxus C90
         |         Euhagena nebraskae C90
         |         Penstemonia C90
         |         Albuna oberthuri NC91
         |         Carmenta chrysophanes NC91
         |         Paranthrene JP05
         |           |--P. regale QI93
         |           `--P. tabaniformis (Rottemburg 1775) JP05
         |         Pennisetia NC91
         |           |--P. hylaeiformis (Laspeyres 1801) JP05
         |           `--P. igniflua NC91
         |         Synanthedon NC91
         |           |--S. chrysophanes C70
         |           |--S. scoliaeformis (Borkhausen 1789) JP05
         |           `--S. tipuliformis NC91
         |         Sesia E12
         |           |--S. apiformis L02
         |           |--S. ceriaeformis Lucas 1849 E12
         |           |--S. chrysophanes Meyrick 1886 M86
         |           |--S. culiciformis L02
         |           |--S. euglossaeformis Lucas 1849 E12
         |           |--S. isozona Meyrick 1886 M86
         |           |--S. sirphiformis Lucas 1849 E12
         |           `--S. tipuliformis [incl. Synanthedon salmachus] RD77
         |         Sanninoidea exitiosa RD77
         |         Ceritrypetes RD77
         |--Vitacea polistiformis KP19
         `--+--Bembecia ichneumoniformis (Denis & Schiffermüller 1775) KP19, JP05
            `--Podosesia syringae KP19

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[C90] Crawford, C. S. 1990. Scorpiones, Solifugae, and associated desert taxa. In: Dindal, D. L. (ed.) Soil Biology Guide pp. 421–475. John Wiley & Sones: New York.

[C70] CSIRO. 1970. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers. Melbourne University Press.

[E12] Evenhuis, N. L. 2012. Publication and dating of the Exploration Scientifique de l’Algérie: Histoire Naturelle des Animaux Articulés (1846–1849) by Pierre Hippolyte Lucas. Zootaxa 3448: 1–61.

[GE05] Grimaldi, D., & M. S. Engel. 2005. Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press: New York.

[JP05] Jungmann, E., & U. Poller. 2005. Neunachweise und Wiederfunde für die Schmetterlingsfauna (Insecta; Lepidoptera) des Altenburger Landes. Mauritiana 19 (2): 317–326.

[KP19] Kawahara, A. Y., D. Plotkin, M. Espeland, K. Meusemann, E. F. A. Toussaint, A. Donath, F. Gimnich, P. B. Frandsen, A. Zwick, M. dos Reis, J. R. Barber, R. S. Peters, S. Liu, X. Zhou, C. Mayer, L. Podsiadlowski, C. Storer, J. E. Yack, B. Misof & J. W. Breinholt. 2019. Phylogenomics reveals the evolutionary timing and pattern of butterflies and moths. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 116 (45): 22657–22663.

[L02] Latreille, P. A. 1802. Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière des crustacés et des insectes vol. 3. Familles naturelles des genres. F. Dufart: Paris.

[M86] Meyrick, E. 1886. Revision of Australian Lepidoptera. I. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (3): 687–802.

[NC91] Nielsen, E. S., & I. F. B. Common. 1991. Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2^nd ed. vol. 2 pp. 817–915. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

[QI93] Quicke, D. L. J., & S. N. Ingram. 1993. Braconine wasps of Australia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 33 (1): 299–336.

[RD77] Richards, O. W., & R. G. Davies. 1977. Imms' General Textbook of Entomology 10^th ed. vol. 2. Classification and Biology. Chapman and Hall: London.

Last updated: 21 February 2021.