Chamaesphecia hungarica

Chamaesphecia hungarica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sesiidae
Genus:	Chamaesphecia
Species:	C. hungarica
Binomial name
Chamaesphecia hungarica (Tomala, 1901)[1]
Synonyms
Sesia hungarica Tomala, 1901 Chamaesphecia deltaica Popescu-Gorj & Capuse, 1965

Chamaesphecia hungarica, the Hungarian clearwing moth, is a moth of the Sesiidae family. It is native to the south-eastern Czech Republic and Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Serbia and Croatia.^[2] It was originally approved for introduction into the United States in 1993. It has been released at several leafy spurge-infested sites in Montana and North Dakota.^[3]

Adults are 10–14 mm in length. They are dark brown with yellow markings. The wings are mostly clear, with dark margins and brown and yellow markings. In Europe it is usually found in moist loamy soils and partial shade near riverbanks, swampy areas and ditches. Here, adults emerge from mid May to late July.

The larvae feed on plants in the subgenus Esula of the genus Euphorbia. The larvae mine the stem and move into the pith area. They overwinter in the roots and migrate to the stem base in spring where pupation occurs.

References

1. Checklist of the Sesiidae of the World Archived March 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
2. Leafy Spurge Symposium
3. Biological Control - A Guide to Natural Enemies in North America