Heterosphecia tawonoides explained

Heterosphecia tawonoides, the oriental blue clearwing, is a moth of the family Sesiidae, in the genus Heterosphecia. The sesiids are mimics, in general appearance similar to a bee or wasp. This species was described in 2003 by Axel Kallies, from a specimen collected in 1887.

History

Heterosphecia tawonoides was originally identified from a single damaged specimen collected from an unknown site in Sumatra in 1887. It was kept in the Natural History Museum, Vienna, and described by Axel Kallies in 2003.[1] [2]

In 2013, Marta Skowron Volponi of the University of Gdańsk refound the moth on a lowland dipterocarp forest river bank in Malaysia.[2] It is likely that the moth gains some protection from predation by Batesian mimicry. The moth has been seen at Kuala Tahan and two other locations in Pahang, Malaysia.[3]

Distribution

It is known from Sumatra in Indonesia and Pahang in Malaysia.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Kallies . A. . 2003 . Three new species of Heterosphecia Le Cerf, 1916, from the Oriental Region (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae: Sesiinae) . Entomologische Zeitschrift . 113 . 2 . 34–37.
  2. News: Barkham. Patrick. Lost species of bee-mimicking moth rediscovered after 130 years. The Guardian. 15 December 2017.
  3. Volponi Skowron . Marta A . Volponi . Paolo . A 130-Year-Old Specimen Brought Back to Life: A Lost Species of Bee-Mimicking Clearwing Moth, Heterosphecia tawonoides (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae: Osminiini), Rediscovered in Peninsular Malaysia's Primary Rainforest . Tropical Conservation Science . 2017 . 10 . 194008291773977 . 10.1177/1940082917739774 . 1940-0829. free .