Lepidoptera The Hornet Clearwing Of The Poplar Moth – Trochilium Apiformis
We can find space for a mention of only two of the clearwings, the first of which is an insect that closely resembles the dreaded hornet, and whose larva feeds in the stems of poplars-features which will account for the above name.
Fig. 103.-The Hornet Clearwing of the Poplar.
The head of this species is yellow, its thorax brown with a large yellow patch on each side, its abdomen yellow with two brown belts, and its legs reddish orange. The front wings are transparent, with brown costa, and all the wings are margined with brown.
The caterpillar, when full fed, makes a cocoon with silk and the chips of wood that it has bitten off; and in this undergoes its metamorphoses. It is fully grown in April, and the moth flies from the end of May to the end of July.
There is another ‘Hornet Clearwing,’ the larva of which feeds on the stems of osiers. It may be distinguished from the species just described by a yellow ‘collar’ between the head and thorax, both of which are blackish.