Seaching for the Broad-Bordered Bee Hawkmoth

Searching for Larvae of the Broadbordered Bee Hawktnoth

by Tony Prichard

The Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth is a day-flying hawk-moth and as suggested by the name looks similar to a bee. It's distribution is quite localised and based around the southern parts of the country. The species seems to have undergone quite a reduction in recent years. The adult moth can usually be seen flying in May and June. There is a similar species, the Narrowbordered Bee Hawk-moth, but that moth does not occur in the county.

Neil Sherman of the Suffolk Moth Group put me onto this tip for locating the early stages of the larvae on its foodplant, honeysuckle. During the early larval stages, 1" and 2"d instars, the larvae eats characteristic holes in the leaf which can be easily seen when examining a clump of honeysuckle. The young larva once it has hatched from its egg and eaten the shell positions itself along the mid-rib of a honeysuckle leaf. Starting at the tip end of the leaf the larva then eats small, roughly circular holes in the leaf either side of the mid-rib. Having eaten a hole on either side of the mid-rib the caterpillar backs down the leaf a short distance and repeats the process -of eating a hole on either side of the mid-rib. Having repeated this process a few times the larva moves onto a new leaf, leaving behind a leaf with the characteristic set of holes in the leaf as shown in the picture below.

need to be searched for during July; particularly fresh damage to the leaf, indicating the larvae will be present, is shown by the presence of drops of plant sap on the edge of the holes eaten in the leaf. Older damage is indicated by the leaf turning brown around the periphery of the hole and by this time the caterpillar will have probably moved on. The larva during this stage is quite easy to identify; it is a small green caterpillar with an easily visible characteristic black 'horn' on its rear. After the early stages the caterpillar seems to be quite difficult to locate. Despite extensive searching of clumps of honeysuckle I have been unable to locate any caterpillars older than the 3,d instar. After the 2"d instar the larvae changes its feeding habits eating large holes in the leaf and as it grows bigger it begins eating whole leaves. The eggs are laid on honeysuckle growing in locations quite different to that used by the White Admiral butterfly. The moth seems to prefer small scrubby clumps of the plant to lay its eggs on, growing in sunny positions away from the woodland in a more heathland type of habitat. Using this technique we have managed to identify the presence of the larva at several sites where we have not necessarily seen the moth; Ipswich Golf Course, Martlesham Heath, Market Weston Fen, Bromeswell Green and Tunstall. The latter two sites are places where I have recorded the adult moth previously.

It inakes you think!

by Steve Goddard

Some jottings taken from various natural history articles I have read over the past few months:

I. Metamorphosis: From chrysalis to butterfly is like dropping a pile of bricks onto a sheet of plans and expecting St.

Paul's Cathedral to materialise - yet it happens all the time. 2. Butterflies are nothing more than reconstituted leaves!

3. A caterpillar reaches I 0,000 times its original size. This is like a human baby reaching the size of an articulated truck!

Many thanks to the author(s) for their . stimulating thoughts.