orange and black moth in maryland
November 2, 2009
I have liven in Maryland my entire life and have not seen this guy before. there were several dozen flying around the house on halloween and they were gone the next day. I never saw one land but when i forced one to the ground it did not move and i was able to pick it up and hold it without it trying to fly away. it did not try to fly when i set it on the ground or an elevated point, i had to toss it in the air and then it flew just as it had been. the abdomen has several black spots around pores but no hair, the head is black and the wings are black near the body and transparent at the tips.
Richard
Pasadena Maryland

Leaf Skeletonizer Moth

Hi Richard,
WE were very puzzled by another letter we received yesterday with images.  It seems this is an introduced species of Leaf Skeletonizer Moth, Pryeria sinica.  You can read about it on the Invasive Species of Concern in Maryland website.   The website indicates:  “In April and May of both 2001 and 2002, a homeowner in the City of Fairfax, Fairfax County, Virginia, noticed a large infestation of larvae on her ornamental Euonymus (Celastraceae); the larvae were causing significant defoliation of the plants. In May 2002, several larval specimens were sent to the Insect Identification Lab, Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Virginia for identification. The entomologist there (Eric Day) reared the larvae to adults, which emerged in November. Additional adults were collected at the Fairfax site in December 2002 and submitted to the Insect Identification Lab. Eric forwarded the adults to John Brown at the USDA Systematic Entomological Laboratory (SEL) in March 2003. Based on the available literature, comparison with specimens in the collection of the National Museum of Natural History, and consultation with Dr. Marc Epstein, the specimens were identified as Pryeria sinica Moore (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae), which previously is unreported from the United States.”

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What is this Orange, Yellow, Black bug?
October 31, 2009
Flying insect found in Anne Arundel County, MD. Size =0.75 inch. Wing span compact (delta shape) about 1.25 inches when extended. Dark wing veins. Head and feet black. Abdomen yellow/orange and appears “fuzzy”.
Currently swarming. Swarms appear to be mating and are found on top branches of euonymus bushes (our Burning Bush was decimated by caterpillars this spring, could this be the same insect?). Never seen this variety of bug in past 12 years in this area.
Peter
Anne Arundel County, MD 21146

Unknown Sawfly? or Moth???:  Leaf Skeletonizer Moth

Hi Peter,
We really wish your photograph was of a higher resolution as it is impossible to make out any details on your infestation.  We found information on a Euonymus Caterpillar, Yponomeuta cagnagella, but the photos of the moths on BugGuide look nothing like your insect.  We also located a pdf (euonymus_A3633) on the same species.  We believe your insects look like Sawflies, but again, there isn’t much detail.  We have not had any success locating information on a Sawfly that uses Euonymus as a host plant.  If there was a caterpillar invasion in the spring, and sawfly larvae are often confused for caterpillars, we suspect these adults might be related.  We would not rule out moths, but we suspect these are Sawflies.  Perhaps one of our readers will be able to assist in a proper identification.

Unknown Sawfly? or Moth???:  Leaf Skeletonizer Moth

Eric Eaton Responds:
Oh, man….My first thought is “aphids,” actually, or maybe psyllids?  Might try sending this to the Ent Dept. at University of Maryland in College Park.  They will probably recognize it right off….
Eric

Leaf Skeletonizer Moth Perhaps

Our identification request:
Dear Drs. Mitter, Kent and/or Hawthorne,
My name is Daniel Marlos and I run the highly unscientific, pop culture, insect identification website What’s That Bug? at www.whatsthatbug.com on the web.  Today I received an image from Maryland that has me perplexed.  I thought perhaps a sawfly or even a moth like a Bagworm.  Eric Eaton has suggested possibly an Aphid or a Psyllid.  The insect is swarming on Euonymus and there were caterpillars on the same plant in the spring.  Can anyone provide an identification?  I realize the photo is of very low resolution.
Thanks for your time.  Here is a link to the posting:  2009/11/02/sawfly-on-euonymus-we-believe/
Daniel Marlos

Daniel,
Thanks for the reply.  I’ll have to work on getting a camera that can do close-ups.  I looked at the sawfly photos on Google images- not even close. The bugs in my yard have dark heads (black) and fuzzy (furry) bodies.  No saw extending out the back of abdomen.
The antenna are very long and branching like those of a moth.
The head and legs are black.  The wings translucent with black veins and a black hue. The abdomen is bright yellow-orange and fuzzy.
I’ve tried to take some additional photos (bugs out side are rather sluggish in the cool weather), but I still lack close-up lens to really get detail.  I’ll send these in separate e-mails since they are rather large.
Look forward any further thoughts you may have.  They are a very unusual and quiet beautiful bug….
Peter

Leaf Skeletonizer Moth on Euonymus

Thanks Peter,
The new photos are so much better.

Identified by Edna
NAKED see this
now that i have your attention..here is a link to those things you wanted to know what are from anne arundal county,,,that eric eaton thought could be aphids
they are something new! an introduced species of leaf skeletonizer moths..
http://bugguide.net/node/view/155100#205755
also would you like some photos of the sequoie sphinx larve, or a nice shot of elegant sphinx larve , ash sphinx  for your sphinx pages? if so let me know..
Edna

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