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Bee Mimicking Moth

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This moth (I think) appears to be mimicking a bee. If anyone knows what it is, I'd like to know. It was maybe 3/4 inch long. Photo taken below Rainbow Lake. August 2008

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Marcsoltan

Never seen

Voted 10/10

anything like it!
Wonder what evolutionary reason there may have been behind it!
Great find.

Posted Mar 30, 2009 5:43 pm


	mrh	Re: Never seen
	Hasn't voted	I don't know. Maybe just some mechanism to ward off typical moth predators?
		Posted Mar 31, 2009 11:29 am

ArankaP

I checked the google site

Voted 10/10

Riley's Clearwing Moth (Synanthedon rileyana) looks close. Nice photo.

Posted Mar 30, 2009 10:08 pm


	mrh	Re: I checked the google site
	Hasn't voted	Yes, I've been doing some searching too and Synanthedon rileyana or some other critter of that genus looks pretty close. But look at Pennisetia marginatum. I'll probably have to send the photo to an entomologist who will probably tell me they need a specimen. Both Synanthedom and Pennisetia seem to be agricultural pests. I don't know if that fits with this guy being at 7,000 feet in the subalpines of Idaho.
		Posted Mar 31, 2009 11:32 am