Pyropteron doryliformis

Pyropteron doryliformis (Ochsenheimer, 1808)
Dock Moth
(also known as Synansphecia doryliformis)
SESIINAE, SESIIDAE, SESIOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Pyropteron doryliformis
(Photo: courtesy of the South Australian Research and Development Institute)

This species has been introduced deliberately from Morocco via France into Australia from 1989 onwards to control the pasture weeds in POLYGONACEAE, particularly:

Fiddle Dock ( Rumex pulcher ), and

Curly Dock ( Rumex crispus ).

In one case, batches of eggs were given to farmers for their own properties, 31 million eggs being distributed in total.

The Caterpillar is off-white with a brown head, and bores into the stems and roots of its foodplant to feed.

The adult moth looks rather like a wasp, having transparent wings with broad black margins. The abdomen has three narrow white bands, and the legs and some hairs on the abdominal tip are a golden yellow.

The species was originally endemic to south-western Europe and north-western Africa, including

France, and

Morocco, and

Spain.

It is now also found in Australia in

New South Wales,

Victoria,

Tasmania, and

Western Australia.