The banded ash clearwing,. P. aureocincta Purrington & Nielson (1006) (fig. 
47), is known from New York south to Florida and west to Oklahoma. It has been 
reared from green and white ashes and probably attacks other Fraxinus spp. The 
adult is mostly brownish black but can be distinguished from the lilac borer by a 
narrow, orange-yellow, partial band on the fourth abdominal segment. Also, the 
eggs are darker, slightly larger, and have a smoother surface than those of the lilac 
borer. It is particularly destructive to ornamental plantings and to trees grown for 
timber. However, populations are more scattered than those of the lilac borer. 
Courtesy D. G. Nielson, Ohio State Univ. 
Figure 47.—Adult of the banded ash clearwing, 
Podosesia aureocincta. 
Paranthrene simulans (Grote) occurs throughout the Eastern United States west 
to Texas and in eastern Canada. It attacks trees in both the red and white oak 
groups, but host preference varies with region. In the Gulf States it shows a decided 
preference for trees more than 30 cm d.b.h. in the red oak group, especially Nuttall 
and cherrybark oaks (//33, 1/135). In the Northeast, injury is greatest in nursery 
stock, saplings, and young trees in both the white and red oak groups. Moths 
emerge in June and July and deposit eggs in bark crevices on the lower trunk (fig. 
48). The larvae bore through the bark and into the wood. Here they excavate 
galleries up to 9 mm in diameter and 10 cm long. For the first 3 to 5 cm the gallery 
slopes upward, then it continues straight up. The life cycle requires 2 years. 
Damage includes nursery cull, entryways for decay fungi, and degraded butt logs. 
Open-grown trees are most susceptible, thus populations can be minimized by 
maintaining well-stocked stands, preventing bark injuries, and removing or treating 
brood trees. 
Paranthrene dollii (Neumoegen) bores in the base and root-collar area of young 
cottonwoods and black willow in the Deep South. The adult is brown with dark 
wings and yellow crossbands on its abdomen and has a wingspread of about 37 mm. 
Eggs are laid in bark crevices. The larvae bore in the wood and pith, constructing 
open tunnels up to 15 cm long. Heavily infested trees are weakened and subject to 
windbreakage. Damage is often severe in cottonwood nurseries and plantations in 
the Deep South where losses average 12 percent cull in nursery stock (//32). There 
is One generation per year. 
144 
