Synanthedon tipuliformis (Clerck, 1759)
Currant Borer
 (one synonym : Sphinx ophioniformis Hübner, [1813])
SESIINAE,   SESIIDAE,   SESIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo: courtesy of Gyorgy Csoka, Forest Research Institute, Hungary)

This Caterpillar originated in Europe, and was unfortunately introduced into Australia by accident. It is a cosmopolitan pest, attacking of members of the plant family SAXIFRAGACEAE, particularly :

  • Black Currants (Ribes nigrum),
  • Red Currants (Ribes rubrum), and
  • Gooseberries (Ribes uva-crispa).

    It bores into the stems to feed, and in so doing damages the plant. The caterpillar is a dirty white colour with a brown head. It grows to a length of about 2 cms.


    (Photo: courtesy of Glenn Cocking, Hawker, Australian Capital Territory)

    The adult moth has a wingspan of about 2 cms. It has clear wings, and a black body with narrow yellow intersegmental bands on the abdomen. The pheromones of this species have been identified.

    Synanthedon tipuliformis
    listed as Sphinx tipuliformis,
    drawn by Caroli Clerk, engraved by Carl Bergqvist, and printed by Lars Salvius,
    Icones Insectorum Rariorum, Sectio Prima (1759), Tab 9, fig.1,
    Courtesy of Library of Congress>

    The species is now found in

  • Canada,
  • Finland,
  • New Zealand,
  • U.K.,
  • U.S.A.,

    as well as Australia, including:

  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania, and
  • South Australia.

    Control of this pest is possible using :

  • mating disruption with synthetic pheromones,
  • the beetle Lemidia subaenea ( CLERIDAE ),
  • nematodes such as Neoaplectana bibionis, and Steinernema feltiae ( STEINERNEMATIDAE).

    Further reading :

    Carl Alexander Clerck,
    Icones Insectorum Rariorum : cum nominibus eorum trivialibus, locisque,
    Volume 1, 1759.

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 7.7, pp. 68, 288, 290.

    R.J. Hardy,
    The biology and behaviour of currant borer moth, Synanthedon tipuliformis (Clerck) (Lepidoptera: Aegeriidae) in Tasmania,
    Journal of the Australian Entomological Society,
    Volume 21, Part2 (1982), pp. 103–109.

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    (updated 1 March 2009, 25 October 2026)