Choosing a Pest Control Company: Large Red-Belted Clearwing from the UK

Subject: Wtb
Geographic location of the bug: South UK
Date: 06/07/2020
Time: 11:10 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Can’t find this on the web. Can you identify it? It is on a south facing Passion flower.
Thanks,
GT
How you want your letter signed: GT

Large Red-Belted Clearwing

Dear GT,
Though this looks like a Wasp, it is actually a Clearwing Moth in the family Sesiidae, and many members of the family benefit from mimicking stinging insects like Wasps. We quickly identified your Large Red-Belted Clearwing, Synanthedon culiciformis, on UK Moths where it states: “The moth flies earlier in the year than many other clearwings, being on the wing in May and June. The species inhabits heathland and woodland, where the host tree, birch (Betula abounds, and is known from much of mainland Britain.” The site also states: “Although generally larger than the similar Red-belted Clearwing, the sizes overlap and it is more easily distinguished by the orange-red suffusion at the base of the forewings” and that color is not evident in your images, so we would not rule out that your moth is a Red Belted Clearwing, Synanthedon myopaeformis. According to UK Moths: “The moths fly during the day but are not often seen, except by the use of pheromone lures. They occur from June to early August.” Though the “orange-red suffusion” is not evident, we still believe your individual appears more like the former species.