Photo © Andy Mitchell

Bee Moth

Aphomia sociella

Checklist Number
62.001 [B&F: 1428]

Verification
Record will be accepted (subject to date and location checks)

Classification

Family:Pyralidae
Subfamily:Galleriinae
Genus:Aphomia
Species:sociella
Authority:(Linnaeus, 1758)

Common around bee and wasp nests and in beehives throughout Britain. Widespread and common in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight. Wingspan 25-38 mm. Highly sexually dimorphic, the distinctive male is unmistakable, but the female is superficially similar to the much narrower-winged Melissoblaptes zelleri, a species confined to sandhills in a very few locations in south-eastern England. Larva feeds on the debris in, and contents of, wasp and bee nests.

The abundance in each month is indicated as follows:

No records
Very occasional
Irregular
Uncommon
Off-peak, but not unusual
Off-peak, but not unusual
Main flight time
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Adult
Larval

Records by week (adult)

Records by week (larval)