Walshia miscecolorella — Sweetclover Root Borer

(Chambers, 1875)

Hodges# 1615

Etymology

Walshia: Named for Benjamin Dann Walsh (1808 – 1869), British born entomologist who eventually became the first Illinois state entomologist. His insect collection contained over 30,000 specimens, and upon his death, was donated to the Chicago Academy of Sciences. Walsh was a classmate of Charles Darwin at Cambridge and was a proponent of his theory of evolution. The common zoological Greek suffix ia is used to form nouns.

miscecolorella: Includes the Latin words misce and colos or (color), which combined mean “to mix color.” The suffix ella is Latin for “small.”

Pronunciation

wal-she-uh mis-kay-kul-ur-el-uh

Documented Occurrences

This map shows the confirmed sightings of the sweetclover root borer in Indiana. All sightings were confirmed through photographic documentation by individuals who contributed to the Great American IN Nature Lepidoptera Project (GAIN LP).

GAIN LP Sightings

Date	County	Observer	Notes	Image1	Image2
2019-07-04	Porter	Joll, Chris	Adult
2019-06-24	Lake	Welton, Rick	Adult Confirmed

Observation Details	Images
Date: 2019-07-04 County: Porter Observer: Joll, Chris Notes: Adult
Date: 2019-06-24 County: Lake Observer: Welton, Rick Notes: Adult Confirmed

sweetclover root borer Sightings by Month

Conservation Status

• Global status: GNR (not yet ranked)
• National status: NNR (not yet ranked)
• Indiana status: SNR (not yet ranked)

Floral Associates

Sweetclover root borers are primarily larval hosts of plants in the Leguminosae (Fabaceae) family, but also have been documented feeding on thistles (Cirsium spp.) in the Asteraceae family.

Known Larval Food Sources in Indiana
Family	Taxonomic Name	Common Name
Order: Asterales
Asteraceae	Cirsium spp.	thistle
Order: Fabales
Fabaceae	Arachis hypogaea	groundnut
	Astragalus spp.	milkvetch
	Lupinus spp.	lupines
	Melilotus spp.	sweetclover