Distinguish American plum borer larvae from clearwing moth larvae by using a hand lens to examine the crochet pattern (arrangement of small hooks) on the bottom of the prolegs on their fourth abdominal segment. A. Clearwing larva have crochets in two transverse rows (rows are oriented perpendicular to the insect's body length). B. American plum borer crochets are more dense and form a complete circle or oval. The plum borer's prolegs are also more narrow than clearwing prolegs when compared with the width of their abdominal segment. Distinguishing these larvae can be important because they infest some of the same plants (e.g., fruit trees, olive, sycamore), but some of the cultural and physical controls for them are different. Credit: Adapted from: Peterson A. 1956. Larvae of Insects. Part 1. Ann Arbor MI: Edwards Brothers.
