Xubida infusellus (Walker, 1863)
(previously known as Acigona infusella)
CRAMBINAE,   CRAMBIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Xubida infusellus
(Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

This species has been introduced deliberately into Australia from South America. The Caterpillars of this moth feed on :

  • Pickerel Weed ( Pontederia cordata PONTEDERIACEAE ), and also
  • Water Hyacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes, PONTEDERIACEAE ),

    which are serious problems on tropical waterways.

    Xubida infusellus
    (Specimen: courtesy of The Australian Museum)

    The adult moths have brown forewings with a faint pattern. The hind wings are white with a faint brown edge, and a silken sheen. The moths have a wingspan of about 2 cms.

    The species is endemic in South America, including

  • Argentina, and
  • Brazil.

    The species now also occurs in Australia in

  • Queensland


    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 72.

    M.H. Julien,
    Biological control of water hyacinth ...water hyacinth 2 : the moths Niphograpta albiguttalis and Xubida infusellus : biologies, host ranges, and rearing, releasing and monitoring techniques for biological control of Eichhornia crassipes,
    The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, 2001.

    Francis Walker,
    Crambites & Tortricites,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 27 (1863), pp. 140-141.


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    (updated 7 September 2009, 16 December 2017)