Nodaria cornicalis

Nodaria cornicalis (Fabricius, 1794)
Magas Fruit-borer
(one synonym : Herminia cinerealis Walker, 1866)
HERMINIINAE
EREBIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Nodaria cornicalis
female
(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

The caterpillars of this species have been found feeding on dead leaves of:

Sugar Cane ( Saccharum cultivars, POACEAE ).

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

The adult moth has a wing span of about 2 cms. It is brown with broken dark scalloped lines across each forewing.

male, underside, showing fans on the legs, and nodes on the antennae
(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

The species was originally found in Asia and around the south Pacific, including

Vietnam,

as well as in Australia in

New South Wales, and

and has recently invaded

U.S.A.

female, underside
(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

Sophronia caeneusalis Walker 1859, was placed in synonymy with Phalaria cornicalis Fabricius 1794, by Jeremy Daniel Holloway in 2008 after examination of the genitalia of the Phalaria cornicalis type in Copenhagen.

This appears weird, as Simplicia caeneusalis has a clear submarinal forewing white line, where Nodaria cornicalis has no such line.