| Carob Moth (one synonym : Myelois oporedestella Dyar, 1911) PHYCITINAE, PYRALIDAE, PYRALOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
Caterpillar and its damage to a Pomegranate
(Photo: courtesy of Dr. Sean Moore, Citrus Research International,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa)
These caterpillars are a translucent white colour, with the internal organs visible from the outside.
The caterpillars are a considerable agricultural pest on the nuts and fruit of:
The adult moths have forewings with a brown pattern including a faint dark diagonal line across each forewing. The hindwings are plain white.
The species is found world-wide, for example:
and in Australia, having being introduced by unfortunate accident, in
The female moths find suitable fruit or nuts on which to lay their eggs using volatile substances emitted by fungus which is infecting the material. Various other compounds have been identified for this species for:
Control of this pest species is being attempted using :
Further reading :
Philipp C. Zeller,
Versuch einer naturgemäßen Eintheilung der Schaben,
Isis von Oken, Jena, Volume 3 (1839), p. 176, No. 7.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 5 September 2009, 9 March 2017, 13 January 2021)
