Cadra figulilella (Gregson, 1871)
Raisin Moth
 (erroneously: Ephestia fugulilla)
PHYCITINAE,   PYRALIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo: courtesy of Caroline Harding, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, New Zealand )

This Caterpillar is white with four rows of purplish brown spots along the back, and a brown head and collar. It grows to a length of about 1 cm. It is a pest of any stored foodstuff, particularly fruit, and especially grapes. It really prefers grapes that are damaged already and still moist.


(Photo: courtesy of Fernando de Juana, Girona, Spain)

The adult moth has fawn forewings, each with a dark band across the middle, a dark submarginal band, and some dark spots along the margin. The hindwings are white with dark shading along the hind-margin. The dark markings wear off easily, and can be absent in older specimens. The moth has a wing span of about 2 cms. The mating behaviour has been investigated, and some of the pheromones have been determined.


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

The species occurs world-wide, for example in:

  • Belgium,
  • Pakistan,
  • U.S.A.,

    and having been introduced by unfortunate accident, also occurs in Australia in

  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory,
  • Victoria, and
  • South Australia.

    The species may be controlled using :

  • pheromone traps for adult moths,
  • a Baculovirus,
  • the crystallised toxin from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis ( BACILLACEAE ).

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 350.

    Charles Stuart Gregson,
    Description of an Ephestia new to science,
    The Entomologist,
    Volume 5 (1871), p. 385.

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    (updated 11 September 2008, 18 April 2014, 2 August 2020, 12 February 2022)