Ephestia kuehniella Zeller, 1879
Mill Moth
 (one synonym : Homoeosoma ischnomorpha Meyrick, 1931)
PHYCITINI,   PHYCITINAE,   PYRALIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Picture: courtesy of Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Agraria del Peru)

This Caterpillar is a worldwide pest, particularly of

  • stored grain and flour products.

    The caterpillar is off-white with a brown head and collar. The caterpillar grows to a length of about 1 cm.

    When one caterpillar encounters another, they each produce a small amount of brown liquid from the mouth containing kairomones that cause the caterpillars to walk apart. This appears to be a mechanism that prevents overcrowding of the caterpillars. The secretion also deters female moths from laying eggs in that vicinty. Unfortunately for the caterpillars, this mandibular secretion also attracts parasitoid wasps such as Venturia canescens.


    (Photo: courtesy of Mark J. Dreiling and the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The moths are fawn coloured, with variable vague spotty dark bars across each forewing. The hindwings are plain off-white, shading to brown on the margins. The adult moths have a wingspan of about 2 cms. The adults use ultrasonic sounds (~80 Khz) in their courtship behaviour.


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

    The species occurs world-wide, for example

  • Canada,
  • France,
  • New Zealand,
  • U.K.,and
  • U.S.A..

    The species was introduced into Australia by unfortunate accident. It is now found, for example, in

  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania,
  • South Australia, and
  • Western Australia.

    Various strategies have been suggested to control it, for example :

  • keeping the pupae above 30 C,
  • using pheromone traps,
  • keeping products in gases such as Carbon Dioxide and Ozone,
  • various insecticides such as Sulfuryl Fluoride,
  • releasing male moths sterilised with Gamma Radiation,
  • the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis ( BACILLACEAE ),
  • the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae
  • nematodes such as Steinernema feltiae, and
  • wasps such as Trichogramma turkestanica ( TRICHOGRAMMATIDAE ).

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, pp. 48, 350.

    Philipp C. Zeller,
    Lepidopterologische Bemerkungen,
    Entomologische Zeitung, Stettin,
    Volume 40, Parts 10-12 (1879), pp. 466-471, No. 3.

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    (updated 30 January 2010, 27 August 2020, 21 April 2022)