The eggs of this moth are laid on a growing shoot, and the caterpillars eat their way into the stem.

(Photo: courtesy of USDA-ARS)

The adult moth is pale brown with dark markings. It has a wing span of about 2 cms. Its life cycle is approximately 6 weeks.

(Photo: courtesy of Landcare Research, New Zealand)

This species occurs naturally in South America, including

In 1971 it was introduced deliberately to control Alligator weed into

In 1977, for the same reason, it was introduced into Australia, and now occurs in

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 73, fig. 32.11.

Mic Julien, Alejando Sosa, Richard Chan, Shon Schooler, and Guadalupe Traversa,
Alternanthera philoxeroides (Martius) Grisbach - Alligator Weed,
in: Jim Cullen, Mic Julien, and Rachel McFadyen (eds),
Biological Control of Weeds in Australia,
Csiro Publishing, 2012, pp. 43-47.

D.M. Maddox,
The bionomics of a stem borer, Vogtia malloi (Lepidoptera: Phycitidae), on alligatorweed in Argentina,
Annals of the Entomological Society of America,
Volume 63 (1970), pp.1267-1273.

José A. Pastrana,
Una nueva Phycitidae (Lep.) parasito de la "lagunilla",
Revista de Investigaciones Agricolas Buenos Aires,
Volume 15 (1961) p. 268.

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(updated 11 September 2008, 16 April 2018)