Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenée, 1854)
(one synonym :
Botys nurscialia)
Rice Leaffolder
SPILOMELINI ,
PYRAUSTINAE ,
CRAMBIDAE
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
and
Stella Crossley
&
Bart Hacobian
The caterpillar of this species is translucent,
and have two black spots on each thoracic segment.
The caterpillar is a pest throughout south-east Asia,
feeding on various crops in
POACEAE
including:
Maize ( Zea mays ),
Wheat ( Triticum species ),
Sugar Cane ( Saccharum species ),
Sorghum, ( Sorghum species ), and
Rice ( Oryza sativa ).
It rolls a leaf up to form a shelter in which it lives.
When it feeds, it scrapes the flesh away from the leaf surface.
(Specimen: courtesy of the
Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)
The adult moth is buff coloured, with brown margins,
and with two brown lines across the each forewing,
and one across each hindwing.
The males have a thickened region on the
costa of
each forewing.
Its wingspan is 1.6 cms.
The moths are known to
undertake migrations
which makes control of the pest difficult.
Its pheromones have been studied.
Control of the pest is being attempted using :
the insecticide
Monosultap
(2-N,N-dimethylamino-1-hypo-3-thiosulfatopropane),
Neem extracts,
semiochemicals for mass trapping, and
the nematode
Steinernema carpocapsae (
STEINERNEMATIDAE ).
The species is found in Asia, including :
Hong Kong,
Sri Lanka, and
Taiwan,
Thailand,
as well as
most of Australia.
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 9.10, pp. 355,357.
(updated 19 July 2010)
