Banana Scab Moth
(previously known as Lamprosema octasema)
SPILOMELINI , PYRAUSTINAE , CRAMBIDAE
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(Photo: courtesy of
Buck Richardson, Kuranda)
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(Photo: courtesy of
Buck Richardson, Kuranda)
These caterpillars are yellow or reddish, with a dark head and prothorax. The caterpillars attack the young fruit of, and are a pest on:
and also feed on the young fruit of
The caterpillars pupate in loose silk cocoons between the fruit or in dead leaves.
The adult moth is pale brown with some dark spots and lines, particularly two spots on the costa of each forewing.
The eggs are flat and translucent, and are laid overlapping in small groups on bracts or leaves by flower buds. A female moth lays about 100 eggs in total.
The species is found across south-east Asia and the south Pacific, including
Further reading:
John L. Capinera (ed),
Encyclopedia of Entomology, A - E (Volume 1),
Springer, 2nd edition (2008), pp. 364-365.
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 34.3, pp. 58, 60, 66, 357.
B. A. Franzmann and Rae Garrett,
Description of the immature stages and adult genitalia of the Banana Scab Moth,
Nacoleia octasema (PYRALIDAE: PYRAUSTINAE), from
north Queensland,
Pacific Insects Vol. 19, nos. 1-2, pp. 45-51 (October 1978)
B. A. Franzmann,
PARASITISM OF BANANA SCAB MOTH, NACOLEIA OCTASEMA (MEYRICK) (LEPIDOPTERA: PYRALIDAE) IN NORTH QUEENSLAND,
Australian Journal of Entomology
Volume 18, Issue 2, pp. 135–136 (October 1979)
Ronald Wood Paine,
The banana scab moth, Nacoleia octasema (Meyrick): its distribution, ecology and control.
Technical paper (South Pacific Commission) No. 145, vi + 70p (1964).
 caterpillar |
 butterflies |
 caterpillars |
 moths |
 caterpillar |
(created 11 February 2005, updated 18 March 2012)