Scrobipalpa aptatella (Walker, 1864)
Tobacco Stem Borer, Eggplant Budworm
 (one synonym: Gelechia heliopa Lower, 1900)
GELECHIINAE,   GELECHIIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Scrobipalpa aptatella
(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

The Caterpillars of this species are a pest, as they bore into the buds and stems, and damage crops in SOLANACEAE such as

  • Tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum ), and
  • Eggplant ( Solanum melongena ).

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

    The adult moths have pale brown forewings and white hindwings, the latter having a wide fringe of hairs along the hind margin. The wingspan is about 2 cms.

    The species has been found across Africa and Asia, including

  • Kenya,
  • Sri Lanka,

    and in Australia in

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania, and
  • South Australia.

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 25.12, p. 260.

    Francis Walker,
    Tineites,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 29 (1864), p. 636.

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    (updated 17 March 2004, 15 January 2013, 3 September 2021)