Etiella zinckenella (Treitschke, 1832)
Lima Bean Pod Borer
 (one synonym : Mella dymnusalis Walker, 1859)
PHYCITINI,   PHYCITINAE,   PYRALIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo: courtesy of Department of Agriculture, Andhra Pradesh)

This Caterpillar is a cosmopolitan pest on various beans ( FABACEAE ) such as:

  • Mung Beans ( Vigna radiata ),
  • Lima Beans ( Phaseolus lunatus ), and
  • Soy Beans ( Glycine max ),

    as well as

  • Ginkgo fruit ( Ginkgo biloba, GINKGOACEAE ).

    It feeds on the seeds inside the pod. The Caterpillar is off-white with a dark head.


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

    The adult moth has brown forewings with a pale yellow line along the costa and a transverse orange band. The hindwings are pale brown. The wingspan is about 2 cms


    (Photo: courtesy of Department of Agriculture, Andhra Pradesh)

    Its pheromones have been elucidated.

    The species has been found around the world, for example in:

  • France,
  • Honduras,
  • Hong Kong,
  • Jamaica,
  • Japan, and
  • U.S.A.,

    as well as in Australia in

  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.

    Further reading :

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

    Georg Friedreich Treitschke,
    Die Schmetterlinge von Europa,
    in Ferdinand Ochsenheimer: Die schmetterlinge von Europa,
    Volume 9, Part 1 (1832), p. 201, No. 45.

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    (updated 1 September 2012, 8 January 2025)