Corcyra cephalonica (Stainton, 1866)
Rice Moth
 (one synonym : Anerastia lineata Legrand, 1965)
GALLERIINAE,   PYRALIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

(Image: from "The Rice Moth", F.H. Chittenden, Bulletin 783, US Dept Agriculture, 1919)

This Caterpillar is off-white with a dark brown head. It is a pest on stored foodstuffs, eg:

  • Rice ( Oryza sativa, POACEAE ),
  • Cocoa ( Theobroma cacao, STERCULIACEAE ), and
  • Peanuts ( Arachis hypogaea, FABACEAE ).

    The caterpillar grows to a length of about 2 cms.


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

    The adult moth is fawn coloured with a faint pattern on the forewings, and with pale plain hindwings. The tips of the forewings are rounded, but those of the hindwings are pointed. The wingspan is about 2 cms.


    drawing by George Hampson, listed as Corcyra translineella    ,
    Mémoires sur les Lépidoptères / Rédigés par N.M. Romanoff, Volume 8 (1901), Plate LI, fig. 26,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.

    The pheromones of this species have been elucidated.

    The pest is international, occurring for example in

  • India,
  • Italy,
  • Sweden, and
  • U.S.A..

    It was unfortunately introduced by accident into Australia, and now also occurs for example in

  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales, and
  • Tasmania.

    Attempts are being made to control this pest using :

  • carbon dioxide,
  • poisonous plants, and
  • parasites.

    Grain that has been damaged by this Caterpillar can be used perhaps for chicken feed.

    Further reading :

    F.H. Chittenden,
    The Rice Moth,
    Bulletin 783, US Dept Agriculture, 1919.

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, pp. 68, 347.

    Henry Tibbats Stainton,
    Description of a new species of the family Galleridae.,
    Entomologist's Monthly Magazine,
    Volume 2 (1866), pp. 172-173.

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    (updated 11 September 2008, 29 April 2024)