Mampava rhodoneura (Turner, 1905)
 (formerly known as Anerastria rhodoneura)
Buffel Grass Seed Caterpillar
GALLERIINAE,   PYRALIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Mampava rhodoneura
(Photo: courtesy of Ian McMillan, Imbil, Queensland)

The Caterpillars of this species live in a silk web around the heads of their foodplant. They have been found feeding on the seeds of various grasses, (POACEAE) including:

  • Slender Buffel Grass ( Cenchrus pennisetiformis ), and
  • Swamp Foxtail ( Pennisetum alopeculiodes ).

    The caterpillar pupates in a silky cocoon in its web.

    Mampava rhodoneura
    (Photo: courtesy of Dianne Clarke, Mapleton, Queensland)

    The adult moth is white with a rusty brown suffusion on the costa and wingtip of each wing. The wingspan is about 2.5 cms.

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

    The species has been found in Australia in :

  • Western Australia,
  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.

    Further reading :

    P.T. Bailey (Ed.),
    Pests of Field Crops and Pastures: Identification and Control,
    Csiro Publishing (2007), p. 361.

    A. Jefferis Turner,
    A Preliminary Revision of the Australian Thyrididae and Pyralidae. II,
    Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland,
    Volume 19 (1905), p. 43.

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    (written 4 December 2014, updated 25 February 2017, 30 August 2019, 4 November 2020)