Nolidae is a family of moths with about 1,400 described species worldwide. They are mostly small with dull coloration, the main distinguishing feature being a silk cocoon with a vertical exit slit. The group is sometimes known as tuft moths, after the tufts of raised scales on the forewings of two subfamilies, Nolinae and Collomeninae. The larvae also tend to have muted colors and tufts of short hairs.
Bollworm is the common term for a moth larva that attacks the fruiting bodies of certain crops, especially cotton. The most common moths known as bollworms are:
Earias is a genus of moths in the monotypic subfamily Eariadinae of the family Nolidae. Species are found throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, some being agricultural pests such as bollworms.
The cream-bordered green pea is a moth of the family Nolidae. It is found in most of Europe eastwards across the Palearctic to the Urals and Western Siberia.
The rough bollworm is a moth of the family Nolidae. It is found in the northern two-thirds of Australia and several islands in the South Pacific.
Earias chlorodes is a moth of the family Nolidae. It is found along the eastern coast of Australia, from Cooktown to Sydney.
Earias insulana, the Egyptian stemborer, Egyptian bollworm, spiny bollworm or cotton spotted bollworm, is a moth of the family Nolidae. The species was first described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1833. It is found in most of Africa, southern Europe, the Near East and Middle East, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia and Hawaii. It is a rare in immigrant in Great Britain.
Earias paralella is a moth of the family Nolidae. It is known from Australia.
Earias biplaga, the spiny bollworm, is a moth in the family Nolidae. The species was first described by Francis Walker in 1866. It is found throughout subtropical Africa including Atlantic and Indian Ocean islands.
Earias flavida is a moth of the family Nolidae. It was described by Cajetan Felder in 1861. It is found from the Indo-Australian tropics of India, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and Java to Samoa and Tonga.
Earias cupreoviridis, called the cupreous bollworm as a larva, is a moth of the family Nolidae. The species was first described by Francis Walker in 1862. It is found in African countries like Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe to Asian countries like India, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong.
Earias fabia, called the cotton spotted bollworm as a larva, is a moth of the family Nolidae. The species was first described by Caspar Stoll in 1781. It is sometimes included in the species Earias vittella.
Earias luteolaria is a moth of the family Nolidae first described by George Hampson in 1891. It is found in India, Sri Lanka, Borneo, Hong Kong and Australia.
Earias vittella, an Asian "spotted bollworm", is a moth species in the family Nolidae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1794. Most records are from Asia, Australia and certain Pacific islands.
