Eudocima phalonia

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Common fruit-piercing moth
EudocimaPhalonia.jpg
Male in India
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Erebidae
Genus: Eudocima
Species:
E. phalonia
Binomial name
Eudocima phalonia
Synonyms
  • Othreis fullonica
  • Eudocima fullonia(Clerck, 1764)
  • Phalaena phaloniaLinnaeus, 1763
  • Phalaena fulloniaClerck, 1764
  • Phalaena fullonicaLinnaeus, 1767
  • Noctua dioscoreaeFabricius, 1775
  • Phalaena pomonaCramer, 1776
  • Ophideres princepsBoisduval, 1832
  • Ophideres obliteransWalker, 1858

Eudocima phalonia, the common fruit-piercing moth, is a fruit piercing moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1763 Centuria Insectorum . It is found in large parts of the tropics, mainly in Asia, Africa and Australia but introduced into other areas such as Hawaii, New Zealand and the Society Islands. It is one of major fruit pests in the world. [1]

Contents

Description

The wingspan is about 80–94 mm in male. Palpi with third joint long and spatulate at extremity. Forewings with non-crenulate cilia in male, crenulate in female. Head and thorax reddish brown with plum-color suffusion. Abdomen orange. Forewings reddish brown, usually with a greenish tinge and irrorated with dark specks. An oblique antemedial line present, which is generally dark and indistinct but sometimes pale and prominent. Reniform indistinct. A curve postmedial line found, which is almost always met by an oblique streak from apex. Hindwings orange, with a large black lunule beyond lower angle of cell. There is a marginal black band with cilia pale spots runs from costa to vein 2. Ventral side of forewings with orange postmedial band. [2]

The wingspan is about 90–110 mm in female. Female has much more variegated and dark reddish brown striated forewings. Reniform dark and sending a spur along median nervure to below the orbicular speck. There is a triangular white mark usually present on the postmedial line below vein 3. [3]

Larva has dilated 11th somite and surrounded by a tubercle. Body purplish brown, where dorsum brown from 6th to 11th somites. Legs red and spiracular scarlet patches largest posteriorly and with some irregular white markings round them, on somite 9 in the form of an oblique white bar. There is a yellow sub-basal mark found on 4th somite. Fifth and sixth somites have black ocelli with yellow iris and white pupils. Two yellow patches can be seen on 11th somite. [3]

The adult is considered an agricultural pest, causing damage to many fruit crops by piercing it with its strong proboscis in order to suck the juice. Attempts have been made to control them using baits for the adults, [4] egg parasites and larval parasitoids. [5]

Ecology

The larvae feed mainly on vines belonging to the Menispermaceae but have also adapted to species of Erythrina [6] and are known to feed on Erythrina crista-galli , Erythrina fusca , Erythrina variegata , Carronia multisepala , Hypserpa decumbens , Legnephora moorei , Pleogyne australis , Sarcopetalum harveyanum , Stephania aculeata , Stephania forsteri , Stephania japonica and Tinospora smilacina . [7]

Infected plant parts are mostly the fruits. Fruits show sap ooze out and internal feeding of the caterpillar. Fruits may show premature drop. Adults penetrate the skin or rind with a strong, barbed proboscis. Damaged parts become spongy and with many lesions. [8]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Achaea janata</i> Species of moth

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<i>Eudocima</i> Genus of moths

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<i>Hulodes caranea</i> Species of moth

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<i>Eudocima materna</i> Species of moth

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<i>Thyas coronata</i> Species of moth

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<i>Ophiusa trapezium</i> Species of moth

Ophiusa trapezium is a moth of the family Erebidae first described by Achille Guenée in 1852. It is found from the Indo-Australian tropics of India, Sri Lanka to Queensland, the Bismarck Islands and New Caledonia. Adults are fruit piercers.

<i>Eudocima homaena</i> Species of moth

Eudocima homaena is a moth of the family Erebidae first described by Jacob Hübner in 1816. It is found in the Indian subregion, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, the Nicobars, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, the Philippines and on Christmas Island. It is a major pest on orange plants.

<i>Eudocima salaminia</i> Species of moth

Eudocima salaminia, the green fruit-piercing moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1777. It is found from India, and across south-east Asia to the Pacific Islands. In Australia it occurs in the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales. The adult is a fruit piercer.

<i>Stauropus alternus</i> Species of moth

Stauropus alternus, the lobster caterpillar, lobster moth or crab caterpillar, is a moth of the family Notodontidae. It is found in the north-eastern Himalaya, Sri Lanka, Sundaland, the Philippines, Sulawesi and the southern Moluccas. It was described by Francis Walker in 1855.

<i>Sympis rufibasis</i> Species of moth

Sympis rufibasis is a moth of the family Noctuidae first described by Achille Guenée in 1852. It is found from the Indo-Australian tropics of India, Sri Lanka, Borneo east to New Guinea, the Solomons and Queensland.

<i>Platyja umminia</i> Species of moth

Platyja umminia is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae first described by Pieter Cramer in 1780. It is found from the Indo-Australian tropics of China, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar to New Guinea and Queensland. It is also present on Guam. Adults have been recorded piercing fruit in Thailand and Guam.

<i>Ischyja manlia</i> Species of moth

Ischyja manlia is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae first described by Pieter Cramer in 1776. It is found in the Indian subregion, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, China, Okinawa, Sundaland, Sulawesi, Korea, the southern Moluccas, Australia (Queensland) and Palau. Adults pierce the skin of fruit to suck the juice.

<i>Oraesia emarginata</i> Species of moth

Oraesia emarginata is a species of moth of the family Erebidae first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1794. It is found in Australia, New Caledonia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Pakistan, the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea and Nepal as well as Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, the Gambia, Uganda, Oman and Yemen.

<i>Fascellina chromataria</i> Species of moth

Fascellina chromataria is a moth in the family Geometridae described by Francis Walker in 1860. It is found in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, India, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.

<i>Orgyia postica</i> Species of moth

Orgyia postica, the cocoa tussock moth or hevea tussock moth, is a species of moth of the subfamily Lymantriinae of family Erebidae found from the Oriental tropics of India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Borneo, Java, New Guinea and Taiwan. It was described by Francis Walker in 1855.

<i>Spirama retorta</i> Species of moth

Spirama retorta, the Indian owlet-moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Alexander Clerck in 1764. It is found in China, Korea, Japan (Honshu), India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Philippines (Luzon), Indonesia ,Japan.

<i>Amyna punctum</i> Species of moth

Amyna punctum is a moth of the family Noctuidae first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1794. This moth can be found throughout subtropical African countries such as South Africa, Madagascar and Australasian countries like India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Borneo and the Andaman Islands.

<i>Sphingomorpha chlorea</i> Species of moth

Sphingomorpha chlorea, the sundowner moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae that is native to Africa and southern Asia. The species was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1777. It is a fruit-piercing moth and a notorious pest in orchards. The fruit is pierced while performing a vertical and rhythmic movement of the head.

References

  1. ↑ "Eudocima phalonia (Linnaeus)". Insects in Indian Agroecosystems. ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  2. ↑ Hampson, G. F. (1894). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume II. Taylor and Francis – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  3. 1 2 "Eudocima[Othreis]phalonia Linnaeus [fullonia Clerck]". The Moths of Borneo. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  4. ↑ Reddy, G.V.P.; Cruz, Z.T.; Muniappan, R. (2007). "Attraction of fruit-piercing moth Eudocima phalonia (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to different fruit baits". Crop Protection. 26 (4): 664–667. doi:10.1016/j.cropro.2006.06.004.
  5. ↑ Sands, D.P.A.; Liebregts, W.J.M.M.; Broe, R.J. (1992). "Biological control of the fruit piercing moth, Othreis fullonia (Clerck) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in the Pacific". Biological Control of Exotic Pests in the Pacific, XIX International Congress of Entomology, June 1992, Beijing.
  6. ↑ Reddy GVP; Cruz ZT; Bamba J; R Muniappan (2005). "Host adaptation of the fruit piercing moth, Eudocima fullonia". Physiological Entomology. 30 (4): 398–401. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3032.2005.00465.x.
  7. ↑ Herbison-Evans, Don & Crossley, Stella (10 April 2016). "Eudocima fullonia (Clerck, [1874]) Fruit Piercing Moth". Australian Caterpillars and their Butterflies and Moths. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  8. ↑ "Fruit-piercing moth (Eudocima fullonia)". Plantwise Technical Factsheet. Retrieved 18 August 2016.

9. DAR, A. A., & JAMAL, K. (2021). Moth (Insecta: Lepidoptera) fauna of Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India. Notulae Scientia Biologicae, 13(2), 10906. https://doi.org/10.15835/nsb13210906

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