Brithys crini

Brithys crini, the amaryllis borer, crinum borer,[1] lily borer or Kew arches, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is a garden pest in parts of its range, as their larvae damage the stems and leaves of lilies, especially lilies of the family Amaryllidaceae.[2]

Amaryllis borer
Larva
Adult
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
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Family:
Genus:
Species:
B. crini
Binomial name
Brithys crini
(Fabricius, 1775)
Synonyms
  • Bombyx crini
  • Phalaena dominica
  • Noctua pancratii
  • Noctua encausta
  • Brithys vertenteni
  • Brithys nipponica
  • Brithys encausta
  • Brithys pancratii
  • Glottula pancrati

Range

It is found in the coastal areas of the Mediterranean, south to South Africa. Furthermore, it is found in Japan and in Queensland and Northern Territory in Australia towards India and Sri Lanka.

Description

Larva boring into a sea daffodil leaf
Larva feeding on a slime lily stem

The wingspan of the moth is about 40 mm. Its head, thorax and forewings are very dark brown, but paler toward the wingtips. Sub-basal, median and postmedial indistinct waved lines are black. A curved submarginal ochreous line with ferrous colored lunuled found on each side of it. There is a marginal black lunule series. The hindwings are practically white. Tarsi bear black and white stripes. In Europe the adults are on the wing in July.[3]

Life stages

There are several generations per year, though development slows down in cooler seasons, when the larvae sometimes overwinter by boring into the bulbs of the host plants.

The moth lays clusters of a few dozen eggs on the host plant leaves. The hatching larvae at first remain in groups and mine into the leaves. As they grow they either emerge and feed externally, or proceed down the leaves to their bases or even into the bulbs.

The larvae are aposematically coloured in pale yellows on blacks and browns. They are unpalatable to most vertebrate predators, and also poisonous, feeding as they do, on largely unpalatable and poisonous plants. They are slightly bristly, but the bristles seem to be sensory rather than irritant. Typically they grow to about 40 mm long before pupation.[4]

Food plants

The larvae feed on all species of Crinum, Clivia and Hippeastrum, including Crinum angustifolium, Haemanthus species, Hippeastrum procerum, Pancratium maritimum,[5] Zephyranthes candida, Crocus tommasinianus, Narcissus spp., and Amaryllis belladonna. Commonly they bore into thick leaves or even into the bulbs; Mature larvae are likely to feed externally, especially on thin-leaved plants. Heavy infestations of the caterpillars may kill plants.[6]

Predators

The most effective enemies of the larvae in Europe are the carabid (ground beetle) Scarites buparius and the tenebrionid (darkling beetles), Erodius siculus and Pimelia bipunctata.

Control

Commercial carbaryl dusts are effective in combating the caterpillar, but they cannot reach those that have bored into the plant. The insecticide also reduces populations of predators, so that weekly applications become necessary. For small scale horticulture, or in home gardens it is better to rely on mechanical control, seeking out discoloured feeding patches on leaves and crushing the young larvae before they develop. Heavily infested leaves it often is better to cut out and destroy.[1]

gollark: No, Richard, it's 'Linux', not 'GNU/Linux'. The most important contributions that the FSF made to Linux were the creation of the GPL and the GCC compiler. Those are fine and inspired products. GCC is a monumental achievement and has earned you, RMS, and the Free Software Foundation countless kudos and much appreciation.Following are some reasons for you to mull over, including some already answered in your FAQ.One guy, Linus Torvalds, used GCC to make his operating system (yes, Linux is an OS -- more on this later). He named it 'Linux' with a little help from his friends. Why doesn't he call it GNU/Linux? Because he wrote it, with more help from his friends, not you. You named your stuff, I named my stuff -- including the software I wrote using GCC -- and Linus named his stuff. The proper name is Linux because Linus Torvalds says so. Linus has spoken. Accept his authority. To do otherwise is to become a nag. You don't want to be known as a nag, do you?(An operating system) != (a distribution). Linux is an operating system. By my definition, an operating system is that software which provides and limits access to hardware resources on a computer. That definition applies whereever you see Linux in use. However, Linux is usually distributed with a collection of utilities and applications to make it easily configurable as a desktop system, a server, a development box, or a graphics workstation, or whatever the user needs. In such a configuration, we have a Linux (based) distribution. Therein lies your strongest argument for the unwieldy title 'GNU/Linux' (when said bundled software is largely from the FSF). Go bug the distribution makers on that one. Take your beef to Red Hat, Mandrake, and Slackware. At least there you have an argument. Linux alone is an operating system that can be used in various applications without any GNU software whatsoever. Embedded applications come to mind as an obvious example.
gollark: Oh, wait, better idea.
gollark: Hey, I *said* (GNU[+/])Linux, isn't that good enough for you, Stallman?!
gollark: Yep!
gollark: Also, though this is more personal preference, (GNU[+/])Linux (distributions) has (have):- a package manager useful for general use (the windows store is not really this)- a usable shell (yes, I'm aware you can use WSL, but it's not very integrated with everything else)- lower resource use- a nicer UI (well, the option for one; AFAIK Windows does not allow as much customization)

References

  1. Annecke, D. R.; Moran, V. C. (1982). Insects and mites of cultivated plants in South Africa. London: Butterworths. ISBN 0-409-08398-4.
  2. "Kew Arches Brithys crini". UKMoths. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  3. Hampson, G. F. (1894). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume II. Taylor and Francis via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  4. Herbison-Evans, Don & Crossley, Stella (4 June 2018). "Brithys crini (Fabricius, 1775) Lily Borer". Australian Caterpillars and their Butterflies and Moths. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  5. "Noctuidae Noctuinae Glottulini". Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  6. "Brithys crini, (Fabricuis, 1775)". African Moths. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
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