Elasmopalpus

Elasmopalpus is a monotypic snout moth genus described by Émile Blanchard in 1852. Its single species, Elasmopalpus lignosellus, the lesser cornstalk borer, was described by Philipp Christoph Zeller in 1852.[1] It is found from the southern United States to Mexico, Central America and South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Argentina and Chile). It is also found on the Bahamas.

Elasmopalpus
Adult male
Adult female
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Pyralidae
Genus:
Elasmopalpus

Species:
E. lignosellus
Binomial name
Elasmopalpus lignosellus
(Zeller, 1848)
Synonyms
  • Pempelia lignosella Zeller, 1848
  • Pempelia tartarella Zeller, 1872
  • Pempelia tartarellus
  • Dasypyga carbonella Hulst, 1888
  • Dasypyga carbonellus
  • Pempelia incautella Zeller, 1872
  • Elasmopalpus incautellus
  • Pempelia major Zeller, 1874
  • Elasmopalpus major
  • Elasmopalpus anthracellus Ragonot, 1888
  • Elasmopalpus puer Dyar, 1919

The wingspan is 17–25 mm. Adults are generally brownish with narrow and elongate forewings with oblique distal margins. The forewings are yellow ocher to light brown in males and dark brown in females. The hindwings are whitish with gray to brown anterior and distal margins.

The larvae feed on a wide range of plants but prefer grasses. Recorded host plants include a number of economically important plants such as Phaseolus vulgaris, Beta vulgaris, Brassica oleracea var. capitata, Cucumis melo, Cyperus esculentus, Zea mays, Vigna unguiculata, Phaseolus lunatus, Avena sativa, Pisum sativum, Arachis hypogaea, Capsicum annuum, Oryza sativa, Secale cereale, Sorghum bicolor, Glycine max, Sorghum sudanense, Saccharum officinarum, Ipomoea batatas, Lycopersicon esculentum, Brassica rapa and Triticum aestivum.[3] They tunnel into the crown of their host plant, severely weakening large plants and often killing young seedlings. They spin silken tubes near the soil surface for protection. On peanuts, they will feed on any portion of the plant that contacts the soil. The species overwinters as a larva or pupa in the soil.[4]

  • Larva
  • Larva
  • Damage
  • Pupa
gollark: Oh, and their prison which tortures people into insanity, and this is seen as a feature?
gollark: There *were* those people tortured into insanity.
gollark: IIRC there's an offhand mention to flying carpets, *being banned* due to apioformic tradition by the ministry.
gollark: WHO thought "hmm, I can make arbitrary objects fly. Why don't I put said flight thing on a really thin object which is not merely irritating to sit on but also hard to control?"‽
gollark: No, it just lets them know where you are.

References
  1. "GlobIZ search". Global Information System on Pyraloidea. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  2. Savela, Markku. "Elasmopalpus Blanchard, 1852". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  3. "Factsheet at Florida Featured Creatures". Edis.ifas.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  4. "Bug Wood". Wiki.bugwood.org. 2010-02-01. Retrieved 2011-10-07.


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