Kingdom Animalia Family Pyralidae Genus Emporia Order Butterflies and moths | Class Insecta Phylum Arthropoda Rank Species | |
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Similar Cydia deshaisiana, Butterflies and moths, Spirostachys africana, Sebastiania, Phycitinae | ||
Emporia melanobasis is a species of snout moth in the genus Emporia. It was described by Balinsky in 1991, and is known from South Africa.
Jumping beans
The larvae pupate inside fruit of Spirostachys africana. Larvae develop with the growing fruits which show no external damage. When the fruits are mature each splits into 3 cocci. The larvae jack-knife inside the fallen segments, causing them to move about erratically and vigorously, to the surprise of the uninitiated. This has led to the name "Jumping Bean Tree". A similar phenomenon occurs with the Mexican jumping bean, Sebastiania sp., which also belong to the Euphorbia family. This bean is parasitised by the moth Cydia deshaisiana.
References
Emporia melanobasis Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA