Kingdom Animalia Family Gelechiidae Genus Ephysteris Order Butterflies and moths | Class Insecta Phylum Arthropoda Rank Species | |
Similar Butterflies and moths, Palumbina guerinii, Ancylosis convexella, Acraeologa, Tathorhynchus exsiccata | ||
Ephysteris promptella, the ratoon shootborer, is a moth of the Gelechiidae family. It is a pantropical species, found in the warmer parts of the Old World tropics to Australia. It is widely distributed in southern Europe (ranging to Slovakia in the north).
The wingspan is 8–10 mm. Adults are greyish brown. Males are smaller and have black dots, while females have white flecks.
The larvae feed on Andropogon, Oryza, Panicum, Saccharum officinarum, Sorghum, Stipa, Triticum and Zea mays. They bore the shoots of their host plant. Full-grown larvae reach a length of about 5 mm. Pupation takes place in a cocoon covered in frass which is made in debris on the soil surface.
References
Ephysteris promptella Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA