Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta | Phylum Arthropoda Genus Phragmataecia Rank Species | |
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Similar Phragmataecia, Acossus terebra, Parahypopta caestrum, Dyspessa ulula, Cossidae | ||
The Reed leopard (Phragmataecia castaneae), also known as giant borer, is a moth of the family Cossidae. It is found in central and southern Europe, the Middle East, the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, north-western Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, India, Lebanon, Turkey, western China, south-western Siberia, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.
Contents
Description
As a genus, they lack palpi. Antennae of male bipectinated to two-thirds of length where th braches are short. Legs are without spurs. Wings are long and narrow. The wingspan is 27–50 mm. Head, thorax and abdomen are brownish white in color. Female being larger than the male. The fore wings are buffish-grey with fine dark spotting. The female has a very long abdomen, which extends far beyond the wingtips at rest. Hind wings white or brownish white in color. In some specimens, the striations of the fore wings are absent. Body of larva is yellowish-white with two purplish-brown lines on the back. Head is light-brown.
Ecology
The moth flies from May to July depending on the location. The larvae feed on Phragmites australis, Phragmites communis, Phragmites gigantea and Phragmites pumila. After larva hatching in summer, it feeds first in shoot tips. After two moults, larva enter a base internode. Larvae pupate after two years within shoots.
As a pest
Larva severely devastate the shoot tips. The point it emerges is completely eaten first through and few internodes below the growing point are packed with frass, results so called dead heart. Feeding on shoot bases by more developed larva is indistinct. Leaves may yellow and wilt from shoot base. They are known to attack Saccharum officinarum, Saccharum spontaneum, and Sorghum propineum.
In control processes, seed cuttings are often treated with hot water at 50°C for 2 hours. Dry leaves are removed before shipment when they moved to pest free area. According to integrated pest management, pest resistant varieties are cultivated. In biological methods, Tumidiclava species can introduce to the field, but it may now seems that, pest is adapted to these predators.