Ephysteris promptella

Ephysteris promptella, the ratoon shootborer, is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. 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).[2]

Ephysteris promptella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Gelechiidae
Genus:
Ephysteris
Species:
E. promptella
Binomial name
Ephysteris promptella
Synonyms
  • Gelechia promptella Staudinger, 1859
  • Epithectis petiginella Mann, 1867
  • Ephysteris petiginella
  • Ephysteris promptella australiae Povolny 1977
  • Aristotelia cacomicra Walsingham 1907
  • Ephysteris chersaea Meyrick, 1908
  • ?Epiphthora crystallista Meyrick, 1911
  • Phthorimaea dispensata Meyrick 1921
  • Ephysteris oschophora Meyrick 1910
  • Metzneria xanthorhabda Gozmany 1951
  • Doryphora parvula Staudinger, 1879
  • Phthorimaea fanatica Meyrick, 1921
  • Ephysteris despectella Walker, 1863

The wingspan is 8–10 mm.[3] Adults are greyish brown. Males are smaller and have black dots, while females have white flecks.[4]

The larvae feed on Andropogon, Oryza, Panicum, Saccharum officinarum, Sorghum, Stipa, Triticum and Zea mays. They bore the shoots of their host plant.[5] Full-grown larvae reach a length of about 5 mm.[6] Pupation takes place in a cocoon covered in frass which is made in debris on the soil surface.

References
  1. Fauna Europaea
  2. Junnilainen, J. et al. 2010: The gelechiid fauna of the southern Ural Mountains, part II: list of recorded species with taxonomic notes (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). Zootaxa, 2367: 1–68. Preview
  3. lepiforum.de
  4. Australian Insects
  5. "bladmineerders.nl". Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  6. http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/gele/prompt.html


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