Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFGelechiidae Members: Stegasta Members: 79 NC Records

Stegasta bosqueella (Chambers, 1875) - Red-necked Peanutworm Moth

Stegasta bosqueellaStegasta bosqueellaStegasta bosqueella
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Gelechioidea		 Family:
Gelechiidae		Subfamily:
Gelechiinae		Tribe:
Gelechiini		P3 Number:
59a1168		 MONA Number:
2209.00
Species Status: This species can be a significant pest in peanut fields where is distorts shoot growth and defoliates developing stems (Pinto et al., 2020).
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD, iNat SearchTechnical Description, Immature Stages: Manley (1961)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: This is a distinctively marked dark moth with a bold orange mark on the forewing and a well-defined sub-apical costal spot. The following description is based on the original description by Chambers (1985). The head is yellowish white, while the antenna is dark brown with the extreme tip of the basal joint white. The labial palp is dark brown, with a yellowish white annulus around the middle and tip of the second and third joints. The thorax and ground color of the forewing are brown. The forewing has a broad fascia at about the basal fourth that passes from the costa across the wing. It eventually fuses with a broad, pale orange longitudinal band that extends along the dorsal margin towards the cilia. The fascia varies from whitish to being concolorous with the longitudinal band. The band is widest basally, then narrows near the middle before widening again apically. A faint, white costal spot is present at about one-half the wing length, and a larger one at about four-fifths and just before the cilia. The cilia are blackish, and the hindwing light gray to grayish brown. The abdomen is blackish and the legs brown with pale yellowish annulations.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Manley (1961) reported that the young larvae feed within the terminal buds of peanuts and other legumes. They then mine the leaves, and later shift to feeding externally between the unfolding leaves. They may also occasionally mine into the plant stem. This leads to bud and leaf destruction, and distorts the growth of the shoots. There are five instars, with the last 8-10 mm in length. The head capsule of the older larvae is brownish, while the pro- and mesothorax are a striking red or wine color. The remainder of the body is white to amber-colored. The red-wine coloration begins to develop during the second instar. Upon completion of feeding, the fifth instar larva moves down the plant and wanders around on the soil at the plant base, then burrows into the soil and spins a silken cocoon in which it pupates. In a few instances, the larva pupates in plant recesses or in tunnels within the plant shoots. In Oklahoma, there are often four or five broods per year, and overwintering occurs in the pupal stage.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Stegasta bosqueella is rather widely distributed across much of eastern North America, then westward to Colorado and Arizona, and southward to Central America, the Caribbean region, northern South America, and Brazil. Populations have been introduced into several areas of the Old World where peanuts are grown. This species appears to occur essentially statewide in North Carolina, from coastal regions to the lower elevations in the Blue Ridge.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Stegasta bosqueellaAlamance Alexander Alleghany Anson Ashe Avery Beaufort Bertie Bladen Brunswick Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Caldwell Camden Carteret Caswell Catawba Chatham Cherokee Chowan Clay Cleveland Columbus Craven Cumberland Currituck Dare Davidson Davie Duplin Durham Edgecombe Forsyth Franklin Gaston Gates Graham Granville Greene Guilford Halifax Harnett Haywood Henderson Hertford Hoke Hyde Iredell Jackson Johnston Jones Lee Lenoir Lincoln Macon Madison Martin McDowell Mecklenburg Mitchell Montgomery Moore Nash New Hanover Northampton Onslow Orange Pamlico Pasquotank Pender Perquimans Person Pitt Polk Randolph Richmond Robeson Rockingham Rowan Rutherford Sampson Scotland Stanly Stokes Surry Swain Transylvania Tyrrell Union Vance Wake Warren Washington Watauga Wayne Wilkes Wilson Yadkin Yancey
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge 		Image showing flight dates by month for High Mountains greater than 4,000 feet, Low Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain: adults.