Moths of North Carolina

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View PDF	Crambidae Members:	Crocidophora Members:	25 NC Records

Crocidophora pustuliferalis Lederer, 1863 - Scalloped Crocidophora

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Taxonomy

Superfamily:
Pyraloidea

Family:
Crambidae

Subfamily:
Pyraustinae

Tribe:
Pyraustini

P3 Number:
80a0706

MONA Number:
4943.00

Comments: The genus Crocidophora contains seven described species from North America and India. There are three recognized species in North America and all occur in North Carolina.

Identification

Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984)

Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD

Technical Description, Adults: Munroe (1976)

Adult Markings: The following is based in part on the description by Munroe (1976). In this species the forewing is light brown to light fawn-colored. The postmedial line is dark brown to blackish, is conspicuously toothed, and is evenly curved between the inner margin and costa. It is followed by a similar toothed subterminal line with deep acute dentations that point inwardly on the veins. The area basal to the postmedian line has a few dark smudges and irregular marks that may is part represent remnants of a broken antemedial line. The terminal line is represented as a series of small but distinct black dots, and the costa is darker the the general ground color. The males have a large fovea in and behind the cell of the forewing with an overlapping ridge of shining scales on the underside (Munroe, 1976).

Crocidophora pustuliferalis is similar to Ostrinia penitalis, but the latter has a well-developed antemedial line and lacks a line of black dots on the termen. The males also lack a fovea.

Adult Structural Features: Munroe (1976) has descriptions of the male and female genitalia. The males have a large fovea in and behind the cell of the forewing with an overlapping ridge of shining scales on the underside (Munroe, 1976).

Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.

Immatures and Development: The larvae feed on native canes (Arundinaria), but very little has been reported on the larval life history. Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin observed larvae and one late-instar or prepupa that had constructed a cocoon in several frass-ladened nests in Madison County. The nests consisted of silk-bound young leaves and shoots of Giant Cane and contained large amounts of light brown frass pellets. There were 1-3 larvae per nest. Shelters with a single larva were simpler than communal nests, with the shelters having only 2-3 leaves that were bound together. One pupating larva was near the bottom of a nest where it constructed a cocoon that consisted of a thin layer of silk that was covered with frass. An adult emerged on July 12, 2023.

Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.

Distribution in North Carolina

Distribution: Crocidophora pustuliferalis is found in the southeastern U.S. from Maryland and North Carolina westward to Kentucky, Arkansas, and northeastern Oklahoma, and southward to central Florida, Alabama, southern Mississippi and Louisiana. As of 2023, we have records from all three physiographic provinces but are lacking records from the southern Coastal Plain where the host plant is common.

County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.


Flight Dates: High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft. Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft. Piedmont (Pd) Coastal Plain (CP) Click on graph to enlarge
Immature Dates: High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft. Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft. Piedmont (Pd) Coastal Plain (CP) Click on graph to enlarge
Flight Comments: The adults mostly fly from March through September in different areas of the range, but are occasionally seen during the winter months. As of 2023, we have records from late-March through mid-August. Local populations appear to be bivoltine in North Carolina.

Habitats and Life History

Habitats: Local populations are centered around canebrakes and cane thickets.

Larval Host Plants: The larvae feed on native cane (Arundinaria spp.; Munroe, 1976). In North Carolina, this species has been found in Coastal Plain habitat where Switch Cane (Arundinaria tecta) is the most likely host, as well as in the Blue Ridge where River Cane or Giant Cane (A. gigantea) is the most likely host. None of our occurrences are associated with Hill Cane (A. appalachiana). One record from a residential neighborhood in Orange County was from a site next to a large stand of cultivated Black Bamboo; no native cane is located within several miles of the site. - View

Observation Methods: The adults are attracted to lights and the larvae can be found in webbed leaves of cane.

Wikipedia

See also Habitat Account for General Cane Thickets

Status in North Carolina

Natural Heritage Program Status:

Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR S3S4

State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.

Comments: This species in generally uncommon in the state due to its reliance of cane.

Photo Gallery for Crocidophora pustuliferalis - Scalloped Crocidophora

Photos: 25

	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2024-05-12 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2023-08-20 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2023-08-17 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2023-07-12 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2023-07-12 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2023-06-28 Madison Co. Comment: A communal nest that consisted of young shoots and leaves of River Cane that were bound with silk.
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2023-06-28 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2023-06-28 Madison Co. Comment: A larva that was beginning to pupate was found in a silken cocoon that was covered in frass as seen on the far left of this image.
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2023-06-28 Madison Co. Comment: A prepupa is a thin silk cocoon; the outside frass was removed to reveal the thin, silk covering around the larva.		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2023-06-28 Madison Co. Comment: A communal nest that was torn apart to reveal the frass inside.
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2023-04-12 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, L. M. Carlson on 2022-07-25 Greene Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Dean Furbish on 2021-08-14 Wake Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Dean Furbish on 2021-07-28 Wake Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Darryl Willis on 2020-07-19 Cabarrus Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2019-08-01 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2019-05-16 Buncombe Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Steve Hall on 2019-05-05 Orange Co. Comment: Found near a planted stand of black bamboo but not near any known stand of native cane
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-07-25 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2018-07-17 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: ASH on 2013-05-02 Moore Co. Comment:		Recorded by: j.wyche on 2012-10-07 Gates Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: K. Bischof on 2011-04-14 Beaufort Co. Comment:		Recorded by: T. DeSantis on 2010-05-22 Camden Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Paul Scharf on 2010-04-26 Warren Co. Comment: