''Amyelois'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

snout moth The Pyralidae, commonly called pyralid moths, snout moths or grass moths, are a family of Lepidoptera in the ditrysian superfamily Pyraloidea. In many (particularly older) classifications, the grass moths (Crambidae) are included in the Pyralida ...

genus described by

Hans Georg Amsel Hans Georg Amsel (29 March 1905 – 20 October 1999) was a German entomologist with four publications ranging from 1951 to 1962. His home town was Cologne, although he frequently was in Kiel. His original job was in the banking industry, and he la ...

in 1956. Its single species, ''Amyelois transitella'', the navel orangeworm, described by Francis Walker in 1863, is endemic to the tropical Western Hemisphere, including the southern United States. Its abundance in California increased greatly during the first half of the 20th century. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 9.7 to 10.9 mm. Adults are on wing from the end of March to the end of October in California. The larvae are considered a commercial pest of a number of California crops, including walnut (''

Juglans regia ''Juglans regia'', the Persian walnut, English walnut, Carpathian walnut, Madeira walnut, or especially in Great Britain, common walnut, is an Old World walnut tree species native to the region stretching from the Balkans eastward to the Himalay ...

''), fig (''

Ficus carica The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

''), almond (''

Prunus dulcis The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of th ...

'') and pistachio (''

Pistacia vera The pistachio (, ''Pistacia vera''), a member of the cashew family, is a small tree originating from Central Asia and the Middle East. The tree produces seeds that are widely consumed as food. ''Pistacia vera'' is often confused with other spe ...

'').

Pheromones

Female ''A. transitella'' release very similar sex pheromones to that of female ''

Pyralis farinalis ''Pyralis'' is a genus of snout moths. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Species * ''Pyralis caustica'' (Meyrick, 1884) * ''Pyralis costinotalis'' Hampson, 1917 * ''Pyralis electalis'' Hulst, 1886 * ''Pyralis farinalis'' (Linnaeus, 175 ...

''. Both species release the pheromone (Z,Z)-11,13-hexa decadienal which is used to attract males. Male ''P. farinalis'' have been observed attempting to mate with female ''A. transitella'', but it does not seem as though these copulations are successful in producing offspring.

References

External links

Sexual behavior of the navel OrangeWorm, ''Amyelois transitella'' (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)Bug Guide
Taxa named by Hans Georg Amsel Phycitinae Monotypic moth genera Moths of North America Moths of South America Pyralidae genera {{Phycitinae-stub