''Telchin licus'', the banana stem borer, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the

Castniidae Castniidae, or castniid moths, is a small family of moths with fewer than 200 species: The majority are Neotropical with some in Australia and a few in south-east Asia. These are medium-sized to very large moths, usually with drab, cryptically-ma ...

family. It is native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, where it is found from

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and the

Guianas The Guianas, sometimes called by the Spanish loan-word ''Guayanas'' (''Las Guayanas''), is a region in north-eastern South America which includes the following three territories: * French Guiana, an overseas department and region of France * ...

, throughout the

Amazon basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. It has also been recorded as an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. The length of the forewings is 64–80 mm. Adults are dark brown with bluish or greenish hues. There is a whitish-cream transverse band and an apical whitish spotted band on the forewing. The hindwings are dark brown with a whitish-cream band. The spots are red or reddish with the middle spots larger in size. The larvae feed on ''

Saccharum officinarum ''Saccharum officinarum'' is a large, strong-growing species of grass in the genus ''Saccharum''. Its stout stalks are rich in sucrose, a simple sugar which accumulates in the stalk internodes. It originated in New Guinea, and is now cultivated ...

'', ''

Musa Musa may refer to: Places * Mūša, a river in Lithuania and Latvia * Musa, Azerbaijan, a village in Yardymli Rayon * Musa, Iran, a village in Ilam Province * Musa, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Iran *Musa, Kerman, Iran * Musa, Bukan, West Azerbaija ...

'', ''

Heliconia ''Heliconia'', derived from the Greek word (), is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae. Most of the ca 194 known species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the we ...

'' and '' Ichnosiphon'' species. It is considered a pest species. Young larvae make a small cavity and then tunnel into the heart of the cane of the host plant. They tunnel upwards and downwards, and create a shelter in the rootstock where they rest. Pupation takes place in the rootstock or at the base of the cane.A synopsis of the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) of Trinidad and Tobago
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Subspecies

*''Telchin licus licus'' (Brazil) *''Telchin licus albomaculata'' (Houlbert, 1917) (Colombia, Peru) *''Telchin licus chocoensis'' (Hopp, 1925) (Colombia) *''Telchin licus insularis'' (Houlbert, 1918) (Trinidad) *''Telchin licus laura'' (Druce, 1896) (Brazil) *''Telchin licus licoidella'' (Strand, 1913) (Peru) *''Telchin licus pauperata'' (Strand, 1913) (Surinam, French Guiana, Guyana) *''Telchin licus magdalena'' (Joicey & Talbot, 1925) (Colombia) *''Telchin licus microsticta'' (Rothschild, 1919) (Nicaragua) *''Telchin licus rubromaculata'' (Houlbert, 1917) (Brazil, Bolivia) *''Telchin licus talboti'' (Lathy, 1922) (Ecuador) *''Telchin licus vorax'' Lamas, 1995 (Peru) Telchin licus MHNT dos.jpg, ''Telchin licus'' MHNT Telchin licus MHNT ventre.jpg, ''Telchin licus'' - △ MHNT

References

External links

Castniinae (Lepidoptera: Castniidae) From Venezuela. V: Castnia Fabricius And Telchin HübnerThe Castniinae at the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn (Lepidoptera: Castniidae)
Castniidae Moths of South America {{Castniidae-stub