''Cactobrosis fernaldialis'', the blue cactus borer, is a species of snout moth in the genus ''

Cactobrosis ''Cactobrosis'' is a genus of snout moths in the subfamily Phycitinae. It was erected by Harrison Gray Dyar Jr. in 1914. Some sources list it as a synonym of ''Zophodia ''Zophodia'' is a genus of snout moths in the subfamily Phycitinae. It ...

''. It was described by George Duryea Hulst in 1886, and is found from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

to southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where it inhabits deserts. 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 36–47 mm for males and 34–50 mm for females. The forewings are narrow and gray, usually with a black streak in males that is lacking in females. Both sexes have a whitish antemedial fascia bordered by dark gray distally, and sometimes the whole basal area is black. Adults are on wing from late March to April and again from July to November. The larvae feed on '' Ferocactus wislizeni''. They feed in the base of the flower buds and also tunnel into the plant providing an open wound which may lead to bacterial infection and necrosis of the host plant.

References

Moths described in 1886 Phycitini {{Phycitini-stub