''Crocidosema plebejana'', the cotton tipworm, is a

tortrix moth The Tortricidae are a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths or leafroller moths, in the order Lepidoptera. This large family has over 11,000 species described, and is the sole member of the superfamily Tortricoidea, although the genus ...

(

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Tortricidae), belonging to

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

Eucosmini The Eucosmini are a tribe of tortrix moth The Tortricidae are a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths or leafroller moths, in the order Lepidoptera. This large family has over 11,000 species described, and is the sole member of the ...

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Olethreutinae Olethreutinae is a subfamily of moths in the family Tortricidae. Genera ''incertae sedis'' This tortricine genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms a ...

. It is found today all over the

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

and

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

regions of the world and even occurs on many

oceanic island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s – in

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

and

Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

for example – but has probably been accidentally introduced to much of its current range by humans. In addition, it is also found in some cooler regions, e.g. in Europe except in the east and north; this is probably also not natural, as it was, for example, not recorded in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

before 1900. It is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of its

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Crocidosema'', established by

Philipp Christoph Zeller Philipp Christoph Zeller (8 April 1808 – 27 March 1883) was a German entomologist. Zeller was born at Steinheim an der Murr, Württemberg, two miles from Marbach, the birthplace of Schiller. The family moved to Frankfurt (Oder) where Philipp ...

when he described the present species in 1847, as he found it unlike any moth then known to science.

Description and ecology

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 ...

of adults is 12–16 mm. Males are dark brown to black with a white ocellus and dorsal patch. Females are pale brown to tan with a dark basal patch that does not extend to the costa. Julius von Kennel provides a full description. In the seasonal parts of its range, this moth flies from midsummer to early autumn, e.g. from July to October in southern England. It is not quite clear whether there are several broods per year in the tropics, as it has been recorded on the

Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in th ...

only between January and April for example. The adults are active in the evening and are attracted to lights.Clarke (1986), Kimber

011 The following is a list of different international call prefixes that need to be dialled when placing an international telephone call from different countries. Countries by international prefix Countries using optional carrier selection cod ...

/ref> The

larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

mainly feed inside the seed capsules and shoots of

Malvaceae Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar ...

such as China jute (''Abutilon theophrasti''), marsh mallow (''Althaea officinalis''), the tree mallow (''

Lavatera arborea ''Malva arborea'' (also known as ''Lavatera arborea'', or, more recently as ''Malva eriocalyx''), the tree mallow, is a species of mallow native to the coasts of western Europe and the Mediterranean region, from Ireland and Britain south to Alger ...

''), arrowleaf sida (''Sida rhombifolia''), and various ''

Gossypium ''Gossypium'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Gossypieae of the mallow family, Malvaceae, from which cotton is harvested. It is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Old and New Worlds. There are about 50 ''Gossypiu ...

'' (cottons) and ''

Malva ''Malva'' is a genus of herbaceous annual, biennial, and perennial plants in the family Malvaceae. It is one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow. The genus is widespread throughout the temper ...

'' (typical mallows) species. The caterpillars have been found on other

eurosid The rosids are members of a large clade ( monophyletic group) of flowering plants, containing about 70,000 species, more than a quarter of all angiosperms. The clade is divided into 16 to 20 orders, depending upon circumscription and classific ...

s, including ''

Crataegus ''Crataegus'' (), commonly called hawthorn, quickthorn, thornapple, Voss, E. G. 1985. ''Michigan Flora: A guide to the identification and occurrence of the native and naturalized seed-plants of the state. Part II: Dicots (Saururaceae–Cornacea ...

'' hawthorns (

Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus ''Rosa''. Among the most species-rich genera are ''Alchemilla'' (270), ''Sorbus ...

), ''

Cucurbita pepo ''Cucurbita pepo'' is a cultivated plant of the genus ''Cucurbita''. It yields varieties of winter squash and pumpkin, but the most widespread varieties belong to the subspecies ''Cucurbita pepo'' subsp. ''pepo'', called summer squash. It has b ...

'' pumpkins (

Cucurbitaceae The Cucurbitaceae, also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family consisting of about 965 species in around 95 genera, of which the most important to humans are: *''Cucurbita'' – squash, pumpkin, zucchini, some gourds *''Lagena ...

), and ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

'' (

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All speci ...

). They may occasionally become pests of cotton.

Synonyms

This species was described time and again under different names from all over its wide range. But not even

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are accepted today, rendering all those other names invalid. In addition, it was variously assigned to other tortrix moth genera – usually close relatives of ''Crocidosema'' such as ''

Epinotia ''Epinotia'' is a very large genus of tortrix moths (family Tortricidae). It belongs to the tribe Eucosmini of subfamily Olethreutinae. Species 166 species of ''Epinotia'' were considered valid as of 2009. Though many tortrix moth genera are fai ...

'' (under its

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

s ''Paedisca'', ''Proteopteryx'' and ''Steganoptycha'') or ''

Eucosma ''Eucosma apacheana'' ''Eucosma'' is a very large genus of moths belonging to the family Tortricidae. Some taxonomies place a number of species in the genus ''Eucopina'' (e. g.: ''E. bobana, E. cocana, E. tocullionana''). The genus has a Holarct ...

'', but sometimes more distantly related

such as ''

Grapholita ''Grapholita'' is a large genus of tortrix moths (family Tortricidae). It belongs to subfamily Olethreutinae, and therein to the tribe Grapholitini, of which it is the type genus.Baixeras et al. (2009a) Taxonomy and systematics Georg Friedrich T ...

'' (under the spelling variant ''Grapholitha'') and ''

Hedya ''Hedya'' is a genus of moths belonging to the subfamily Olethreutinae of the family Tortricidae. Species *'' Hedya abjecta'' Falkovitsh, 1962 *'' Hedya anaplecta'' (Meyrick, 1909) *'' Hedya atrifraga'' Diakonoff, 1968 *'' Hedya auricristana'' ...

'' (as ''Penthina'', a misspelling of the junior synonym ''Pendina''). In addition to being the

of ''Crocidosema'', one of these redescriptions – at that time still unrecognized as what it was – was used as late as 1965 to establish the genus ''Parasuleima'' as supposedly distinct from ''Crocidosema''. The invalid

scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

s of this moth are:Clarke (1986), Baixeras ''et al.'' (2010) * ''Crocidosema blackburnii'' (Butler, 1881) * ''Crocidosema bostrychodes'' Diakonoff, 1992 * ''Crocidosema iris'' Diakonoff, 1984 * ''Crocidosema plebeiana'' (''

lapsus In philology, a lapsus (Latin for "lapse, slip, error") is an involuntary mistake made while writing or speaking. Investigations In 1895 an investigation into verbal slips was undertaken by a philologist and a psychologist, Rudolf Meringer and K ...

'') * ''Crocidosema plebiana'' (''lapsus'') * ''Crocidosema ptiladelpha'' Meyrick, 1917 * ''Crocidosema synneurota'' Meyrick, 1926 * ''Eucosma charmera'' Turner, 1946 * ''Eucosma plebeiana'' (''lapsus'') * ''Eucosma tornocycla'' Turner, 1946 * ''Grapholitha altheana'' (Mann, 1855) * ''Grapholitha excitana'' Moschler, 1891 * ''Grapholitha peregrinana'' Moschler, 1866 * ''Paedisca lavaterana'' Milliere, 1863 * ''Parasuleima insulana'' (Aurivillius in Skottsberg, 1922) * ''Penthina altheana'' Mann, 1855 * ''Proteopteryx blackburnii'' Butler, 1881 * ''Stechanoptycha altheana'' (''lapsus'') * ''Steganoptycha altheana'' (Mann, 1855) * ''Steganoptycha obscura'' E. Wollaston, 1879 * ''Steganoptycha signatana'' Walsingham, 1894 (''non'' Douglas, 1845:

preoccupied The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linn ...

)

Footnotes

References

* (2010)
Online World Catalogue of the Tortricidae
&ndash
''Crocidosema'' species list
Version 2.0. Retrieved 15 October 2011. * (1986): Pyralidae and Microlepidoptera of the Marquesas Archipelago. ''Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology'' 416: 1-485
PDF fulltext
(214 MB!) * (2009)
''Crocidosema plebejana''
Version 2.1, 22 December 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2019. *

UKMoths &ndash
''Crocidosema plebejana''
Retrieved 15 October 2011. * (2004a)
Butterflies and Moths of the World, Generic Names and their Type-species
&ndash
''Crocidosema''
Version of 5 November 2004. Retrieved 15 October 2011. * (2004b)
Butterflies and Moths of the World, Generic Names and their Type-species
&ndash
''Parasuleima''
Version of 5 November 2004. Retrieved 15 October 2011. {{Taxonbar , from=Q1361357 Eucosmini Moths described in 1847 Moths of Africa Moths of Japan Moths of Madagascar Moths of Mauritius Moths of New Zealand Moths of São Tomé and Príncipe Moths of Seychelles Moths of Asia Tortricidae of Europe Taxa named by Philipp Christoph Zeller