''Eudocima phalonia'', the common fruit-piercing moth, is a fruit piercing

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 family

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwings ('' Catocala'') ...

. The species was first described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in his 1763 ''

Centuria Insectorum The first page of ''Centuria Insectorum'', as included in ''Amoenitates Academicæ'' ' (Latin, "one hundred insects") is a 1763 taxonomic work by Carl Linnaeus, and defended as a thesis by Boas Johansson; which of the two men should for taxonomi ...

''. It is found in large parts of the tropics, mainly in Asia, Africa and Australia but introduced into other areas such as

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New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and the

Society Islands The Society Islands (french: Îles de la Société, officially ''Archipel de la Société;'' ty, Tōtaiete mā) are an archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the F ...

. It is one of major fruit pests in the world.

Description

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 about 80–94 mm in male. Palpi with third joint long and spatulate at extremity. Forewings with non-crenulate cilia in male, crenulate in female. Head and thorax reddish brown with plum-color suffusion. Abdomen orange. Forewings reddish brown, usually with a greenish tinge and irrorated with dark specks. An oblique antemedial line present, which is generally dark and indistinct but sometimes pale and prominent. Reniform indistinct. A curve postmedial line found, which is almost always met by an oblique streak from apex. Hindwings orange, with a large black lunule beyond lower angle of cell. There is a marginal black band with cilia pale spots runs from costa to vein 2. Ventral side of forewings with orange postmedial band. The

is about 90–110 mm in female. Female has much more variegated and dark reddish brown striated forewings. Reniform dark and sending a spur along median nervure to below the orbicular speck. There is a triangular white mark usually present on the postmedial line below vein 3. Larva has dilated 11th somite and surrounded by a tubercle. Body purplish brown, where dorsum brown from 6th to 11th somites. Legs red and spiracular scarlet patches largest posteriorly and with some irregular white markings round them, on somite 9 in the form of an oblique white bar. There is a yellow sub-basal mark found on 4th somite. Fifth and sixth somites have black ocelli with yellow iris and white pupils. Two yellow patches can be seen on 11th somite. The adult is considered an agricultural pest, causing damage to many fruit crops by piercing it with its strong proboscis in order to suck the juice. Attempts have been made to control them using baits for the adults, egg parasites and larval parasitoids.

Ecology

The larvae feed mainly on vines belonging to the Menispermaceae but have also adapted to species of ''

Erythrina ''Erythrina'' is a genus of plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 130 species, which are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. They are trees, with the larger species growing up to in height. The generic na ...

'' and are known to feed on ''

Erythrina crista-galli ''Erythrina crista-galli'', often known as the cockspur coral tree, is a flowering tree in the family Fabaceae, native to Argentina, Uruguay, southern Brazil and Paraguay. It is widely planted as a street or garden tree in other countries, not ...

'', ''

Erythrina fusca ''Erythrina fusca'' is a species of flowering tree in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is known by many common names, including purple coraltree, gallito, bois immortelle, bucayo, and the more ambiguous "bucare" and "coral bean". ''E. fusca'' ...

'', ''

Erythrina variegata ''Erythrina variegata'', commonly known as tiger's claw or Indian coral tree, is a species of '' Erythrina'' native to the tropical and subtropical regions of eastern Africa, the Indian subcontinent, northern Australia, and the islands of the In ...

'', '' Carronia multisepala'', '' Hypserpa decumbens'', '' Legnephora moorei'', ''

Pleogyne australis ''Pleogyne'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Menispermaceae. The only species is ''Pleogyne australis''. Its native range is Northern Western Australia, Northeastern and Eastern Queensland ) , nickname = Suns ...

'', ''

Sarcopetalum harveyanum ''Sarcopetalum harveyanum'', known as the pearl vine, is a common plant found mostly in coastal areas of eastern Australia. It can be found in or around rainforests, and is also seen in eucalyptus forests. The leaf stalk is attached under the ...

'', '' Stephania aculeata'', '' Stephania forsteri'', '' Stephania japonica'' and ''

Tinospora smilacina ''Tinospora smilacina'' is a woody vine in the Menispermaceae family. It was first described by George Bentham in 1861. The Walmajarri The Walmadjari (Walmajarri) people, also known as Tjiwaling and Wanaseka, are an Aboriginal Australian pe ...

''. Infected plant parts are mostly the fruits. Fruits show sap ooze out and internal feeding of the caterpillar. Fruits may show premature drop. Adults penetrate the skin or rind with a strong, barbed proboscis. Damaged parts become spongy and with many lesions.

Gallery

File:OthreisFullonica13-1-m.jpg, Male File:OthreisFullonica13-1-f.jpg, Female File:Eudocima phalonia female dorsal.jpg, Female, dorsal view File:Eudocima phalonia female ventral.jpg, Female, ventral view File:Eudocima phalonia male dorsal.jpg, Male, dorsal view File:Eudocima phalonia male ventral.jpg, Male, ventral view File:OthreisFullonica12-1-l.jpg, Larva File:OthreisFullonica12-1-p.jpg, Pupa File:Eudocima_phalonia_Male.jpg, Male,

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

References

9. DAR, A. A., & JAMAL, K. (2021). Moth (Insecta: Lepidoptera) fauna of Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India. Notulae Scientia Biologicae, 13(2), 10906. https://doi.org/10.15835/nsb13210906

External links

Attraction of fruit-piercing moth ''Eudocima phalonia'' (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to different fruit baits

USDA informationSeasonal population of the fruit-piercing moths ''Eudocima'' spp.An overlooked sibling of the fruit-piercing moth ''Eudocima phalonia''
{{Taxonbar , from=Q5406572 phalonia Moths of Africa Moths of Asia Moths of Oceania Moths of Australia Moths of Japan Moths of Madagascar Moths of Réunion Lepidoptera of Cameroon Lepidoptera of Uganda Moths of the Comoros Insects of Southeast Asia Insects of Eritrea Lepidoptera of Rwanda Moths of São Tomé and Príncipe Moths described in 1763 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus