''Cryptoblabes gnidiella'', the honeydew moth or Christmasberry moth, 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 family

Pyralidae 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 Pyrali ...

. It is natively found around the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

but occurs also in Africa (South Africa, Réunion, Madagascar, Ghana), the Oriental & Australasian region (Australia, Hawaii, New Guinea)Afromoths.net
/ref> and is an introduced species in

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 ...

and Middle America. 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 11–20 mm. The caterpillars feed on

oranges An orange is a fruit of various citrus species in the family Rutaceae (see list of plants known as orange); it primarily refers to ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', which is also called sweet orange, to distinguish it from the related ''Citrus × ...

and other types of

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...

fruit,

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

and

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

. The adults feed on honeydew, and their association with the Christmasberry (Brazilian pepper, ''Schinus terebinthifolius'') seems to be mainly for that reason. This species has been reported from several dozen host plants, including many cultivated plants, especially fruits (e.g. grapes, lemons, and pomegranates). It is considered a serious pest together with accompanying insects.

References

2. Dawidowicz, Łukasz & Rozwałka, Robert. (2016). POLISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY Honeydew Moth Cryptoblabes gnidiella (MILLIÈRE, 1867) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae): an adventive species frequently imported with fruit to Poland. Polish Journal of Entomology. 85. 10.1515/pjen-2016-0010.

External links

''Cryptoblabes gnidiella'' and ''C. aliena''
Moths described in 1867 Cryptoblabini Moths of Japan Moths of Europe Moths of Réunion Moths of New Zealand Moths of Asia Moths of Africa Insect pests of millets Moths of Madagascar {{Cryptoblabini-stub