Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Elasmopalpus lignosella (Zeller, 1848)
Pempelia lignosella (Zeller, 1848)
Elasmopalpus angustellus (Blanchard, 1852)
Size
Luginbill & Ainslie (1917) reported the wingspan 17-22 mm.
Larva to 16 mm
Pupa 8.2 mm
Cocoon 15.9 mm
Identification
Adult - sexually dimorphic. Males are tan with dark streaks along the costa and inner margin. The tan coloring is reduced to a longitudinal stripe in the females and they have much more dark scaling. Some females are basically black with red scaling at the base of the forewing.
(1)Range
Eastern and southwestern United States and south throughout South America.
Habitat
Can be abundant in cultivated fields with poor soils.
Food
Luginbill & Ainslie (1917) stated the larvae feed on grasses and a variety of commercial crops including beans, corn (a serious pest), cowpeas, peanuts, sorghum, sugar cane, turnips, wheat.
Life Cycle
Luginbill & Ainslie (1917) describe life cycle in
PDF
Overwinter as larvae or pupae.
(2)
Up to 4 generations per year in the south.
(2)Print References
Luginbill, P. & G.G. Ainslie 1917. The lesser corn stalk-borer.
USDA Bulletin 539:
1-27.
PDF
Neunzig, H.H. 2003.
The Moths of America North of Mexico, Fascicle 15.5. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation., p. 232; plate 9, figs. 9-10.
(3)
Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler 2009.
Moths of Western North America. University of California Press. plate 26, fig. 2; p. 193.
(1)