Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Eoreuma loftini (Dyar, 1917)
Chilo loftini Dyar 1917
Chilo opinionellus Dyar 1917
(1) Size
Powell & Opler (2009) reported the forewing length as 10-13 mm.
(2)
WS (Chilo loftini): 23 mm (Dyar, 1917)
WS (Chilo opinionellus): 16 mm (Dyar, 1917)
Identification
Apex of fore wing acute; whitish straw-color, the veins light, edged on each side by a line of fine brown scales, which diffuse in the interspaces ; a small black discal dot ; a row of terminal black dots in the interspaces, connected by a slender line; fringe interlined with brown. (Dyar, 1917)
Range
Florida to California; south to Central America.
(3),
(2)
First recorded in Florida on 23 March 2012, in Goethe State Forest, Levy County.
(4)Season
The adults are most common during the months of April to October.
(3)Food
The larvae feed on various members of Poaceae including
Saccharum (sugar cane),
Triticum (wheat),
Oryza (rice),
Zea (corn and milo),
Hordeum (barley), and members of Cannaceae including
Canna.
(2)Remarks
Eoreuma loftini is considered a major pest of sugarcane, rice, and other grass crops Texas, Louisiana and Mexico.
(4)
There are many online references with information on the pest status.
See Also
Eoreuma densella in the southeastern United States. "It [
E. loftini] looks very much like
Platytes densellus Zeller, but the front is strongly tuberculate, which is not the case in that species." (Dyar, 1917)
Eoreuma multipunctellus "The species [
E. loftini]... is not as white and is more distinctly and clearly marked." (Dyar, 1917)
Print References
Dyar, H. G. 1917: Seven new crambids from the United States (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae).
Insecutor Inscitiae Menstruus 5 (4–6):
85.
Klots, A. B. 1970: North American Crambinae. Notes on the tribe Chiloini and a revision of the genera Eoreuma Ely and Xubida Schaus (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae).
Journal of the New York Entomological Society 78(2): 107, fig. 2.
(1)
Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler. 2009.
Moths of Western North America. University of California Press., pl. 24, fig. 32; p. 183.
(2)Contributed by
Maury J. Heiman on 3 September, 2013 - 8:48am
Additional contributions by
Steve NanzLast updated 27 March, 2016 - 8:56am