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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Pyralid and Crambid Snout Moths (Pyraloidea) » Crambid Snout Moths (Crambidae) » Crambine Snout Moths (Crambinae) » Grass-Veneers (Crambini) » Crambus

Genus Crambus

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Internet References · Works Cited

Eastern Grass-veneer - Crambus laqueatellus

Double-banded Grass-veneer - Crambus agitatellus

Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)

Superfamily Pyraloidea (Pyralid and Crambid Snout Moths)

Family Crambidae (Crambid Snout Moths)

Subfamily Crambinae (Crambine Snout Moths)

Tribe Crambini (Grass-Veneers)

Genus Crambus

Other Common Names

grass moths (adult)

grass-veneers (adult)

snout moths (adult)

webworms (larva)

sod webworms (larva)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Crambus Fabricius, 1798

Palparia Haworth, 1811

Chilus Billberg, 1820

Tetrachila Hübner, 1822

Argyroteuchia Hübner, [1825]

Arequipa Walker, 1863

Explanation of Names

Generic epithet Crambus is Greek meaning "dry, parched." Also, in Greek mythology, the child of Phineus and Cleopatra. (1)

Numbers

42 species in our area. (2) It is the second most speciose Pyraloid genus in our area (Pyrausta has 61 named species in our area).

Identification

Adult - forewing slender, held close to body when at rest, variably brown to yellowish to whitish, often with white longitudinal streak; long labial palps form a snout.

Range

Throughout United States and southern Canada. Also represented throughout Eurasia.

Habitat

Fields, grassy areas, lawns, waste places; some species may be active during the day but mainly crepuscular/nocturnal and attracted to light.

Food

Larvae feed mostly on grasses.

Internet References

pinned adult images of 15 species by Jim Vargo (Moth Photographers Group)

links to adult images of 15 species (Larry Line, Maryland)

links to many adult images from Eurasia and North America (Markku Savela, FUNET)

Works Cited

1.	An accentuated list of the British Lepidoptera, with hints on the derivation of the names. Anonymous. 1858. The Entomological Societies of Oxford and Cambridge.

2.	Annotated check list of the Pyraloidea (Lepidoptera) of America North of Mexico Scholtens, B.G., Solis, A.M. 2015. ZooKeys 535: 1–136. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.535.6086.

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 22 February, 2005 - 1:24am
Additional contributions by Randy Hardy, Kyhl Austin
Last updated 29 March, 2016 - 1:48am

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