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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) » Pyraustinae » Pyraustini » Ostrinia

Genus Ostrinia

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · See Also · Internet References · Works Cited

European Corn Borer - Ostrinia nubilalis

European Corn Borer Moth - Hodges #4949 - Ostrinia nubilalis - male

Ostrinia penitalis - American Lotus Borer ? - Ostrinia penitalis

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 Pyraustinae

Tribe Pyraustini

Genus Ostrinia

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Ostrinia Hübner, 1825

Eupolemarcha Meyrick, 1937

Micractis Warren, 1892

Zeaphagus Agenjo, 1952

Numbers

4 species in our area (1).

Size

wingspan 20-32 mm

Identification

Adult: forewing yellowish to orangish with jagged or zigzag lines and variable darker shading

Larva: body pale brown or pinkish-gray with dark gray middorsal line on abdominal segments

Range

eastern two-thirds of North America

Habitat

corn fields, gardens, commercial crop plantations; adults are nocturnal and attracted to light

Season

adults fly from April to October

Food

Larvae feed on corn and a variety of other vegetables and herbaceous plants

Life Cycle

One generation per year in the north; three or four generations in the south

Remarks

Adult males have about 8000 sensilla on each antenna.(2)

See Also

some species of Crocidophora are similar

Orange-toned Mecyna (Mecyna submedialis) is very similar to the European Cornborer (O. nubilalis)

Internet References

pinned adult images of O. nubilalis and penitalis by Jim Vargo (Moth Photographers Group)

Works Cited

1.	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.

2.	The Insects : Structure and Function R. F. Chapman. 1998. Cambridge University Press.

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 13 March, 2006 - 2:11pm
Additional contributions by Marci Hess, Kyhl Austin, Robert H. Biagi
Last updated 24 September, 2023 - 9:18am

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