Other Common Names
Tropical Sod Webworm (larva)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Herpetogramma phaeopteralis (Guenée, 1854)
Botys phaeopteralis Guenée, 1854
Acharana descripta Warren, 1892
Botys additalis Walker, 1862
Botys cellatalis Walker, 1866
Botys communalis Snellen, 1875
Botys inhonestalis Walker, 1866
Botys neloalis Walker, 1859
Botys otreusalis Walker, 1859
Botys plebejalis Lederer, 1863
Botys triarialis Walker, 1859
Botys tridentalis Snellen, 1872
Botys vecordalis Guenée, 1854
Botys vestalis Walker, 1859
Size
wingspan about 18 mm, based on photos by Jim Vargo at MPG
larvae to about 25 mm
Identification
Adult: forewing medium to dark grayish-brown with blackish AM and PM lines; PM line toothed, sinuous; two dark spots in median area, the outer one larger; hindwing with similar pattern but slightly paler; fringe dark on all wings
Larva: body grayish-green or yellowish-green with dark brown dots on each abdominal segment; head brown
Range
South Carolina to Florida, west to Texas, south through Central America to South America
Habitat
lawns, fields, golf courses; adults may be flushed from tall grass during the day but are nocturnal and attracted to light
Season
adults fly year-round in Florida but are more common from April to November, and most numerous in the fall
Food
larvae feed on leaves of grasses, and are pests of turfgrass companies and golf courses
Life Cycle
eggs are laid on grass at night, and hatch in about a week; larvae feed for 3-4 weeks; complete life cycle takes from 5 to 11 weeks; two to four generations per year
Remarks
Type locality: "Amérique Méridionale"
See Also
Herpetogramma aeglealis forewing is paler, and hindwing has some white on fringe;
Pilocrocis ramentalis forewing has whitish AM and PM lines; other related species have a differently-colored or paler forewing (
compare images of several species by Jim Vargo at MPG)
Penestola bufalis forewing PM line has large tooth near costa (
see photo by Jim Vargo at MPG)
Print References
Guenée, M. A. 1854: Deltoïdes et Pyralites. Pp. 349. – In: Boisduval, J. B. A. D. de & M. A. Guenée, Histoire Naturelle des Insectes. Species Général des Lépidoptères 8 8. – Roret, Paris.
Yamanaka, H. 1960: . – Tinea, Tokyo 5 (2): 325.
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - species page with photographs of living and pinned adults.
live adult image and common name reference [Tropical Sod Webworm] (G. McIlveen, Texas A&M U.)
pinned adult image plus distribution (Matthew Barnes, Moths of Belize)
live larva image plus common name reference [Tropical Sod Webworm; larva], biology, seasonality, damage (Eileen Buss, U. of Florida)
live larva image (turfgrass.com)
presence in Texas; list (James Gillaspy, U. of Texas)
