Species Parapediasia teterrellus - Bluegrass Webworm Moth - Hodges#5451

5451

Bluegrass Webworm (larva)

Bluegrass Sod Webworm Moth (adult)

Bluegrass Sod Webworm (larva)

Parapediasia teterrellus (Zincken, 1821)

Chilo teterrellus Zincken, 1821

Crambus camurellus Clemens, 1860

Forewing length 7-10 mm. (1)

Wingspan 15-21 mm. (2)

Mature larva length 15-20 mm

Adult - mouthparts project foreward from head to form a snout; forewing variably pale brown to medium brownish-gray with jagged PM line, often having two large "teeth"; two dark gray or blackish streaks or blotches in medial area usually extend into the "teeth" of the PM line; ST line smooth and mostly straight, running parallel to outer margin for about two-thirds its length, then angling basally before reaching costa; terminal line dark, thin, edged proximally by several black dots; fringe pale brown; hindwing brownish-gray, more than twice as broad as forewing, with pale fringe.

Larva - head dark gray; body greenish-gray with series of spots forming ring around each abdominal segment. (3)

Ontario and New England to Florida, west to California, north to Nebraska.

Lawns, golf courses, grassy areas in general; adults may be flushed from grass during the day but are crepuscular/nocturnal and attracted to light.

Bivoltine On Block Island, RI, the first generation flying mainly early June to early July and the second early August to early September.(4)

Larvae were reared on a variety of grasses with a pronounced preference for Kentucky Bluegrass (Poa pratensis). (3)

Multivoltine; overwinters as a mature larva within silk-lined tunnel in soil or thatch; in late spring and again in mid-summer, females drop eggs randomly while flying low over grass; generation time is 4-10 weeks, depending on temperature. (3)

One of the first Pyraloid moths recorded in North America! (1)

Fissicrambus mutabilis          Pediasia trisecta

         

Moth Photographers Group