''Austromusotima camptozonale'', the climbing maidhair pyralid moth, is a

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

of the family

Crambidae Crambidae comprises the grass moth family of lepidopterans. They are variable in appearance, with the nominal subfamily Crambinae (grass moths) taking up closely folded postures on grass stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies ...

. It is native to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, but attempts have been made to introduce it to southern

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

as a biological control agent for Old World climbing fern. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is about 10 mm. The larvae feed on ''

Lygodium microphyllum ''Lygodium microphyllum'' (commonly known as, variously, climbing maidenhair fern, Old World climbing fern, small-leaf climbing fern, or snake fern) is a climbing fern originating in tropical Africa, Southeast Asia, Melanesia and Australia. It is ...

'', ''

Lygodium japonicum ''Lygodium japonicum'' is a species of fern that is known by the common names vine-like fern and Japanese climbing fern. It is native to eastern Asia, including Taiwan, Japan, Korea, southeastern Asia, and India, and eastern Australia. The fern i ...

'' and ''

Lygodium palmatum ''Lygodium palmatum'' is the only species of its genus native to North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by th ...

''.

References

External links

Efforts to establish a foliage-feeding moth, Austromusotima camptozonale, against Lygodium microphyllum in Florida, considered in the light of a retrospective review of establishment success of weed biocontrol agents
Musotiminae Moths of Australia Moths described in 1897 Taxa named by George Hampson {{Musotiminae-stub