''Crocidolomia pavonana'' 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 ...

. Its caterpillar is a crop pest and is known as the croci or the cabbage cluster caterpillar. This moth is found in Africa and Asia, its range extending from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

through

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, including

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 ...

. 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 . The larvae feed on

Brassicaceae Brassicaceae () or (the older but equally valid) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important Family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous pla ...

species and are considered an agricultural pest on cabbages. The species was first described by

Johan Christian Fabricius Johann Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is co ...

in 1794.

Description

The adult male is between long with a wingspan of , and the female is slightly smaller. Both are rather variable in colouring but have brownish markings on a cream background. The male can be distinguished by the tufts of dark-coloured hairs at the front of the forewings. The eggs are pale green and up to three hundred are laid in an overlapping pile that may be in diameter. The larvae are grey with dark heads when they hatch and later become green with dark heads and five fine pale yellow longitudinal stripes. The pupa is cylindrical, olive green to light brown, becoming darker shortly before emergence. It is surrounded by a silken cocoon.

Distribution and host plants

''Crocidolomia pavonana'' is found in the tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, Asia and Australia. Its range extends from South Africa and Madagascar through India, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines to northern Australia. Host plants eaten by the larvae include the

brassica ''Brassica'' () is a genus of plants in the cabbage and mustard family (Brassicaceae). The members of the genus are informally known as cruciferous vegetables, cabbages, mustard plants, or simply brassicas. Crops from this genus are sometim ...

ceous plants ''

Brassica oleracea ''Brassica oleracea'', also known as wild cabbage in its uncultivated form, is a plant of the family Brassicaceae. The species originated from feral populations of related plants in the Eastern Mediterranean, where it was most likely first cultiv ...

'' and ''

Brassica rapa ''Brassica rapa'' is a plant species that has been widely cultivated into many forms, including the turnip (a root vegetable), komatsuna, napa cabbage, bomdong, bok choy, and rapini. ''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''oleifera'' is an oilseed c ...

'' and their varieties, but also

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

(''Gossypium''),

pigeon pea The pigeon pea (''Cajanus cajan'') or toor dal is a perennial legume from the family (biology), family Fabaceae native to the Eastern Hemisphere. The pigeon pea is widely cultivated in tropical and semitropical regions around the world, being com ...

(''Cajanus cajan''), '' Gynandropsis'', nasturtium (''Tropaeolum'') and

radish The radish (''Raphanus sativus'') is a flowering plant in the mustard family, Brassicaceae. Its large taproot is commonly used as a root vegetable, although the entire plant is edible and its leaves are sometimes used as a leaf vegetable. Origina ...

(''Raphanus'').

Damage

The eggs take about four days to hatch. The young larvae feed on the underside of the leaf on which they hatch before moving on to other parts of the plant. They pass through five

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

s over a period of about twelve days, burrowing into the centre of the plant after about four days. If the apical

meristem In cell biology, the meristem is a structure composed of specialized tissue found in plants, consisting of stem cells, known as meristematic cells, which are undifferentiated cells capable of continuous cellular division. These meristematic c ...

is damaged, multiple heads may be produced or the plant may die. The larvae from a single egg cluster can destroy a whole cabbage or cauliflower plant.

Ecology

In tests in Uganda it was determined that when offered six

ceous crops,

white cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&nbs ...

broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the Brassicaceae, cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large Pseudanthium, flowering head, plant stem, stalk and small associated leafy gre ...

cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables cultivated from the species '' Brassica oleracea'' in the genus '' Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. Cauliflower usually grows with one main stem that carries a large, rou ...

kale Kale (), also called leaf cabbage, belongs to a group of cabbage (''Brassica oleracea'') cultivars primarily grown for their Leaf vegetable, edible leaves; it has also been used as an ornamental plant. Its multiple different cultivars vary quite ...

Chinese cabbage Chinese cabbage (''Brassica rapa'', subspecies ''pekinensis'' and ''chinensis'') is either of two cultivar groups of leaf vegetables often used in Chinese cuisine: the Pekinensis Group (napa cabbage) and the Chinensis Group (bok choy). These v ...

and

Indian mustard ''Brassica juncea'', commonly mustard greens, brown mustard, Chinese mustard, Indian mustard, Korean green mustard, leaf mustard, Oriental mustard and vegetable mustard, is a species of mustard plant. Cultivar ''Brassica juncea'' cultivars ca ...

, the insect preferred to lay its eggs on Chinese cabbage and broccoli. Offered the choice of Chinese cabbage and white cabbage, the reduction of egg laying on the white cabbage ranged from 69 to 100%. Several parasitoids are known to attack the larvae of this moth in different parts of its range. These include

braconid The Braconidae are a family of parasitoid wasps. After the closely related Ichneumonidae, braconids make up the second-largest family in the order Hymenoptera, with about 17,000 recognized species and many thousands more undescribed. One analysis ...

wasps and tachinid flies, and in India the larvae are preyed on by a predatory bug in the family

Pentatomidae Pentatomidae is a family of insects belonging to the order Hemiptera, generally called shield bugs or stink bugs. Pentatomidae is the largest family in the superfamily Pentatomoidea, and contains around 900 genera and over 4700 species.Robert G ...

References

External links

Species info

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5187283 Evergestinae Moths described in 1794 Moths of Madagascar Lepidoptera of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Moths of Japan Moths of the Comoros Moths of Mauritius Moths of Seychelles Insects of Somalia Lepidoptera of Tanzania Moths of Réunion Moths of Africa Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius