''Mocis frugalis'', the sugarcane looper, is a moth of the family

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family (biology), family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwin ...

. 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 1775. It is found in several parts of the world, including

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 ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, West African countries and other Oriental regions. The adult is a fruit piercer and a major pest of crops.

Taxonomy

In a recent publication ''

Mocis proverai ''Mocis proverai'' is a moth of the family Erebidae first described by Alberto Zilli in 2000. It is found in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. In a recent publication ''Mocis frugalis'', that is found in Asia and Australia was promoted to a sep ...

'', that is found in Africa and on the Arabian peninsula has been promoted to a separate species. Both species can be distinguished by microscopic examination of their

genitalia A sex organ, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction. Sex organs constitute the primary sex characteristics of an organism. Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting ...

Description

Its wingspan is . Male with the hind tibia and tarsi clothed with long thick pile. It has a grey-brown body. Forewing with a diffused dark mark above the centre of vein 1; an oblique postmedial line pale inwardly, red brown outwardly; a submarginal series of black specks. Hindwing with postmedial and diffused submarginal lines. Some specimens have a black spot above inner margin of forewing before the middle. Larva pale yellowish ochreous, with darker lines. Two subdorsal lines present and with a sublateral series of olivaceous spots. The 4th and 5th somites are edged behind with black. Food plants include

Zingiberaceae Zingiberaceae () or the ginger family is a family of flowering plants made up of about 50 genera with a total of about 1600 known species of aromatic perennial herbs with creeping horizontal or tuberous rhizomes distributed throughout tropical ...

species, ''

Andropogon ''Andropogon'' (common names: beard grass, bluestem grass, broomsedge) is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to much of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as Southern Europe and various oceanic islands. Over 100 speci ...

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Eleusine ''Eleusine'' is a genus of Asian, African, and South American plants in the grass family,Oryza ''Oryza'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. It includes the major food crop rice (species '' Oryza sativa'' and '' Oryza glaberrima''). Members of the genus grow as tall, wetland grasses, growing to tall; the genus includes both annua ...

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Panicum ''Panicum'' (panicgrass) is a large genus of about 250 species of Poaceae, grasses native throughout the tropical regions of the world, with a few species extending into the northern temperate zone. They are often large, Annual plant, annual or P ...

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Paspalum ''Paspalum'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. The group is widespread across much of Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. Commonly known as paspalum, bahiagrasses, crowngrasses or dallis grasses, many of the species are tall per ...

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Saccharum ''Saccharum'' is a genus of tall perennial plants of the broomsedge tribe within the grass family. The genus is widespread across tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions in Africa, Eurasia, Australia, the Americas, and assorted ocean ...

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Sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

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Typhonium ''Typhonium'' is a genus in the family Araceae native to eastern and southern Asia, New Guinea, and Australia. It is most often found growing in wooded areas.Bown, Deni (2000). ''Aroids: Plants of the Arum Family''. Timber Press. . ;Species #'' ...

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Cyperus ''Cyperus'' is a large genus of about 700 species of sedges, distributed throughout all continents in both tropical and temperate regions. Description They are annual or perennial plants, mostly aquatic and growing in still or slow-moving ...

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Glycine Glycine (symbol Gly or G; ) is an amino acid that has a single hydrogen atom as its side chain. It is the simplest stable amino acid. Glycine is one of the proteinogenic amino acids. It is encoded by all the codons starting with GG (G ...

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Medicago ''Medicago'' is a genus of flowering plants, commonly known as medick or burclover, in the legume family (Fabaceae). It contains at least 87 species and is distributed mainly around the Mediterranean Basin, and extending across temperate Eurasia ...

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Vigna ''Vigna'' is a genus of plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution.Aitawade, M. M., et al. (2012)Section ''Ceratotropis'' of subgenus ''Ceratotropis'' of ''Vigna'' (Leguminosae–Papilionoideae) in India with a new ...

''. Eggs are darkish green, blotched with dark purple. , ,

References

External links

*Zilli A. (2000)
"African-Arabian and Asian-Pacific ''Mocis frugalis'': Two distinct species (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)"
''

European Journal of Entomology ''European Journal of Entomology'' (''EJE'') is a quarterly peer-reviewed open access scientific journal published by the Czech Academy of Sciences. It covers research in entomology, including Myriapoda, Chelicerata, and terrestrial Crustacea. It w ...

'', jrg. 97, nr. 3, pp. 419–426
Abstract
Moths of Africa Moths of the Comoros Moths of Asia Moths of Japan Moths of Madagascar Moths of Mauritius Moths of New Zealand Moths of Réunion Moths of Seychelles Moths of the Middle East Moths described in 1775 frugalis Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius Insect pests of millets {{Euclidiini-stub