''Pectinophora'' is a genus of

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 ...

s in the family

Gelechiidae The Gelechiidae are a family of moths commonly referred to as twirler moths or gelechiid moths. They are the namesake family of the huge and little-studied Taxonomic rank, superfamily Gelechioidea, and the family's taxonomy (biology), taxonomy ...

. Perhaps the best known species is the

pink bollworm The pink bollworm (''Pectinophora gossypiella''; ) is an insect known for being a pest in cotton farming. The adult is a small, thin, gray moth with fringed wings. The larva is a dull white caterpillar with eight pairs of legs with conspicuous pin ...

, ''Pectinophora gossypiella'' (Saunders). ''P. gossypiella'' is one of the world's most destructive insect pests that causes terrible damage to

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 ...

bolls. The larvae (caterpillars) bore into the bolls, causing them to fall or the blossoms to fail to open. The larvae tunnel through the immature lint and into the seeds eating them. As a result, the lint may be unpickable or so stunted as to greatly lower the yield and grade. The yield of oil from the seeds is greatly reduced. Double seeds are found when the cotton is gained, two partly eaten seeds being fastened together.

Species

Species of this genus include:Markku Savela's ftp.funet.fi
/ref> *'' Pectinophora endema'' Common, 1958 (from Australia) *'' Pectinophora fusculella'' (Pagenstecher, 1900) (from New Guinea) *''

Pectinophora gossypiella The pink bollworm (''Pectinophora gossypiella''; ) is an insect known for being a pest in cotton farming. The adult is a small, thin, gray moth with fringed wings. The larva is a dull white caterpillar with eight pairs of legs with conspicuous pin ...

'' (Saunders 1844) (paleotropical distribution) - pink bollworm *''

Pectinophora scutigera ''Pectinophora scutigera'', the Queensland pink bollworm or pinkspotted bollworm, is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. It was described by Holdaway in 1926 from Australia, where it occurs in coastal and central Queensland. It has also been record ...

'' (Holdaway, 1926) (from Australia/New Guinea)

References

Pexicopiini Gelechiidae genera Taxa named by August Busck {{Apatetrinae-stub