Almond Moth

Almond Moth
Almond Moth
Caterpillar (below) and pupa (above) in peanut husks
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pyralidae
Tribe: Phycitini
Genus: Cadra
Species: C. cautella
Binomial name
Cadra cautella
(Walker, 1863)
Synonyms

Numerous, see text

The Almond Moth or tropical warehouse moth (Cadra cautella) is a small stored-product pest. It belongs to the snout moths (family Pyralidae), more specifically to the tribe Phycitini of the huge snout moth subfamily Phycitinae. This species is often confused with the related Indianmeal Moth (Plodia interpunctella).

Other common names – particularly in the non-biological literature – are dried currant moth and fig moth, which invite confusion with the close relatives C. figulilella (Raisin Moth) and C. calidella (Dried Fruit Moth). C. cautella has achieved an essentially cosmopolitan distribution due to inadvertent transport with its larval food; it has, for example, been transported across Polynesia with copra shipments.[1]

Adults live for about 10 days after eclosion and do not eat, but may drink if water is available. The mating system is polygamous; many females will only mate once, however. In mating, which takes several hours, the abdomens are placed end to end.

It infests flour, bran, oats and other grains, as well as[2] dried fruits. Caterpillars are cannibalistic and will even feed on their siblings.

Synonyms

Due to its wide distribution and accidental introductions, it has become known under a number of junior synonyms:[3]

  • Cadra defectella Walker, 1864
  • Cryptoblabes formosella Wileman & South, 1918
  • Ephestia cautella (Walker, 1863)
  • Ephestia irakella Amsel, 1959
  • Ephestia passulella Barrett, 1875
  • Ephestia pelopis Turner, 1947
  • Ephestia rotundatella Turati, 1930
  • Nephopteryx desuetella Walker, 1866
  • Nephopterix passulella (Barret, 1875)
  • Pempelia cautella Walker, 1863

Footnotes

  1. ^ Clarke (1986)
  2. ^ Grabe (1942)
  3. ^ See references in Savela (2009)

References

  • Clarke, John Frederick Gates (1986): Pyralidae and Microlepidoptera of the Marquesas Archipelago. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 416: 1-485. PDF fulltext (214 MB!)
  • Grabe, Albert (1942): Eigenartige Geschmacksrichtungen bei Kleinschmetterlingsraupen ["Strange tastes among micromoth caterpillars"]. Zeitschrift des Wiener Entomologen-Vereins 27: 105-109 [in German]. PDF fulltext
  • Savela, Markku (2009): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms – Cadra cautella. Version of 2009-APR-14. Retrieved 2010-APR-10.


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