Maliarpha separatella
{{Short description|Species of moth}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = African white stemborer
| image = Maliarpha separatella.jpg
| image_caption =
| image2 =
| image2_caption =
| taxon = Maliarpha separatella
| authority = Ragonot, 1888
| synonyms =
- Biafra separatella
- Anerastia pallidicosta Hampson, 1896
- Enosima vectiferella Ragonot, 1901
}}
Maliarpha separatella, the African white stemborer, is a species of moth of the family Pyralidae. A worldwide paddy pest, it is found throughout African countries of Cameroon, Mali, Réunion, Madagascar, South Africa,{{cite web |last1=De Prins |first1=J. |last2=De Prins |first2=W. |name-list-style=amp |date=2018 |url=http://www.afromoths.net/species_by_code/MALISEPA |title=Maliarpha separatella Ragonot, 1888 |website=Afromoths |access-date=July 23, 2018}}Poltavsky, A.N., Kravchenko, V.D., Traore, M.M., Traore, S.F., Gergely, P., Witt, Th.J., Sulak, H., Beck, R.H.-T., Junnila, A., Revay, E.E., Doumbia, S., Beier, J.C. & Müller, G.C. 2018. Biodiversity and seasonality of Pyraloidea (Lepidoptera) in the woody savannah belt in Mali. Israel Journal of Entomology 48 (1): 69–78. [http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1319392 Article] and many Asian paddy cultivating countries such as Myanmar, India, and Sri Lanka. Though they are reported from China and Papua New Guinea, they are also known to attack sugarcane.{{cite web | url=http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/32351 | title=Maliarpha separatella (African white rice borer) | publisher=CABI. | access-date=31 October 2016}}
Description
The wingspan is about 20–30 mm. Palpi of male with second joint hollowed out to receive the brush-like maxillary palpi. Antennae with a sinus at base of shaft containing a ridge of scales. Palpi porrect. Male has rufous head and thorax. Abdomen ochreous. Forewings suffused with rufous, darkest below the broad pale costal fascia, which does not reach apex. Hindwings yellowish white. Female moth is much reddish, with a costal fascia often deeply suffused with red.{{cite book |last=Hampson |first=G. F. |author-link=George Hampson |date=1896 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/180032#page/5/mode/1up |title=The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma |volume=Moths Volume IV |publisher=Taylor and Francis |via=Biodiversity Heritage Library}}
Ecology
The larvae feed on various grasses, including Zea mays, Andropogon tectorum, Oryza species, Saccharum sp., and Sorghum species.
Attack and control
Caterpillars are the major attacking stage. They bore and tunnel in to the tillers and stem and feed on internal tissues and sap. The heavy attack shows small, circular cavities in the stem. This species rarely causes deadhearts or whiteheads.{{cite web | url=http://www.plantwise.org/KnowledgeBank/Datasheet.aspx?dsid=32351 | title=African white rice borer biology | publisher=Plantwise Technical Factsheet | access-date=31 October 2016}}
Control can be easy by measures such as stubble rotting, adjusting planting dates and adjusting planting density. Trap crops are used in southwest Nigeria, and this has been effective.
Unlike other paddy pests, biological control of this species is not very effective. This is because the borers spend the larval stage within plant stems. But recent study listed five parasitoids that are effective to the borers; they are, Chelonus maudae, Rhacanotus carinafus, Prisfomerus bullis, Prisfomerus caris and Venturia jordanae.{{cite journal | url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-entomological-research/article/the-parasitoids-of-the-african-white-rice-borer-maliarpha-separatella-ragonot-lepidoptera-pyralidae/F33743DF520D2EAF5CFFBBA76824E109 | title=The parasitoids of the African white rice borer, Maliarpha separatella Ragonot (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) | journal=Bulletin of Entomological Research| volume=84 |issue=1 | access-date=31 October 2016 | doi=10.1017/s0007485300032247 | year=1994 | page=65 | author=Polaszek A. | author2=Fitton M.G. | author3=Bianchi G. | author4=Huddleston T.| hdl=20.500.11850/422572 | s2cid=85568928 | hdl-access=free }}
Chemical control is effective.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09670878909371420 Sampling egg batches of Maliarpha separatella RAG. (Lep., Pyralidae) in Madagascan rice fields]
- [http://www.pherobase.com/database/species/species-Maliarpha-separatella.php Semiochemicals of Maliarpha separatella]
- [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01402944 Sex pheromone of female African white rice stem borer, Maliarpha separatella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) from Sierra Leone: Identification and field testing]
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{{Authority control}}
Category:Lepidoptera of Cameroon
Category:Moths of Sub-Saharan Africa
Category:Taxa named by Émile Louis Ragonot
Category:Moths described in 1888