Biology:Maruca vitrata

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Short description: Species of moth

Bean pod borer
Mung bean moth (Maruca vitrata).jpg
Sinharaja Forest, Viharahena, Sri Lanka
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Crambidae
Genus: Maruca
Species:
M. vitrata
Binomial name
Maruca vitrata
(Fabricius, 1787)
Synonyms
  • Maruca testulalis Botys bifenestralis
  • Mabille, 1880 Geyer, 1832
  • (Geyer, 1832) Phalaena vitrata
  • Hydrocampe aquitilis Fabricius, 1787
  • Crochiphora testulalis Guérin-Méneville, [1832]

Maruca vitrata is a pantropical insect pest of leguminous crops like pigeon pea, cowpea, mung bean and soybean. Its common names include the maruca pod borer, bean pod borer, soybean pod borer, mung moth, and the legume pod borer. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1787.

It can cause losses of 20–80% on the harvests of cowpeas.[1]

Its feeding sites on plants are flower buds, flowers and young pods. In some cases early instars feed on flower peduncles and young stems.

Methods for control

Biological

Some parasitoids have been shown to serve as a biological control for Maruca vitrata. Parasitoid wasps families include Braconidae and Ichneumonidae; some parasitoid flies in the Tachinidae are also natural enemies of the moth.[2] M. vitrata prefers to lay its eggs on the flowering bodies of the cowpea plant. Efforts have been made to deter M. vitrata from reproducing on the plant ranging from pesticides to a chemical specifically designed to sterilize the moth.[3]

Distribution

Maruca vitrata photographed at night, in West Bengal, India.

Worldwide in the tropics. Asia, Africa, North, South and Central America, the Caribbean, Europe, Australia & Oceania.[4]

References

External links

Wikidata ☰ Q3296015 entry