Biology:Emporia melanobasis

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Short description: Species of moth

Emporia melanobasis
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pyralidae
Genus: Emporia
Species:
E. melanobasis
Binomial name
Emporia melanobasis
Balinsky, 1991[1]

Emporia melanobasis is a species of snout moth in the genus Emporia. It was described by Boris Balinsky in 1991, and is known from South Africa .

Jumping beans

S. africana mericarp with Emporia melanobasis larva

The larvae pupate[2] inside fruit of Spirostachys africana. Larvae develop with the growing fruits which show no external damage. When the fruits are mature each splits into three cocci. The larvae jack-knife inside the fallen segments, causing them to move about erratically and vigorously, to the surprise of the uninitiated. This has led to the name "jumping bean tree". A similar phenomenon occurs with the Mexican jumping bean, Sebastiania sp., which also belong to the Euphorbia family. This bean is parasitised by the moth Cydia saltitans.

References

Wikidata ☰ Q5374407 entry