Description

Adult

Wingspan of 7-20 mm. Forewings are typically light yellow-brown with some darker scale patterns forming longitudinal striations, usually darker at wing margins. Hindwings are white.

Larvae

Up to 25 mm long when fully grown. Body is creamy white to yellow-brown with 4 purple-brown longitudinal stripes and conspicuous dark brown dorsal spots. Head and prothoracic shield are reddish-brown to dark brown. Pale medial furrow on thoracic plate.

Eggs

Scale like, creamy white, 1.5 mm across and laid in overlapping batches.

Distribution

Eastern and southern Africa and southern Asia.

Economic Host(s)

Sugarcane (Saccharum), sorghum (Sorghum), maize (Zea) and rice (Oryza).

Symptoms/Signs

Early instars feed in leaf funnels creating characteristic scars and holes. Later instars feed on growing points and tunnel into stems to feed within galleries. Dead hearts, weakened stems and chaffy heads in sorghum are all signs of infestation.

Generations:

Up to 6 (climate dependent)