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Eteobalea serratella Treitschke
Insect: Moth
Order/Family: (Lepidoptera: Cosmopterygidae)
Link to another site on Eteobalea
serratella -----------------------
Photo from: http://www.nysaes.corne..., by Rich Hansen, USDA-APHIS-PPQ, Forestry Sciences Lab, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT.
Appearance: Adult Eteobalea serratella are a slender moth about 8-9 mm long and with a wingspan of 16-18 mm. The wings are dark brown with black and white spots. The adults are usually active during the evening and just before dawn. The larvae are a cream colored caterpillar with a brown head which can reach the length of 12 mm. They are only found in tunnels within toad flax plants. Eteobalea serratella are very similar to the E. intermediella. The two species can only be told apart from the male genitalia or the egg chorion. (1)
Over wintering state: Temale E. serratella will lay strings of up to 3-8 eggs at the base of a toad flax plant. They can lay up to 180 total in their life time.(1)
Larvae: The newly hatched larvae enter the stem and eat their way down to the roots of the toad flax plant. Constructing a silk like tunnel, they will feed within the root cortex. There are usually 3-7 larvae within one plant depending on the size of the plants. (1)
Pupil: The mature larvae will tunnel back up to the top of the roots or to the lower stem and in which pupation occurs. (1)
Adults: The Adults will appear in the beginning of summer. They only survive for a few weeks, apparently without eating. (1)
Domain: Eukaryota Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes (2)
Order: Lepidoptera - butterflies, moths(2)
Family: Cosmopterigidae (2)
Host Impact and Damage to Host: E. serratella larvae will eat its way down the host's stem and into the roots. The larvae do not usually kill the toad flax plant directly however, it does decrease the flowering and seed production. There is not enough information to prove that this will happen in North American field conditions. (1)
Favorable/Unfavorable Release Habitats: Its most
favorable type
of habitat is grasslands, pastures, agricultural fields, and roadsides
infested with yellow toadflax or occasionally Dalmatian toad flax. (1)
How and Where to Collect: Eteobalea serratella is not yet available or in very low numbers at this time in North America. So you would have to contact your local weed coordinator and ask them if and when they can get a release for you. (1)
Remarks: This insect is in low numbers or unavailable at this time. There is little evidence of its effectiveness in N. America. Mr. BreitenfeldtLinks:
http://www.ceris.purdue.edu/napis/bio/agent.html
By
Hoss Prince 2/12/02