Bactra venosana

Bactra venosana, the nutgrass borer or nutsedge borer, is a moth of the family Tortricidae.[1] It was first described by Philipp Christoph Zeller in 1847. It has a wide distribution, from southern Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor to India, Sri Lanka, southern China, Malaya, Australia and into the Pacific where it is found on Java, Borneo, the Philippines, Taiwan, Timor, the Solomons, the Carolines and Fiji. It was introduced to Hawaii in 1925 to control nutsedge. It is now found on Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, Lanai and Hawaii.

Bactra venosana
Bactra venosana in Kennel Die palaearktischen tortriciden figure 73, male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Tortricidae
Genus:
Bactra
Species:
B. venosana
Binomial name
Bactra venosana
(Zeller, 1847)
Synonyms
  • Phoxopteris venosana Zeller, 1847
  • Aphelia venosana Herrich-Schäffer, 1849
  • Bactra banosii Gozmny, 1960
  • Bactra geraropa Meyrick, 1931
  • Bactra scythropa Meyrick, 1911
  • Bactra truculenta Meyrick, 1909

Biology

The larvae feed on Cyperus rotundus[2] and Kyllinga species, including Kyllinga brevifolia and Kyllinga monocephala. They bore the stem of their host plant.

Affected plants first show a withering of the inner leaves, which become yellow and finally die. Early instars are pale, glassy yellowish, with a shining black head. Full-grown caterpillars are green or pale yellowish. They spin a tube of silk in the stem and in this cocoon sheds its skin to turn into a pupa of about 5–7 mm long. Adults have grayish forewings with complex brown markings. Hindwings plain grayish.[3]

Control

Mechanical methods such as hand picking of adults and caterpillars are effective. Pheromone traps and light traps are also effective. Eggs can be destroyed biologically by using the egg parasitoid Trichogrammatoidea bactrae.[4]

References
  1. "Species Details: Bactra venosana Zeller, 1847". Catalogue of Life. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  2. Diakonoff, A. (1982). "On a Collection of Some Families of Micro-Lepidoptera from Sri Lanka (Ceylon)". Zoologische Verhandelingen. 193: 1–124 – via Naturalis Biodiversity Center.
  3. Herbison-Evans, Don & Crossley, Stella. "Bactra venosana (Zeller, 1847) Nutgrass Borer". Australian Caterpillars and their Butterflies and Moths. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  4. Visalakshy, P. N. Ganga; Jayanth, K. P. (1995). "Suppression of Bactra venosana, a potential natural enemy of Cyperus rotundus, by Trichogrammatoidea bactrae in Bangalore, India". Phytoparasitica. 23 (4): 355–356. doi:10.1007/BF02981429.


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