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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #360279
Research Project: Systematics of Moths Significant to Biodiversity, Quarantine, and Control, with a Focus on Invasive Species

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: A new pyraloid moth species of Sufetula Walker (Crambidae) feeding on pineapple, Ananas comosus (L.) (Bromeliaceae) from Costa Rica

Author
item Solis, M Alma
item HAYDEN, J. - Florida Department Of Plant Industries
item VARGAS, SANABRIA - Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc
item GONZALEZ, FRANCISCO - Chemtica International Sa
item SANABRIA, UJUETA - Plant Protection Service Of Costa Rica
item GULBRONSON, C. - USDA National Plant Disease Recovery System

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/8/2019
Publication Date: 8/7/2019
Citation: Solis, M.A., Hayden, J.E., Vargas, S.F., Gonzalez, F., Sanabria, U.C., Gulbronson, C. 2019. A new pyraloid moth species of Sufetula Walker (Crambidae) feeding on pineapple, Ananas comosus (L.) (Bromeliaceae) from Costa Rica. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 121(3):497-510.

Interpretive Summary: Costa Rica is the leading country in pineapple production worldwide and exports more than $980 million in pineapples primarily to the United States and Europe. We describe a new species of snout moth whose caterpillar feeds on the roots of pineapple. We provide photographs of the immatures and adults. We compare it to the closely related, sugarcane root caterpillar, described from Puerto Rico. This information will help pineapple growers, biological control workers, and quarantine personnel worldwide to identify this species.

Technical Abstract: A new crambid, Sufetula anania, sp. n., is described from Costa Rica. We describe and illustrate the eggs, larvae, pupae and adults. This is the first report of Bromeliacae as a host in the Crambidae, specifically in the roots of Ananas comosus (L.) or pineapple, although it was also found feeding on surrounding weeds. Its general morphology and biology is compared to Sufetula sacchari (Sein), the sugarcane root caterpillar, a pest of sugarcane, in Puerto Rico and surrounding islands.