Chilo auricilius, the gold-fringed rice stemborer[1] or terai borer, is a moth in the family Crambidae. It was described by Gerald C. Dudgeon in 1905. It is found in India, Taiwan,[2] Bhutan and Sri Lanka, as well as on Sulawesi, Borneo, Sangir Island and the Moluccas.[3] The larvae bore into and feed on the stems of various grass family plants including sugarcane, rice and maize.
| Chilo auricilius | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Crambidae |
| Genus: | Chilo |
| Species: | C. auricilius
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| Binomial name | |
| Chilo auricilius Dudgeon, 1905
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| Synonyms | |
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Description
editThe forewings of the adult are rather variable, being yellowish or brownish with silvery dots, either scattered or arranged in two transverse bands. The fringe round the margin of the wings is golden yellow. The forewing length is 8 to 13 millimetres (0.3 to 0.5 in) and the width 3 to 4 millimetres (0.12 to 0.16 in). The hindwings are pale brown.[4]
Host plants
editThe larvae feed on several members of the grass family Poaceae; these include rice (Oryza sativa), sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and maize (Zea mays). On young sugarcane, the larvae kill the leaves and cause the shoots to die. In older cane there may be no noticeable symptoms until the leaf sheaths are stripped off, when the gallery entrances become apparent. On rice, the symptoms are similar to those caused by other stem borers, with death of the central tissue and failure of the flowerhead to develop properly, with the emerging panicles whitish and empty.[5]
Control
editA naturally occurring parasitoid fly, Sturmiopsis inferens, has been used to control this stem borer. It can be raised in the laboratory and released where needed. It has been found that the fly is active for most of the year; from March to June it mainly targets the sugarcane shoot borer (Chilo infuscatellus) and the pink borer (Sesamia inferens). Subsequently, from July to October, it targets the Gurdaspur borer (Bissetia steniellus), and between November and January, it mainly attacks the gold-fringed rice stemborer.[6]
References
edit- ^ "IRRI Rice insect pest factsheet: Stem borer". Rice Knowledge Bank. Archived from the original on 22 November 2014.
- ^ "GlobIZ search". Global Information System on Pyraloidea. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
- ^ Savela, Markku. "Chilo Zincken, 1817". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
- ^ "Chilo auricilius Dudgeon 1905". Species Factsheet. PaDIL. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
- ^ "Gold-fringed rice borer (Chilo auricilius)". Plantwise Technical Factsheet. Plantwise Knowledge Bank. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
- ^ Sugar Cane. Allied Publishers. 1990. pp. 193–194. ISBN 978-81-7023-260-5.