Crambidae

Crambidae
	Scoparia ambigualis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Pyraloidea
Family:	Crambidae; Latreille, 1810
Type species
	Phalaena pascuella; Linnaeus, 1758
Subfamilies
	Acentropinae (=Nymphulinae); Cathariinae; Crambinae; Cybalomiinae; Glaphyriinae (=Evergestinae, Noordinae); Heliothelinae; Lathrotelinae; Linostinae; Midilinae; Musotiminae; Odontiinae; Pyraustinae; Schoenobiinae; Scopariinae; Spilomelinae (=Wurthiinae);
Diversity
	Some 11,630 species

The Crambidae are the grass moth family of lepidopterans. They are quite variable in appearance, the nominal subfamily Crambinae (grass moths) taking up closely folded postures on grass stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies include brightly coloured and patterned insects which rest in wing-spread attitudes.

In many classifications, the Crambidae have been treated as a subfamily of the Pyralidae or snout-moths. The principal difference is a structure in the ears called the praecinctorium, which joins two tympanic membranes in the Crambidae, and is absent from the Pyralidae. The latest review by Munroe and Solis, in Kristensen (1999), retains the Crambidae as a full family.

Gallery

Maruca vitrata
Spilomelinae species
Agriphila straminella on Achillea
Aethaloessa calidalis
Bocchoris inspersalis on Desmodium triflorum

Taxonomy

subfamilia incertae sedis
- Exsilirarcha Salmon & Bradley, 1956
Subfamily Acentropinae Stephens, 1836
Subfamily Crambinae Latreille, 1810
Subfamily Cybalomiinae Marion, 1955
Subfamily Glaphyriinae Forbes, 1923 (= Evergestinae Marion, 1952, Noordinae Minet, 1980)^[1]
- Noorda Walker, 1859 (= Epinoorda Rebel, 1902)
Subfamily Heliothelinae Amsel, 1961
Subfamily Lathrotelinae Clarke, 1971^[2]
Subfamily Linostinae Amsel, 1956
- Linosta Möschler, 1882
Subfamily Midilinae Munroe, 1958
Subfamily Musotiminae Meyrick, 1884
Subfamily Odontiinae Guenée, 1854
Subfamily Pyraustinae Meyrick, 1890
Subfamily Schoenobiinae Duponchel, 1846
Subfamily Scopariinae Guenée, 1854
Subfamily Spilomelinae Guenée, 1854 (= Wurthiinae Roepke, 1916)^[1]
- Deuterophysa Warren, 1889
- Niphopyralis Hampson, 1893
- Udea Guenée in Duponchel, 1845

Relationship with humans

Since crambids are relatively common throughout human settlements, the moths tend to affect crops and gardens, whether harmfully, beneficially or harmlessly. Beneficial crambids include the water hyacinth moth (Niphograpta albiguttalis), used to control its host (Eichhornia crassipes), the water veneer (Acentria ephemerella), a biocontrol agent used against Eurasian watermilfoil), and the bamboo borer (Omphisa fuscidentalis), of which the caterpillars are used for human consumption (see entomophagy). The mint moth (Pyrausta aurata) is an example of a harmless crambid. Crambid larvae are typically stem borers in plants of the grass family. As this family contains many important crops, some Crambidae species achieve pest status. The European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis is perhaps the best known; introduced to the United States in the early 1900s, it is now widespread in all but the westernmost states. Other pest species include the spotted stalk borer (Chilo partellus), the Asiatic rice borer (Chilo suppressalis), sod webworms (Crambus spp.), Duponchelia fovealis, the sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis), bean pod borers (Maruca spp.), the rice white stemborer (Scirpophaga innotata), the southwestern corn borer (Diatraea grandiosella), and the grape leaffolder (Desmia maculalis).

References

^ ^a ^b Regier, J. C., C. Mitter, M. A. Solis, J. E. Hayden, B. Landry, M. Nuss, T. J. Simonsen, S.-H. Yen , A. Zwick & M. P. Cummings 2012: A molecular phylogeny for the pyraloid moths (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) and its implications for higher-level classification. – Systematic Entomology, London 37 (4): 635–656.
^ Minet, J. 2015: Lathrotelidae Clarke, 1971: a rehabilitated name deserving subfamily rank (Lepidoptera, Crambidae). – Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, Paris 120 (1): 109–112.

External links

Family Crambidae at Lepidoptera.pro
Synclita obliteralis, waterlily leafcuter on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site
Diatraea saccharalis, sugarcane borer
Grape Leaffolder Moth Cirrus Digital
McLeod, Robin (December 18, 2016). "Family Crambidae - Crambid Snout Moths". BugGuide.Net. Retrieved April 11, 2018.

[Regier-1] Regier, J. C., C. Mitter, M. A. Solis, J. E. Hayden, B. Landry, M. Nuss, T. J. Simonsen, S.-H. Yen , A. Zwick & M. P. Cummings 2012: A molecular phylogeny for the pyraloid moths (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) and its implications for higher-level classification. – Systematic Entomology, London 37 (4): 635–656.

[2] Minet, J. 2015: Lathrotelidae Clarke, 1971: a rehabilitated name deserving subfamily rank (Lepidoptera, Crambidae). – Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, Paris 120 (1): 109–112.

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