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Apamea apamiformis
Species of moth From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Apamea apamiformis, known by the common names rice worm moth, riceworm,[1] and wild rice worm,[2] is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in North America, including Wisconsin,[3]: 23 New York, Minnesota and eastern Canada, with imperiled or critically imperiled populations in Maryland and Indiana, respectively, and a vulnerable population in New Jersey.[4]
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Description
The adult's wingspan is about 39 millimetres (1.5 in). Adults are dimorphic, with a dark form and a light form distinguished by the coloration of the forewing.[5]: 37–38 The reniform spot is dark[5]: 25 with white scales along that spot's concave border (facing the forewing's outer margin).[5]: 38
Life cycle and behavior
Adults are on wing from June to August depending on the location. They feed on nectar from common milkweed flowers.[6]
Eggs are laid in the florets of wild rice from late June or early July until early August.[6] The eggs hatch after eight or nine days and the larvae eat the ovary of their floret before ballooning away on self-spun silk threads.[6] By the third instar they begin to consume maturing grain in the flower heads of the wild rice.[6] Starting in September the larvae, now in the sixth or seventh instar, will either bury themselves in soil[6] or will have already bored themselves into the rice stalks,[5] where they overwinter before emerging in mid-spring to feed, moult into the eighth instar and subsequently pupate.[5][6]
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Economic importance
The larva is known as the most serious insect pest of cultivated wild rice in Minnesota,[2] and perhaps the entire Upper Midwest of the United States.[7] The larvae may be mistaken for rice grains during harvesting.
References
External links
Further reading
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