Pyralis manihotalis

Pyralis manihotalis is a moth of the family Pyralidae described by Achille Guenée in 1854.

Pyralis manihotalis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Pyralidae
Genus:	Pyralis
Species:	P. manihotalis
Binomial name
Pyralis manihotalis Guenee, 1854
Synonyms
Pyralis achatina Butler, 1877 Pyralis vetusalis Walker, [1859] Asopia gerontesalis Walker, 1859 Pyralis gerontesalis Asopia gerontialis (misspelling) Sacatia laudatella Walker, 1863 Pyralis despectalis Walker, [1866] Pyralis miseralis Walker, [1866] Asopia haematinalis Saalmüller, 1880 Endotricha centripunctalis Gaede, 1916 Pyralis pupalis Strand, 1919 Pyralis ingentalis Caradja, 1927 Pyralis compsobathra Meyrick, 1932

Distribution

It is a widespread, pan-tropical species (Robinson et al., 1994^[1]), known from Africa, India, Sri Lanka, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, Samoa, Hawaii, South America and the West Indies. It is occasionally recorded from Europe through accidental importation in bones and animal hides.

Description

The wingspan is about 12–20 mm (Robinson et al., 1994; Weinstein & Edwards, 1994;^[2] Wang, 2000^[3]), although given as a rather generous 24–37 mm in Goater (1986).^[4]

Ecology

The larvae feed on a wide range of dead and decaying materials, including stored grain, meal, pulses, dried fruit, bones, animal hides (Goater, 1986; Robinson et al., 1994) and chocolate. Adults are primarily nocturnal, though easily disturbed by day in warehouses; they are attracted to ultraviolet light (Robinson et al., 1994). Weistein and Edwards (1994) found a self-sustaining population of this moth species feeding on bat guano in a cave.