Damage based identification key for endophagous herbivores on Common Reed (Phragmites australis) |
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| Author:
Patrick Häfliger © |
CABI
Europe - Switzerland, Rue des Grillons 1, CH-2800 Delémont |
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| The
Fen Wainscot Arenostola phragmitidis (Hübner) (Lep.: Noctuidae) |
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Biology: Larvae hatch between mid-April and early May. After feeding through three shoots and only four moltings, larvae pupate end of May/early June in soil, mosses, or old shoot bits. Emergence of adults occurs at the end of June/early July. Eggs are laid under leaf sheaths of the host plant (picture 56). Description: Larvae up to 3 cm long, larval body yellowish-white and black on each segment, head glossy black (picture 51); pupae 10-13 mm, brown; adults white winged (picture 42). Feeding pattern/damage: Freshly hatched larvae enter shoots mainly above the growing point. Only a few days later shoot tips are cut from the base. Afterwards, the first three instars feed only above the growing point. Often, not only the shoot tips but the entire shoots are killed. Such shoots are all smaller than 1 m and can be recognized by a tiny entrance hole (0.4-0.5 mm wide) on an internode below the growing point, the distinct severance of the internode with the entrance hole right above a node, and a 1-1.3 mm wide exit hole above the growing point. Frass can only be found above the growing point. From the first change of shoots onwards, larvae feed in the upper shoot internodes, which contain areas packed with feces. The shoot tips are distinctly dead, but side shoots often develop on 1-4 nodes below the damage. Exit holes are always above entrance holes. Holes fed by mature larvae are 2-2.5 mm wide. Damage caused by the fen wainscot is very similar to that of the other three stem-mining wainscots. Distribution: Europe References: Bretherton et al., 1983; Häfliger et al., 2006 |
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| 2/04/07 | webmaster webdesign k.i.s.s. helmut recher |
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