Euzophera semifuneralis
Encyclopedia
The American Plum Borer (Euzophera semifuneralis) is a moth
of the Pyralidae
family. It is found throughout the United States
, southern Canada
and parts of Mexico
.
The wingspan
is 17-28 mm. Adults are gray with grayish-brown forewings with broad, wavy bands of black and brown markings across the outer third portion. The hindwings are smoky with black marginal lines fringed with white. The head, thorax, legs and abdomen are dusky gray with bright bronze reflections. Adults in the southern part of the range emerge from April through September. They live for 1-3 weeks.
The larvae feed on a wide range of plants, including plum, peach, cherry, Chinese plum, pear, mountain-ash, persimmon, apple, white mulberry, sycamore, apricot, walnut, pecan, olive, basswood, poplar, sweetgum, yellow-poplar, gingko, elm and oak. Plum and other drupe and pome fruit trees are favoured. However, pecan and sweetgum are sometimes heavily attacked all along the Gulf Coast region.
The larvae bore into the bark of their host at scars, wounds, or crevices where bark scales offer concealment and protection. Larval mines are very shallow and irregularly shaped, cave-type burrows between wood and the outer bark. The galleries are usually loosely packed with frass
. Larval feeding lasts 30-38 days. Pupation takes place in burrows under the bark in loosely spun silken cocoons partially surrounded by dark excrement pellets. The pupal stage lasts 24-33 days for the overwintering generation but may be completed in as few as 10 days for summer generations. Up to five generations occur annually in central Texas
, but only two generations in Virginia
, Delaware
and Michigan
.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the Pyralidae
Pyralidae
The Pyralidae or snout moths are a family of Lepidoptera in the ditrysian superfamily Pyraloidea. In many classifications, the grass moths are included in the Pyralidae as a subfamily, making the combined group one of the largest families in the Lepidoptera...
family. It is found throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, southern Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and parts of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is 17-28 mm. Adults are gray with grayish-brown forewings with broad, wavy bands of black and brown markings across the outer third portion. The hindwings are smoky with black marginal lines fringed with white. The head, thorax, legs and abdomen are dusky gray with bright bronze reflections. Adults in the southern part of the range emerge from April through September. They live for 1-3 weeks.
The larvae feed on a wide range of plants, including plum, peach, cherry, Chinese plum, pear, mountain-ash, persimmon, apple, white mulberry, sycamore, apricot, walnut, pecan, olive, basswood, poplar, sweetgum, yellow-poplar, gingko, elm and oak. Plum and other drupe and pome fruit trees are favoured. However, pecan and sweetgum are sometimes heavily attacked all along the Gulf Coast region.
The larvae bore into the bark of their host at scars, wounds, or crevices where bark scales offer concealment and protection. Larval mines are very shallow and irregularly shaped, cave-type burrows between wood and the outer bark. The galleries are usually loosely packed with frass
Frass
Frass is the fine powdery material phytophagous insects pass as waste after digesting plant parts. It causes plants to excrete chitinase due to high chitin levels, it is a natural bloom stimulant, and has high nutrient levels. Frass is known to have abundant amoeba, beneficial bacteria, and fungi...
. Larval feeding lasts 30-38 days. Pupation takes place in burrows under the bark in loosely spun silken cocoons partially surrounded by dark excrement pellets. The pupal stage lasts 24-33 days for the overwintering generation but may be completed in as few as 10 days for summer generations. Up to five generations occur annually in central Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, but only two generations in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
and Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.