Omphisa anastomosalis
Encyclopedia
The Sweetpotato Vineborer (Omphisa anastomosalis) is a moth
of the Crambidae
family. It is widespread, with records including the Philippines
, Indonesia
, New Guinea
, India
, Sri Lanka
, Malaysia, Taiwan
, Hawaii
, Vietnam
, China
, Japan
, Cambodia
, Laos
, Burma and Thailand
.
The wingspan
is about 33 mm. Adults have a reddish-brown body and reddish brown markings on white wings.
The larvae feed on Ipomoea batatas and other Convolvulaceae
species. They bores into the main stem and sometimes penetrate the storage roots. The larvae create large tunnels causing hollow cavities in the stem. Infested plants usually have a pile of frass
that can be found close to the attacked stem.
Full-grown larvae are 25-30 mm long and pale yellowish white.
The pupa is about 16 mm long and 3 mm wide and nearly cylindrical. It is formed in a slight cocoon in the larval tunnel in the vine. The pupal period lasts 12-16 days.
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 Crambidae
Crambidae
The Crambidae are the grass moth family of Lepidoptera . They are quite variable in appearance, the nominal subfamily Crambinae taking up closely folded postures on grass-stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies include brightly coloured and patterned insects which rest in...
family. It is widespread, with records including the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, Malaysia, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Burma and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
.
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 about 33 mm. Adults have a reddish-brown body and reddish brown markings on white wings.
The larvae feed on Ipomoea batatas and other Convolvulaceae
Convolvulaceae
Convolvulaceae, known commonly as the bindweed or morning glory family, are a group of about 60 genera and more than 1,650 species of mostly herbaceous vines, but also trees, shrubs and herbs.- Description :...
species. They bores into the main stem and sometimes penetrate the storage roots. The larvae create large tunnels causing hollow cavities in the stem. Infested plants usually have a pile of 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...
that can be found close to the attacked stem.
Full-grown larvae are 25-30 mm long and pale yellowish white.
The pupa is about 16 mm long and 3 mm wide and nearly cylindrical. It is formed in a slight cocoon in the larval tunnel in the vine. The pupal period lasts 12-16 days.