Crambidae

The Crambidae are the grass moth family of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). They are quite variable in appearance, the nominal subfamily Crambinae (grass moths) taking up closely folded postures on grass stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies include brightly coloured and patterned insects which rest in wing-spread attitudes.

In many classifications, the Crambidae have been treated as a subfamily of the Pyralidae or snout-moths. The principal difference is a structure in the ears called the praecinctorium, which joins two tympanic membranes in the Crambidae, and is absent from the Pyralidae. The latest review by Munroe and Solis, in Kristensen (1999), retains the Crambidae as a full family.

Interactions with Humans

Since crambids are relatively common throughout human settlements, the moths tend to affect crops and gardens, whether harmfully, beneficially or harmlessly.

Beneficial crambids

Water hyacinth moth Niphograpta albiguttalis, is used to control its host (Eichhornia crassipes), in Florida.
Water veneer, Acentria ephemerella is a biocontrol agent used against Eurasian watermilfoil
Bamboo borer, Omphisa fuscidentalis, of which the caterpillars are used for human consumption (see entomophagy)
Harmless crambids

Mint moth Pyrausta aurata
Harmful crambids

Crambid larvae are typically stem borers in plants of the grass family. As this family contains many important crops, some Crambidae species achieve pest status. The European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis is perhaps the best known - introduced to the United States in the early 1900s, it is now widespread in all but the westernmost states. Other pest species include:

Chilo partellus, spotted stalk borer
Chilo suppressalis, Asiatic rice borer
Crambus spp., sod webworms
Duponchelia fovealis
Diatraea saccharalis, sugarcane borer
Maruca spp., bean pod borers
Scirpophaga innotata, rice white stemborer
Diatraea grandiosella, southwestern corn borer
Desmia maculalis, grape leaffolder
Gallery


Maruca vitrata


Spilomelinae species

File:Agriphila straminella on Achillea.ogvPlay media
Agriphila straminella on Achillea


Aethaloessa calidalis


Bocchoris inspersalis on Desmodium triflorum



Taxonomy

subfamilia incertae sedis
Exsilirarcha Salmon & Bradley, 1956
Subfamily Acentropinae Stephens, 1836
Subfamily Crambinae Latreille, 1810
Subfamily Cybalomiinae Marion, 1955
Subfamily Glaphyriinae W. T. M. Forbes, 1923 (= Evergestinae Marion, 1952, Noordinae Minet, 1980)
Noorda Walker, 1859 (= Epinoorda Rebel, 1902)
Subfamily Heliothelinae Amsel, 1961
Subfamily Lathrotelinae Clarke, 1971
Subfamily Linostinae Amsel, 1956
Linosta Möschler, 1882
Subfamily Midilinae Munroe, 1958
Subfamily Musotiminae Meyrick, 1884
Subfamily Odontiinae Guenée, 1854
Subfamily Pyraustinae Meyrick, 1890
Subfamily Schoenobiinae Duponchel, 1846
Subfamily Scopariinae Guenée, 1854
Subfamily Spilomelinae Guenée, 1854 (= Wurthiinae Roepke, 1916)
Deuterophysa Warren, 1889
Niphopyralis Hampson, 1893
Udea Guenée in Duponchel, 1845
^ a b Regier, J. C., C. Mitter, M. A. Solis, J. E. Hayden, B. Landry, M. Nuss, T. J. Simonsen, S.-H. Yen , A. Zwick & M. P. Cummings 2012: A molecular phylogeny for the pyraloid moths (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) and its implications for higher-level classification. – Systematic Entomology, London 37 (4): 635–656.
^ Minet, J. 2015: Lathrotelidae Clarke, 1971: a rehabilitated name deserving subfamily rank (Lepidoptera, Crambidae). – Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, Paris 120 (1): 109–112.
Literature

Kristensen, N.P. (Ed.). 1999. Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies. Volume 1: Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbuch der Zoologie. Eine Naturgeschichte der Stämme des Tierreiches / Handbook of Zoology. A Natural History of the phyla of the Animal Kingdom. Band / Volume IV Arthropoda: Insecta Teilband / Part 35: 491 pp. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York.

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