Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Lepidoptera

Family: Pyralidae

Genus: Corcyra

Species: C. cephalonica

The rice moth is distributed in Asia, Africa, North America and Europe. In the larval stage, it is an important stored-grain pest in both India and Pakistan.

পোষক পরিসীমা
Rice, jowar, other millets, whole cereals, cereal products, pulses, processed products of cereals, pulses, oil seeds, nuts, dry fruits and milled spices. It infests rice, sorghum, maize, gram, groundnut, cotton-seed, milled products, cocoa beans and raisins.

• ডিমঃ Small, oval, elliptical laid on wall, bags or on grain.
• লার্ভা: Creamy white has prothoracic shield.
• পিউপাঃ It webs silken shelter before pupation. In case of heavy infestation cocoons may be seen sticking to the grain bags. Cocoon dense white and tough.
• প্রাপ্তবয়স্কঃ Pale buff brown colour, forewings pale yellowish green and grey white hind wings.

The rice moth is similar in size to the Indianmeal moth, but is much less common. The larvae are general feeders and prefer warm climates

A native of the tropics, it now has a widespread distribution and is even found in the countries of Northern Europe, where it has been imported in foodstuffs. This tropical species typically enjoys a warm climate but in temperate areas it can survive all year in heated stores. It is a major pest of stored foods and favours grains, particularly rice. They are common in flour mills but can be seen in all types of stored food areas.

Holometabolous Includes four stages-

1. EGG
2. LARVA
3. PUPA
4. ADULT

The larva is known as CATERPILLAR.Breeding occurs in March to November

• EGG LAYING : The Eggs are laid on grains, on containers or any surface near grains either singly or in clusters.Whitish, oval in shape, 0.5mm long and having an incubation period of 4-5 days.Fecundity i.e. the total eggs laid by female in lifetime is eggs.
• THE CATERPILLAR (LARVA) : It is creamy white, with a prominent head. It moves about actively and feeds on broken grains. Become full grown in 21 to 41 days after 5 moults. The full grown larva is pale whitish, 15 mm long with short scattered hairs and no markings on body.
• PUPA Larvae prepare : silken cocoons among the grains for pupation.Pupation takes place inside a tough, opaque, whitish cocoon.Non feeding, immotile, dormant stage involving developmental characters of adults. Lasts for 10 days, may extend upto40-50 days to tide over winters.

CATERPILLARS cause the damage by webbing together grains and forming lump and feed from inside it. Reduction in MARKETING QUALITY of grains. Heavy infestation causes the entire stock change into a webbed mass with foul order.Grains unfit for human consumption. Oil seeds, dry fruits, other cereals are also attacked and infested causing severe damage. The larvae alone damage the grains of rice and maize by feeding under silken webs. When infestation is high, the entire stock of grains may be converted into a webbed mass. Ultimately, a characteristic foul odour develops and the grains are rendered unfit for human consumption

C. cephalonica adults can be seen resting on store surfaces and have a peak of flight activity at dusk. The larvae crawl over the stored food and in the last instar construct cocoons that may be found within the stored food, on sack surfaces and store structures.

1. Larva is only responsible for damage.
2. It contaminates food grains with frass, moults and dense webbing.
3. In whole grains, kernels are bound into lumps upto 2 kg.

Rice moth larvae contaminate food by producing large amounts of strong webbing and frass. This can bind food together and make foods unsuitable for sale or consumption.

Frass from the rice moth can also attract other stored food pests and increase the damage and contamination of the product.

The moths can be active year round in warm climates, and may have several generations each year. In cooler climates it may be reduced to a single generation each year. Infestations often occur due to food products shipped from tropical countries already infested with the insects, including rice products, giving it its common name. Typical of most stored food moth infestations, an inspection must be made to determine which materials are infested, including areas of the structure where foods may not typically be found, such as garages or closets. Disposal of the infested material, followed by a thorough cleaning of the area and possible application of a residual insecticide to intercept any larvae that may have left the food material are needed. In the case of this moth particular attention may be paid to cocoa and chocolate products, nuts, and rice.

Good store hygiene plays an important role in limiting infestation by C. cephalonica. The removal of infested residues from last season’s harvest is essential as is general hygiene in stores, such as ensuring that all spillage is removed and cracks and crevices filled. Infestations may also be limited by the storage of good-quality grains such as whole cereals with fewer broken grains and foreign matter or milled rice with a high degree of milling (at least 95%) and few broken grains.

Vitex negundo leaf powder, neem leaf powder and neem oil were the most effective of a range of plant products tested for efficacy aganist C. cephalonica in stored groundnuts (Senguttuvan et al., 1995). Four neem products (azadirachtin, azadirachtin-iodine, neem seed kernel extract and neem oil) were tested on the eggs and larvae of C. cephalonica for ovicidal, larvicidal, feeding deterrent growth regulatory and antifertility activity (Chakraborti and Chatterjee, 1996). Age, toxicity, mortality, concentration and growth inhibition established a dose-response relationship whereas feeding inhibition and growth disruption were independent events. Petroleum ether extracts (1.5%) of Azadirachta indica, Erythrina indica and Piper nigrum and Pachyrhizus erosus (at 2%) and methanol extracts (2%) of A. indica and P. nigrum prevented egg hatching in C. cephalonica 6 days after treatment (Ghatak and Bhusan, 1995). Leaf extracts of Ricinus communis, Lawsonia inermis, Acacia nilotica, Cassia fistula, Eucalyptus rudis, Dalbergia sissoo and Parthenium hysterophorus were tested for ovicidal activity against C. cephalonica (Dwivedi et al., 1997). Leaf extracts of Ricinus communis (100%) produced maximum (89.5%) mortality, with lowest mortality (42.1%) exhibited by P. hysterophorus. Cloves showed the greatest potential of 20 species of spices, six cut flowers and six shade trees evaluated for control of C. cephalonica (Osman et al., 1997). Oil from sweet flag (Acorus calamus) was found to repel 10-day-old larvae of C. cephalonica at 0.1-0.5%. Oils from clove, cedar wood, citronella and eucalyptus were also effective. Allotey and Azalekor (2000) have reported on the use of botanicals against C. cephalonica on pulses.

তথ্য পাওয়া যায়নি।

তথ্য পাওয়া যায়নি।

তথ্য পাওয়া যায়নি।

1. Grabe, Albert (1942): Eigenartige Geschmacksrichtungen bei Kleinschmetterlingsraupen [“Strange tastes among micromoth caterpillars”]. Zeitschrift des Wiener Entomologen-Vereins 27: 105–109 [in German]. PDF fulltext Savela, Markku (2009): Markku Savela’s Lepidoptera and some other life forms – Corcyra. Version of 2009-APR-07. Retrieved 2010-APR-10.
2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_moth
3. http://eagri.org/eagri50/ENTO331/lecture32/014.html
4. https://agritech.tnau.ac.in/crop_protection/crop_prot_bio_mass_parasitoids1.html
5. https://agritech.tnau.ac.in/crop_protection/crop_prot_crop_sto_insect_primary_pest_15.html
6. http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/pesticides/eu-pesticides-database/

1. Grabe, Albert (1942): Eigenartige Geschmacksrichtungen bei Kleinschmetterlingsraupen [“Strange tastes among micromoth caterpillars”]. Zeitschrift des Wiener Entomologen-Vereins 27: 105–109 [in German]. PDF fulltext Savela, Markku (2009): Markku Savela’s Lepidoptera and some other life forms – Corcyra. Version of 2009-APR-07. Retrieved 2010-APR-10.
2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_moth
3. http://eagri.org/eagri50/ENTO331/lecture32/014.html
4. https://agritech.tnau.ac.in/crop_protection/crop_prot_bio_mass_parasitoids1.html
5. https://agritech.tnau.ac.in/crop_protection/crop_prot_crop_sto_insect_primary_pest_15.html
6. http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/pesticides/eu-pesticides-database/