Crocidosema plebejana


Crocidosema plebejana, the cotton tipworm, is a tortrix moth, belonging to tribe Eucosmini of subfamily Olethreutinae. It is found today all over the subtropical and tropical regions of the world and even occurs on many oceanic islands - in Polynesia and Saint Helena for example - but has probably been accidentally introduced to much of its current range by humans. In addition, it is also found in some cooler regions, e.g. in Europe except in the east and north; this is probably also not natural, as it was, for example, not recorded in the British Isles before 1900.
It is the type species of its genus Crocidosema, established by Philipp Christoph Zeller when he described the present species in 1847, as he found it unlike any moth then known to science.

Description and ecology

The wingspan of adults is 12–16 mm. Males are dark brown to black with a white ocellus and dorsal patch. Females are pale brown to tan with a dark basal patch that does not extend to the costa. Julius von Kennel provides a full description.
In the seasonal parts of its range, this moth flies from midsummer to early autumn, e.g. from July to October in southern England. It is not quite clear whether there are several broods per year in the tropics, as it has been recorded on the Marquesas Islands only between January and April for example. The adults are active in the evening and are attracted to lights.
The larvae mainly feed inside the seed capsules and shoots of Malvaceae such as China jute, marsh mallow, the tree mallow, arrowleaf sida, and various Gossypium and Malva species. The caterpillars have been found on other eurosids, including Crataegus hawthorns, Cucurbita pepo pumpkins, and Eucalyptus. They may occasionally become pests of cotton.

Synonyms

This species was described time and again under different names from all over its wide range. But not even subspecies are accepted today, rendering all those other names invalid. In addition, it was variously assigned to other tortrix moth genera - usually close relatives of Crocidosema such as Epinotia or Eucosma, but sometimes more distantly related Olethreutinae such as Grapholita and Hedya. In addition to being the type species of Crocidosema, one of these redescriptions - at that time still unrecognized as what it was - was used as late as 1965 to establish the genus Parasuleima as supposedly distinct from Crocidosema.
The invalid scientific names of this moth are:Crocidosema blackburnii Crocidosema bostrychodes Diakonoff, 1992Crocidosema iris Diakonoff, 1984Crocidosema plebeiana Crocidosema plebiana Crocidosema ptiladelpha Meyrick, 1917Crocidosema synneurota Meyrick, 1926Eucosma charmera Turner, 1946Eucosma plebeiana Eucosma tornocycla Turner, 1946Grapholitha altheana Grapholitha excitana Moschler, 1891Grapholitha peregrinana Moschler, 1866Paedisca lavaterana Milliere, 1863Parasuleima insulana Penthina altheana Mann, 1855Proteopteryx blackburnii Butler, 1881Stechanoptycha altheana Steganoptycha altheana Steganoptycha obscura E. Wollaston, 1879Steganoptycha signatana Walsingham, 1894