Cnaphalocrocis patnalis Bradley

Taxonomy

The holotype of Marasmia patnalis Bradley, 1981: 323. Figs 1,3,4,7. is from Sri Lanka (Gannoruwa).

Marasmia Lederer 1863c: 384 is often considered a junior subjective syn. of Cnaphalocrocis Lederer 1863a: 277 following Shaffer et al. (1996) but Munroe 1991 treats it as a good genus as does Globiz.

Cnaphalocrocis has veins R2 & R1 stalked with R3 set close to the trunk of R3 & R4 whereas Marasmia has R2 & R1 free.

Description

This group of syn. spp is fulvous and brown like the medinalis Guenée group of but is easily distinguished by the FW post median line being retracted to the median position halfway across the wing. The broad dark FW & HW sumarginal bands are parallel to the wing margin. Note how the post median line is displaced proximally to the rear of the FW, unlike Cnaphalocrocis medinalis and C. trebiusalis Walker. The latter also appears to have an enlarged pale patch adjacent to the post median fascia of the FW. The spp. can be distinguished by genitalic features and the FW venation. Schulze (2000) Taxon #340.

Life History

Cnaphalocrocis medinalis Guenée and C. patnalis Bradley are usually found in association on rice plants in South and Southeast Asia (Singh & Singh, 2014). Larvae of the two spp. are similar in morphology, as is their feeding behaviour (Gottfried et al. 1981). Spinning, the process of stitching leaf margins together to form a leaf roll before the initiation of feeding process, is an important behaviour of leaf-folder larvae. The spinning behaviour of the two spp. is similar (Abenes & Khan 1993). 

References

• Guenée, A. (1854) Deltoïdes et pyralites. In Boisduval, J.A. & Guenée, A., Hist. nat. des Insectes (Spec. gén. Lépid.) Vol. 8, 448pp. + 10 pls.,
• Gottfried, F., Faheema, F., & Kumarasinghe K. S (1981) The feeding behaviour of the rice leaf folder, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 29 (2): 147-161.
• Bradley, J. D. (1981) Marasmia patnalis sp. n. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) on rice in S.E. Asia.Bull. Ent. Res. 71 (2): 323-327.
• Munroe, E.G. (1991). Transfer of Aulacodes eupselias Meyrick to Pyraustinae, with notes on the genus Marasmia Lederer and on cataclystiform wing patterns in the family Crambidae (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea). Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 31: 122-130.
• Abenes M.L.P. & Khan Z.R. (1993) Spinning behaviour of two species of rice leaf-folders, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenée) and Marasmia Patnalis Bradley (Lepidoptera:Pyralidae). Int. J. of Trop. Ins. Sci. 14 (2):
• Shaffer, M., & Nielsen, E.S. & Horak, M. (1996) Pyraloidea (In Nielsen, E.S., Edwards, E.D. & Rangji (Eds.), Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia; 164-199, CSIRO, Australia.
• Schulze, C.H. (2000) Auswirkungen anthropogener Störungen auf die Diversität von Herbivoren. (Analys von Nachtfalterzönosen entlang von Habitatgradienten in Ost-Malaysia). Unpubl. PhD Thesis, University of Bayreuth, Germany, 350pp.
• Singh, B.B. & Singh, R. (2014) Major Rice Insect Pests in Northeastern Uttar Pradesh. Int. J. Life Sc. Bt & Pharm. Res. 3 (1): 124-143.
• Librarie Encyclopédique de Roret: Paris.Lederer, J. (1863a [Aug]) Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Pyralidinen. Wien. entomol. Monat. 7 (8): 243-280, pl. 2-18.
• Lederer, J. (1863c [Nov]) Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Pyralidinen. Wien. entomol. Monat. 7 (11): 379-426, pl. 2-18.