Classification

Pyraloidea: Crambidae: Spilomelinae: Maruca vitrata (Fabricius)

Common name

bean pod borer, soybean pod borer, legume pod borer, mung moth

Synonyms

Maruca (Crochiphora) testulalis, Botys bifenestralis, Hydrocampe aquitilis, Siriocauta simialalis

Larval diagnosis (Detailed)

Usua (1977) described the larvalarva:
the stages between the egg and pupa of those insects having complete metamorphosis
of M. vitrata, the bean pod borer, in detail. Important taxonomic characters were illustrated by Matuura (1952)Matuura (1952):
Matuura, A. 1952. On the morphological characters of the larvae of Japanese Pyrustinae (sic) [Pyraustinae]. Bulletin of the Naniwa University. Series B Agricultural and Natural Science, Vol 2: 25-34., Passoa (1985)Passoa (1985):
Passoa, S. 1985. Taxonomy of the larvae and pupae of economically important Pyralidae in Honduras. Master's Thesis. University of Florida. Gainesville. 486 pp., Weisman (1986)Weisman (1986):
Weisman, D. M. 1986. Keys for the identification of some frequently intercepted lepidopterous larvae. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine series 81-47. 64 pp., Lin (1995)Lin (1995):
Lin, C. S. 1995. Description of last instar larvae of 31 species of Taiwan Spilomelini (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae: Pyraustinae). Bulletin of National Museum of Natural Science 6: 107-130., Sri et al. (2010)Sri et al. (2010):
Sri, I. A., V. R. Rao, P. R. Sekhar and M .S. V. Chalam. 2010. Taxonomic studies on different lepidopteran caterpillars on cotton, chilli and pulses. Annals of Plant Protection Sciences 18: 104-107., Solis (1999, 2011), and Schnitzler et al. (2012)Schnitzler et al. (2012):
Schnitzler, F. R., J. W. Haw, L. Kumarasinghe and S. George. 2012. Identification Guide to Lepidoptera Larvae Intercepted on Trade Pathways. Bulletin of the Entomological Society of New Zealand 15. 105 pp.. Larval photographs of M. vitrata can be found in Ferguson and BATS [1983], King and Saunders (1984)King and Saunders (1984):
King, A. B. S. and J. L. Saunders. 1984. The invertebrate pests of annual food crops in Central America. Overseas Development Administration. 166 pp., Passoa (1985)Passoa (1985):
Passoa, S. 1985. Taxonomy of the larvae and pupae of economically important Pyralidae in Honduras. Master's Thesis. University of Florida. Gainesville. 486 pp., Schmutterer et al. (1990), and Passoa and Bean (2001)Passoa and Bean (2001):
Passoa, S. and D. Bean. 2001. Pest Risk Analysis for Maruca vitrata (Fabricius), bean pod borer. 2001 Eastern Pest Survey Committee Guidelines for the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey Program. 5 pp..

Typically, in Latin America, the larvalarva:
the stages between the egg and pupa of those insects having complete metamorphosis
of M. vitrata is easily recognized by having one L setaseta:
a hairlike projection of the body wall that is articulated in a socket; compare to spine
on A9 and a pair of pinaculapinaculum:
a small, flat, or slightly elevated chitinized area bearing a seta or setae
without setaeseta:
a hairlike projection of the body wall that is articulated in a socket; compare to spine
present on the mesothoraxmesothorax:
the second thoracic segment
and metathorax posteriorposterior:
caudal or rear
to the D pinaculapinaculum:
a small, flat, or slightly elevated chitinized area bearing a seta or setae
(Passoa 1985Passoa 1985:
Passoa, S. 1985. Taxonomy of the larvae and pupae of economically important Pyralidae in Honduras. Master's Thesis. University of Florida. Gainesville. 486 pp.). Other New World legume pod feeding pyralids (Etiella, Fundella) have three L setaeseta:
a hairlike projection of the body wall that is articulated in a socket; compare to spine
on A9. Solis (1999)Solis (1999):
Solis, M. A. 1999. Key to selected Pyraloidea (Lepidoptera) larvae intercepted at U.S. ports of entry: revision of Pyraloidea in "Keys to some frequently intercepted lepidopterous larvae" by D. M. Weisman 1986. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 101: 645-686. mentioned two L setaeseta:
a hairlike projection of the body wall that is articulated in a socket; compare to spine
on A9 in Etiella, but this is likely atypical. Carter and Kristensen (1998)Carter and Kristensen (1998):
Carter, D. J. and N. P. Kristensen. 1998. Classification and keys to higher taxa, pp. 27-40. In Kristensen, N. P. (ed.), Handbook of Zoology Volume IV, Part 35. Lepidoptera, moths and butterflies. Volume 1: Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Walter de Gruyter. New York, New York. warned that setal aberrations are common in lepidopteran larvaelarva:
the stages between the egg and pupa of those insects having complete metamorphosis
. Neunzig (1987)Neunzig (1987):
Neunzig, H. H. 1987. Pyralidae (Pyraloidea), pp. 464-494. In F.W. Stehr (ed.). Immature Insects. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. Dubuque, Iowa. and Passoa (1985)Passoa (1985):
Passoa, S. 1985. Taxonomy of the larvae and pupae of economically important Pyralidae in Honduras. Master's Thesis. University of Florida. Gainesville. 486 pp. both found that three L setaeseta:
a hairlike projection of the body wall that is articulated in a socket; compare to spine
on A9 is a more common condition for Etiella.

Other significant characters of M. vitrata include: mandible with two inner teeth and an outer tooth (Passoa 1985Passoa 1985:
Passoa, S. 1985. Taxonomy of the larvae and pupae of economically important Pyralidae in Honduras. Master's Thesis. University of Florida. Gainesville. 486 pp.); a frontfront:
the frons or frontal area, sometimes including the clypeus
not reaching the epicranial notchepicranial notch:
the V-shaped dorsomedial space delimited laterally by the cranial halves
; the SD1 pinaculapinaculum:
a small, flat, or slightly elevated chitinized area bearing a seta or setae
of A2 and A7 not reduced (Lin 1995Lin 1995:
Lin, C. S. 1995. Description of last instar larvae of 31 species of Taiwan Spilomelini (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae: Pyraustinae). Bulletin of National Museum of Natural Science 6: 107-130.); no small pinaculapinaculum:
a small, flat, or slightly elevated chitinized area bearing a seta or setae
anterior to the D pinaculapinaculum:
a small, flat, or slightly elevated chitinized area bearing a seta or setae
on the mesothoraxmesothorax:
the second thoracic segment
and metathoraxmetathorax:
the third thoracic segment
, and no extra pinaculapinaculum:
a small, flat, or slightly elevated chitinized area bearing a seta or setae
without setaeseta:
a hairlike projection of the body wall that is articulated in a socket; compare to spine
on the abdomen (Weisman 1986Weisman 1986:
Weisman, D. M. 1986. Keys for the identification of some frequently intercepted lepidopterous larvae. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine series 81-47. 64 pp.); and the prespiracular pinaculumpinaculum:
a small, flat, or slightly elevated chitinized area bearing a seta or setae
on T1 crescent shaped and extending below the spiracle (Weisman 1986Weisman 1986:
Weisman, D. M. 1986. Keys for the identification of some frequently intercepted lepidopterous larvae. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine series 81-47. 64 pp.).

Identification Authority (Detailed)

Except for being absent from North Africa and the temperate regions of Europe and North America (Ferguson and BASS [1983]), origins are not helpful because M. vitrata is a cosmopolitan pest. Non-legumes hosts are doubtful, but M. vitrata can be expected in the flowers or pods of any cultivated legume (Ferguson and BASS [1983], Passoa and Bean 2001Passoa and Bean 2001:
Passoa, S. and D. Bean. 2001. Pest Risk Analysis for Maruca vitrata (Fabricius), bean pod borer. 2001 Eastern Pest Survey Committee Guidelines for the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey Program. 5 pp.). More caution is required on weedy or ornamental species. Some legume feeding crambids have pigmented pinaculapinaculum:
a small, flat, or slightly elevated chitinized area bearing a seta or setae
that present a similar appearance to M. vitrata as preserved larvaelarva:
the stages between the egg and pupa of those insects having complete metamorphosis
, for example, Terastia and Agathodes on Erythrina (SPIC). But M. vitrata is most likely to be confused with tortricid pests that also feed in legume pods (see list in Singh et al. 1978Singh et al. 1978:
Singh, S. R., H. F. van Emden and T. A. 1978. Pests of grain legumes: ecology and control. Academic Press. New York, New York. 454 pp.). These species often have a similar body color, feeding habit and pinaculapinaculum:
a small, flat, or slightly elevated chitinized area bearing a seta or setae
pigmentation to M. vitrata. Unlike pyraloids, legume feeding pest tortricid larvaelarva:
the stages between the egg and pupa of those insects having complete metamorphosis
have a trisetosetrisetose:
three setae
prespiracular group, among other differences.

The larvaelarva:
the stages between the egg and pupa of those insects having complete metamorphosis
of Maruca ambonialis is undescribed; early records associating it with legumes need confirmation (Taylor 1978Taylor 1978:
Taylor, T. A. 1978. Maruca testulalis: an important pest of tropical grain legumes. In Singh, S. R., H. F. van Emden and T. A. 1978. Pests of grain legumes: ecology and control. Academic Press. New York, New York. 454 pp.). It occurs in southeastern Asia (Robinson et al. 1994Robinson et al. 1994:
Robinson, G. S., K. R. Tuck, M. Shaffer and K. Cook. 1994. A field guide to the smaller moths of South-East Asia. Malaysian Nature Society. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 309 pp.).

Origin records

Maruca vitrata has been intercepted from the following locations:

Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Gabon, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Jamaica, Laos, Malawi, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Palestinian Territory, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Korea, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Viet Nam

Host records

Maruca vitrata has been intercepted on the following hosts:

Abelmoschus esculentus, Aeschynomene fluitans, Annona sp., Asparagus officinalis, Cajanus cajan, Canavalia cathartica, Canavalia sp., Capsicum annuum, Coccinea grandis, Coccinia grandis, Cucurbita sp., Cynara sp., Dillenia indica, Erythrina sp., Fabaceae, Gardenia sp., Glycine max, Lablab purpureus, Lablab sp., Lagenaria siceraria, Lathyrus sp., Leguminosae sp., Limonium sinuatum, Luffa sp., Magnoliophyta sp., Momordica charantia, Mucuna sp., Murraya sp., Nelumbo nucifera, Nephelium lappaceum, Ocimum basilicum, Ocimum sp., Parkia speciosa, Petiveria alliacea, Phaseolus lunatus, Phaseolus sp., Phaseolus vulgaris, Pisum sativum, Pisum sp., Pithecellobium sp., Psidium guajava, Psidium sp., Psophocarpus tetragonolobus, Punica granatum, Sebastiania sp., Sechium edule, Sesbania grandiflora, Sesbania sp., Solanum aethiopicum, Solanum melongena, Solanum sp., Solanum torvum, Strongylodon lucidus, Strongylodon macrobotrys, Strongylodon sp., Tagetes erecta, Thymelaea hirsuta, Vicia faba, Vicia sp., Vigna sesquipedalis, Vigna sp., Vigna unguiculata, Vigna unguiculata ssp. sesquipedalis, Zea mays