Common vegetable moths

Life cycle images of few of the common moths seen on vegetables.


Moths described in this page are


Plutella xylostella, commonly known as Cabbage moth or Diamondback moth.
Helicoverpa armigera, commonly known as cotton bollworm or corn earworm.
Maruca vitrata, commonly known as Maruca pod borer or Bean pod borer.

Plutella xylostella

Cabbage moth or Diamondback moth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamondback_moth

 

 

These are seen commonly on cabbage

The caterpillar is only a few mm long

The colour turns a little darker when in later stage

The large caterpillars are green in colour.

During pupation it makes a shelter out of silk and stays inside

 The eyes turn dark in a few days

In four days the pupae turns totally black

Empty shell after the adult emerged.

Observation made in Jan - Feb MMXVII

 

Helicoverpa armigera 

Cotton bollworm or Corn earworm moth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicoverpa_armigera

These are commonly seen on Green peas and also on other known host plants including chickpea, tomato, field beans etc. 

The caterpillar is dark green when grown.

 Like Daphnis nerii these are also known to coil up when disturbed.

The colour slowly turns rufous before pupation.

The pupae with the skin from its last instar. The colour is initially bright green.

 The colour soon turns to brownish red.

Comparison of two pupae. The one on the left is from an earlier stage and the right is soon to eclose.

An adult female.

An adult male.

Observation made in Jan - Feb MMXVII

Maruca vitrata

Maruca pod borer or Bean pod borer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maruca_vitrata

These moths are seen on field beans, legumes, pigeonpea etc...

 The caterpillars are seen with black spots on their body like in Parotis marginata

 

The pupae is bright green in the beginning.

It slowly turns reddish in colour

 The eyes turn dark first when its about to pupate.

The adult shown here is deformed and couldn't fly.

Observation made in Jan MMXVII

The author thanks the members of various moth / insect groups on facebook who helped in identifying species.

This record will be updated as and when possible.

All photographs are taken by the author unless mentioned otherwise.
To use the above copyrighted content, do drop a mail or comment.

Life cycle images of Oleander Hawk moth

Life cycle images of Daphnis nerii

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphnis_nerii

The caterpillars are light green in colour whose tail has a white tip in earlier instars.

It then slowly develops false eyes below its head.

The caterpillar like Parotis marginata is observed feeding on both varieties of Crape Jasmine - Tabernaemontana divaricata : 'Flore Pleno' & 'Pinwheel'. There are also records of other host plants where they are seen feeding on like Oleander.

                  Pinwheel                                                                             Flore Pleno

White spots with blue circles are formed inside a bluish streak on both sides of the body while the eye spot grows little bigger.

 

 The eating pattern in earlier stages...

 

After a moult, the tail slowly changes into yellow with a black tip and a translucent extension. They also eat the flowers. 

 

Unlike many moths which eat the tender parts of the leaves leaving its veins, the Oleander Hawk moth eats the entire leaf and also the tender stem near the petiole

Thin black lines are seen below the blue and white streak.And the bluish streak changes into two streaks.

The old exoskeleton after moulting.

The tail is now stout yellow and the thin black lines grow thicker.

This was done by one caterpillar before the last instar. It was then shifted to a different crape jasmine plant.

It grows upto 10 cms in length before the final instar.

When disturbed or threatened it coils up the head to show the eye spots, probably a gesture to frighten the enemy.

The colour turns rufus and dark in the last instar and it roams for hours to find a suitable place to pupate. 

Nerii are known to pupate under leaf litter and above the soil. It makes a shelter covering itself with the dry leaves and attaches them together with silk to prevent ants or other predators from entering. 

It takes for the final instar caterpillar over 2 days to pupate after going under the litter.

The pupae turns dark well over a day before eclosing. 

The adult emerged after 16days

The adult was seen mating on the day after it eclosed

Food plants: Nerium odorum Soland., holarrhena-antidysenterica Wall., Ervatamia heyneana Wall., Vinca rosea Linn., Tabernaemontana coronaria Willd., and other plants of the family Apocynaceae. 

Habits: In the earlier instars the larva turns the head round to one side when disturbed, in later instars it bends the head downwards and puffs out segment 4 so as to expand the ocelli. The body becomes suffused with brown dorsally and yellow ventrally before pupation. The pupa is free in the cocoon, and moves the abdominal segments when touched. The beautiful moth comes to light freely, and may also be seen feeding at flowers shortly after dark. Eggs and larvae can be found at any time of the year in places where the nights are not very cold.

- MOT HS (1937) BY
T. R. D. BELL
AND
F B. SCOTT

The observation is made during Dec 2016 - Jan 2017 from South India.

All photographs are taken by the author. To use the images / content kindly pm the author or leave a comment.