Pacific Pests, Pathogens & Weeds - Mini Fact Sheet EditionRamie moth (358)
Pacific Pests, Pathogens & Weeds - Mini Fact Sheet EditionRamie moth (358)
Summary
- Restricted distribution. Hosts are the nettle family (Bohmeria species). Ramie is a fibre crop, also used as fodder. In Fiji, on overripe bananas.
- Larvae defoliate plants, stripping leaves to the veins. Large, up to 10 cm, black and yellow with long white hairs. Moth has blue patterns on hindwings.
- Cultural control: avoid over overlapping crops, and planting new crops nest to old; leave 3 months between crops; monitor x2 weekly, and consider hand picking (rather than insecticides); collect and burn crop remains after harvest.
- Chemical control: use botanicals to safeguard natural enemies (chillies, neem, derris, pyrethrum); in commercial plots, use microbials [spinosad, Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies kurstaki)] sprays against caterpillars when young. Avoid pyrethroids and organophosphates.
Common Name
Ramie moth, banana moth (name given in this fact sheet). The name 'ramie' is a common name for the main host, Boehmeria nivea.
Scientific Name
Arcte coerula; previously, Cocytodes coerulea. It is a moth of the Noctuidae.
AUTHOR Grahame Jackson & Mani Mua
Information Coffs Harbour Butterfly House. (http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/calp/coerula.html); and (Photos ???) from Liangbin Zeng, et al. (2016) Transcriptome analysis of ramie (Boehmeria nivea L. Gaud.) in response to ramie moth (Cocytodes coerulea Guenée) infestation. BioMed Research International. Article ID 3702789 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/3702789). Photo 1 Masaki Ikeda, Japan. (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arcte_coerula_larva_08Oct16.jpg). Photo 2 Patrick Randall, Ramie moth, Arcte coerulea (Guenee, 1952), Norwood, MA. (https://www.flickr.com/photos/animaliaproject/6512086055). Photo 4 Alexey Yakovlev, Moscow, Russia. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcte_coerula#/media/File:Arcte_coerula_(Erebidae-_Catocalinae)_(4199144357).jpg). Photo 5 CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics. http://v3.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=308358).
_(4199144357).jpg){kind=link}
Produced with support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research under project HORT/2016/185: Responding to emerging pest and disease threats to horticulture in the Pacific islands, implemented by the University of Queensland and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.
This mini fact sheet is a part of the app Pacific Pests, Pathogens & Weeds
The mobile application is available from the Google Play Store and Apple iTunes.
Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved.