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Samea multiplicalis
Small moth, brown with white spotted-bands, about 5 mm long. Family Crambidae (Pyralidae).
On the window of a restaurant, which allowed a photograph of the underside of the moth. In the village of Estación Chontalapa, Tabasco.
This little fellow turns out to be quite well-studied! It has a distribution from the southeastern US south to Argentina. The larvae are stem borers of several species of aquatic and semi-aquatic plant species, including Salvinia, a native of Brazil which has become a pest species in slow moving waterways and lakes everywhere. In the 1980's, Samea multiplicalis was introduced into Australia as a possible biological control agent against Salvinia, but was not very successful as a control agent, even though it did successfully become established in Australia (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007...) (See also the reference provided by Mark: http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au...). For additional references see: http://bugguide.net/node/view/8154. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samea_multi.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvinia_mo.... http://www.issg.org/database/species/eco....
Thank you Mark! I was amazed at the whole story of this moth and your quick ID from Australia no less! Who would have thought that such a tiny little thing on the window would have such a surprising history!
Spotted on Feb 18, 2015
Submitted on Mar 11, 2015
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