Apamea apamiformis

"Rice worm moth" redirects here. Not to be confused with Rice moth.

Apamea apamiformis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Noctuidae
Genus:	Apamea
Species:	A. apamiformis
Binomial name
Apamea apamiformis Guenée, 1852
Synonyms
Xylophasia apamiformis Hadena contenta

Apamea apamiformis, known by the common names rice worm moth, riceworm,[1] and wild rice worm,[2] is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in North America, including Wisconsin,[3]: 23  New York, Minnesota and eastern Canada, with imperiled or critically imperiled populations in Maryland and Indiana, respectively, and a vulnerable population in New Jersey.[4]

Description

The adult's wingspan is about 39 millimetres (1.5 in). Adults are dimorphic, with a dark form and a light form distinguished by the coloration of the forewing.[5]: 37–38  The reniform spot is dark[5]: 25  with white scales along that spot's concave border (facing the forewing's outer margin).[5]: 38 

Life cycle and behavior

Adults are on wing from June to August depending on the location. They feed on nectar from common milkweed flowers.[6]

Eggs are laid in the florets of wild rice from late June or early July until early August.[6] The eggs hatch after eight or nine days and the larvae eat the ovary of their floret before ballooning away on self-spun silk threads.[6] By the third instar they begin to consume maturing grain in the flower heads of the wild rice.[6] Starting in September the larvae, now in the sixth or seventh instar, will either bury themselves in soil[6] or will have already bored themselves into the rice stalks,[5] where they overwinter before emerging in mid-spring to feed, moult into the eighth instar and subsequently pupate.[5][6]

Economic importance

The larva is known as the most serious insect pest of cultivated wild rice in Minnesota,[2] and perhaps the entire Upper Midwest of the United States.[7] The larvae may be mistaken for rice grains during harvesting.

References

1. Apamea apamiformis. Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine Invasive Species List and Scorecards for California. California Invasive Species Advisory Committee. 2010.
2. Nelson, J. J. Insect Pests: Wild Rice Worm. Archived January 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Crop Profile for Wild Rice in Minnesota. NSF Center for Integrated Pest Management & USDA. 2000.
3. Ferge, Leslie A.; Balogh, George J.; Johnson, Kyle E. (June 2018). "Checklist of Wisconsin Moths" (PDF). Wisconsin Entomological Society Special Publication No. 6. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
4. Schweitzer, Dale F. (30 September 2022). "Apamea apamiformis". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
5. Mikkola, Kauri; Lafontaine, J. Donald; Gill, Jocelyn D. (2009). "Fascicle 26.9, Noctuidea, Noctuidae (part): Xyleninae (part): Apameini (part—Apamea group of genera" (PDF). In Hodges, Ronald W.; Brown, Richard L.; Davis, Donald R.; Lafontaine, J. Donald; Powell, Jerry A.; Solis, M. Alma (eds.). The Moths of North America. Washington: The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation. ISBN 978-0-933003-14-9. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
6. Peterson, A.G.; Noetzel, D.M.; Sargent, J.E.; Hanson, P.E.; Johnson, C.B.; Soemawinata, A.T. (1981). "Insects of Wild Rice in Minnesota". St. Paul, Minnesota: University of Minnesota. R157. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
7. Oelke, E. A. 1993. Wild rice: Domestication of a native North American genus. p. 235-43. In: Janick, J. and J. E. Simon (eds.), New Crops. Wiley, New York. Accessed 30 July 2022.

External links

• Media related to Apamea apamiformis at Wikimedia Commons
• Digital Guide to Moth Identification, North American Moth Photographers Group at the Mississippi Entomological Museum at Mississippi State University
• Bug Guide Entry for Apamea apamiformis

Further reading

• MacKay, M. R. and E. W. Rockburne. (1958). Notes on life-history and larval description of Apamea apamiformis (Guenée), a pest of wild rice (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). The Canadian Entomologist 90(10), 579-82. doi:10.4039/Ent90579-10