Schoenobiinae, Duponchel, 1846

Singh, Navneet, Ranjan, Rahul, Talukdar, Avishek, Joshi, Rahul, Kirti, Jagbir Singh, Chandra, Kailash & Mally, Richard, 2022, A catalogue of Indian Pyraloidea (Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5197 (1), pp. 1-423 : 39-40

2.9. Schoenobiinae

Diversity and distribution: worldwide, Schoenobiinae comprise 241 species in 29 genera, which are mostly found in tropical and subtropical regions ( Munroe & Solis 1999, Nuss et al. 2003–2022, Léger et al. 2020). In India, 36 species are recorded in 10 genera, representing 14.93% of the global diversity of Schoenobiinae . Of the 10 genera recorded from India, six genera are known through single species, three genera are reported by less than 10 species and one genus, Scirpophaga Treitschke is known by 15 species ( Fig. 27 ). In India, Schoenobiinae are most diverse in the North East, followed by the Gangetic Plain, and the Deccan Peninsula biogeographic zones ( Fig. 28 ).

Adult characters: with their long and narrow body and the usually uniformly coloured satin white or brown wings with reduced maculation, Schoenobiinae moths resemble the Crambinae . The proboscis is vestigial, the labial palps are long and snout-like. The forewings’ radial venation is variable, and CuP has the terminal portion preserved as a tubular vein near the forewing margin in most genera. In the hindwing, CuA is not pectinate. The abdomen extends well beyond the hindwings, and the females exhibit a conspicuous apical tuft or corethrogyne. Males have a distinctive modification of the seventh (S7) and eighth (S8) abdominal sternites: a rounded, membranous area on S8, covered by a posteriad brush of stiff scales extending from the posterior margin of S7, along with plate-like, scale-bearing coremata flanking the vinculum. In male genitalia, the short uncus sits on a wide base and ends in an acuminate tip, the gnathos is sometimes modified, but mostly simple. The lateral margins of the tegumen each bear a conspicuous, taxon-specifically shaped process. The valvae are simple or have the sacculus modified. The ovipositor of the female genitalia exhibits high, narrow or elongate lobes. The short ductus bursae is usually sclerotised near the joint with the ductus seminalis, the corpus bursae is without signa in the majority of genera ( Lewvanich 1981, Passoa 1985, Munroe & Solis 1999).

Larval characters: larvae can be readily recognised by a membranous sac anterior to the prothoracic coxae on the midline. The cream-coloured larvae of Scirpophaga and Rupela Walker are distinctive by their short setae and the reduced head and anal shield ( Passoa 1985, Solis 2006).

Food plants: larvae are stem borers of various Poaceae and Cyperaceae in damp and wet habitats. Species of Scirpophaga are known pests of agriculturally important grasses like sugarcane, rice and wheat ( Lewvanich 1981, Munroe & Solis 1999, Léger et al. 2020).

Figures

FIGURE 27. Species diversity of Indian Schoenobiinae genera.

FIGURE 28. Species diversity of Indian Schoenobiinae in different biogeographic zones/zones.