Stored Grain Pests: Post Harvest Pests: Rice Moth (Corcyra cephalonica)

Rice Moth (Corcyra cephalonica)

Subject– Stored Grain Pests, Post Harvest Pests, Rice Moth, Rearing of Rice Moth, Rice Moth M. Sc. Ag. Thesis, Rice Moth Video.

Introduction

Scientic name	Corcyra cephalonica
Order	Lepidoptera
Family	Pyralidae

Distribution

It is found in Asia, Africa, North America and Europe. It is a major post harvest pest of rice growing in the world e. g., India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonasia etc. In India, it is found in all rice growing states.

Host Range

Major Host– rice grain.

Other Hosts– gram, sorghum, maize, groundnut etc.

Life Cycle

Active stage

Rice moth is active from March to November. Female lays eggs on grains. Egg hatches in a week.

Larval Stage

Larval stage is the most destructive stage. Eggs hatch in a week and the larval stage last for up-to a month.

Pupal Stage

It goes to pupal stage in during winter season. Pupal Sarge can be observed in case of long period of winter in the month of February. Pupal stage runs for 9 – 15 days.

Adult Stage

Adult stage is a moth.

Damage

Adults lay eggs on the grains, storage structure and on the other objects inside the storage room.
Egg hatches within a month.
Larvae prefer to attack the damaged grains.
Web like structure can be seen on rice heap.

Academic Works

(1). Korat, D. M. (2011-13) investigated on rearing of rice moth in different grains. He found broken sorghum to be most suitable for rearing of Corcyra cephalonica.

The above research indicates the broken cereals including rice are the most suitable object for Corcyra cephalonica as food.

(2). Kanawade and Sandip (2011) studied the biology and life-fecundity tables of rice moth in cereals. The highest larval and pupal development was observed on rice – 37.36, 52.41 and 61.27 the pearl millet was most suitable for the growth and multiplication of Corcyra cephalonica.

REFERENCES

Kanawade and Maruti Sandip (2011). Biology and life-fecundity tables of rice moth (Corcyra cephalonica) on cereal grains. M. Sc. Ag. Thesis, College of Agriculture, Lathur, 2013.
Korat, D. M. (2011-13). Study on rearing of rice moth, Corcyra cephalonica (Stainton) – A factitious host for mass production of important bio-control agents. M. Sc. Ag. Thesis, Anand Agriculture University, 2013.