Nolidae

74.012 Egyptian Bollworm Earias insulana (Boisduval, 1833)

Immigrant

Similar species: Egyptian Bollworm has a buff coloured form and other green forms with either a buff leading edge or a buff trailing edge or both. Another green form has a dark reddish-brown elongated blotch on the trailing edge, between the central cross-lines, giving it a boomerang shaped blotch across the dorsal when viewed from above.

Cream-bordered Green Pea Earias clorana is of a similar size (10 to 12mm), but has a paler leading edge and lacks the darker-green, diffuse cross-lines and the diffuse dark central spot. Spiny Bollworm Earias biplaga is green or yellow and of a similar size (9 to 12mm), but has a dark purplish-brown fringe, rather than green or orange. It often has a dark reddish-brown elongated blotch on the trailing edge, between the central cross-lines, but this is not always present.

Forewing: 10 to 11mm

Habitats: Arid mountain valleys and arable fields.

Habits: The moth comes to light.

Foodplant: The early stages have not been recorded in Britain. In northern Africa and Asia the larva feeds in the stems, and on the flowers and fruit of mallows in the genera of Hibiscus, Malva, Althaea and Lavatera, Cotton, Carob, Maize and other plants. It pupates in a tough, boat-shaped cocoon on the underside of a leaf or stem of the foodplant.