About the Grass Webworm Moth
Herpetogramma licarsisalis, commonly known as the grass webworm or pale sod-webworm, is a species of moth in the family Crambidae. It is distributed in most of the Old World tropics, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Togo, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Réunion, Madagascar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Borneo, the Philippines, New Caledonia, Australia, and New Zealand. It is an introduced species in many other parts of the world, including Hawaii, continental Spain and the Canary Islands, Portugal, Great Britain, Turkey, Cyprus, India and Sri Lanka.
The flat, elliptical eggs are deposited singly or in masses on the leaf blade's upper surface along the midrib. The caterpillars hatch after 4-6 days and undergo five instars in the following 14 days. First instar larvae are characterised by a black head capsule, whereas later instars have a brown head capsule. Mature larvae are green to brown, sometimes with a rose tint. Full-grown larvae are about 20 mm long. Pupation occurs in a loosely-woven hibernaculum and takes about 7.3 days. After eclosion from the pupa, the... Wikipedia →