Brithys crini

{{Speciesbox | name = Amaryllis borer | image = Brithys crini, larwe, Pretoria, a.jpg | image_caption = Larva | image2 = Brithys crini, Pretoria.jpg | image2_caption = Adult | taxon = Brithys crini | authority = (Fabricius, 1775) | synonyms = *''Bombyx crini'' *''Phalaena dominica'' *''Noctua pancratii'' *''Noctua encausta'' *''Brithys vertenteni'' *''Brithys nipponica'' *''Brithys encausta'' *''Brithys pancratii'' *''Glottula pancrati'' }} '''''Brithys crini''''', the '''amaryllis borer''', '''crinum borer''',<ref name="isbn0-409-08398-4">{{cite book |author1=Annecke, D. R. |author2=Moran, V. C. |title=Insects and mites of cultivated plants in South Africa |publisher=Butterworths |location=London |year=1982 |isbn=0-409-08398-4 }}</ref> '''lily borer''' or '''Kew arches''', is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is a garden pest in parts of its range, as their larvae damage the stems and leaves of lilies, especially lilies of the family Amaryllidaceae.<ref name=ukm>{{cite web |title=Kew Arches ''Brithys crini'' |url=https://ukmoths.org.uk/species/brithys-crini/ |website=UKMoths |access-date=19 October 2015}}</ref>

==Range== It is found in the coastal areas of Southern Europe and North Africa, south to South Africa. Furthermore, it is found in Japan and in Queensland and Northern Territory in Australia towards India and Sri Lanka.

==Description== [[File:Brythis crini1.JPG|left|thumb|Larva boring into a sea daffodil leaf]] [[File:Brithys crini Noctuidae Lily borer larva 8747s.jpg|left|thumb|Larva feeding on a slime lily stem]] The wingspan of the moth is about 40 mm. Its head, thorax and forewings are very dark brown, but paler toward the wingtips. Sub-basal, median and postmedial indistinct waved lines are black. A curved submarginal ochreous line with ferrous colored lunules found on each side of it. There is a marginal black lunule series. The hindwings are practically white. Tarsi bear black and white stripes. In Europe the adults are on the wing in July.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hampson |first=G. F. |author-link=George Hampson |date=1894 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/180400#page/5/mode/1up |title=The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume II |volume=Moths - II |publisher=Taylor and Francis |via=Biodiversity Heritage Library}}</ref>

==Life stages== There are several generations per year, though development slows down in cooler seasons, when the larvae sometimes overwinter by boring into the bulbs of the host plants.

The moth lays clusters of a few dozen eggs on the host plant leaves. The hatching larvae at first remain in groups and mine into the leaves. As they grow they either emerge and feed externally, or proceed down the leaves to their bases or even into the bulbs.

The larvae are aposematically coloured in pale yellows on blacks and browns. They are unpalatable to most vertebrate predators, and also poisonous, feeding as they do, on largely unpalatable and poisonous plants. They are slightly bristly, but the bristles seem to be sensory rather than irritant. Typically they grow to about 40 mm long before pupation.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Herbison-Evans |first1=Don |last2=Crossley |first2=Stella |name-list-style=amp |date=4 June 2018 |url=http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/hade/crini.html |title=''Brithys crini'' (Fabricius, 1775) Lily Borer |website=Australian Caterpillars and their Butterflies and Moths |access-date=13 January 2019}}</ref>

==Food plants== The larvae feed on all species of ''Crinum'', ''Clivia'' and ''Hippeastrum'', including ''Crinum angustifolium'', ''Haemanthus'' species, ''Hippeastrum procerum'', ''Pancratium maritimum'',<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.leps.it/indexjs.htm?SpeciesPages/BrithysPancr.htm | title=Noctuidae Noctuinae Glottulini | publisher=Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa | access-date=2 August 2016}}</ref> ''Zephyranthes candida'', ''Crocus tommasinianus'', ''Narcissus'' spp., and ''Amaryllis belladonna''. Commonly they bore into thick leaves or even into the bulbs; Mature larvae are likely to feed externally, especially on thin-leaved plants. Heavy infestations of the caterpillars may kill plants.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.africanmoths.com/pages/NOCTUIIDAE/GLOTTULINAE/brithys%20crini.htm | title=''Brithys crini'', (Fabricuis, 1775) | website=African Moths | access-date=2 August 2016}}</ref>

==Predators== The most effective enemies of the larvae in Europe are the carabid (ground beetle) ''Scarites buparius'' and the tenebrionid (darkling beetles) ''Erodius siculus'' and ''Pimelia bipunctata''.

==Control== Commercial carbaryl dusts are effective in combating the caterpillar, but they cannot reach those that have bored into the plant. The insecticide also reduces populations of predators, so that weekly applications become necessary. For small scale horticulture, or in home gardens it is better to rely on mechanical control, seeking out discoloured feeding patches on leaves and crushing the young larvae before they develop. Heavily infested leaves it often is better to cut out and destroy.<ref name="isbn0-409-08398-4"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304215322/http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=448432 ''Fauna Europaea'']

Category:Glottulinae Category:Owlet moths of Europe Category:Moths of the Comoros Category:Owlet moths of Africa Category:Moths of Japan Category:Moths of Madagascar Category:Moths of Mauritius Category:Moths of Réunion Category:Moths of the Middle East Category:Moths described in 1775 Category:Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius