Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

12/13 July 2004   (date of moth capture)  (top left)
5 July 2003   12:22AM EST  (top right)
4/5 July 2003   (date of moth capture)  (bottom)
The photos at top right and bottom are of the same specimen.

My thanks to Dr. Jean-François Landry of Agriculture Canada for identifying the specimen illustrated at top left above, which was collected and given to the Canadian National Collection in Ottawa.  This specimen has also been included in the All Leps Barcode of Life project of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at the University of Guelph.  For additional information, I have consulted Forbes, William T.M., The Lepidoptera of New York and Neighboring States, Primitive Forms, Microlepidoptera, Pyraloids, Bombyces (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University, 1923).

Chilo plejadellus has a pale whitish yellow forewing variably somewhat speckled with grayish scales.  In mid-wing there is a hint of a median band, but this band is mainly evidenced by several small patches of dark gray scales with silvery reflections when the light is right.  The outer margin is marked with a row of small dark terminal dots.  The hindwing is white.  The labial palps have a distinctly fuzzy, feathery appearance.  Forbes (1923) gives a wingspan of 22 to 32 mm for this species.

According to Forbes (1923), the larva of Chilo plejadellus, also known as the Rice Stalk Borer, is a stem borer on rice and probably various other swamp grasses. He indicates an adult flight season in July.

My records to date for Chilo plejadellus (each date representing "the night of") are in the table below: