Elophila gyralis

Elophila gyralis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Crambidae
Genus:	Elophila
Species:	E. gyralis
Binomial name
Elophila gyralis (Hulst, 1886)
Synonyms
Hydrocampa gyralis Hulst, 1886 Nymphula dentilinea Hampson, 1897 Nymphula gyralis serralinealis Barnes & Benjamin, 1924

Elophila gyralis, the waterlily borer moth, is a moth in the Crambidae family. It was described by Hulst in 1886.^[1] It is found in eastern North America, where it has been recorded from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Quebec, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.^[2]

The wingspan is 16–30 mm. Adults are sexually dimorphic. Females mostly have uniform orangish-yellow to dark brown forewings, while those of the males are orangish brown to dark greyish brown. The hindwings range from whitish to grey. Adults have been recorded on wing year-round in the southern part of the range.

The larvae feed on the leaves of waterlilies, boring into petioles.^[3]

Subspecies

• Elophila gyralis gyralis
• Elophila gyralis serralinealis (Barnes & Benjamin, 1924)

References