Hypsipyla grandella

Distinguished from Hypsipyla ferrealis by silvery hyaline hindwings (versus gray hindwings in H. ferrealis). Larvae are recognized by their presence in terminal shoots and seeds of Swietenia and Cedrela, forming internal galleries.

Adults have silvery hyaline (transparent) hindwings. Larvae are shoot borers that create galleries within host plant tissues.

Open, sunlit environments; larvae prefer trees receiving full sunlight without canopy shade. Associated with plantations and natural stands of mahogany and Spanish-cedar.

Native to southern Florida (USA), most of the West Indies, Sinaloa and southward through Mexico, Central America, and South America (except Chile). Introduced to Mauritius. Specific records include Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, El Salvador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil (Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Distrito Federal, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Pará, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia, Roraima, Santa Catarina), Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Galápagos Islands.

Larvae feed on new shoots of Swietenia spp. (mahogany) and Cedrela spp. (Spanish-cedar/tropical-cedar). Particularly abundant in seeds of Carapa guianensis and Carapa procera (Meliaceae).

• Swietenia macrophylla - hostWest Indies mahogany; larvae feed on new shoots
• Swietenia mahagoni - hostAmerican mahogany
• Cedrela odorata - hostSpanish cedar
• Carapa guianensis - hostlarvae particularly abundant in seeds
• Carapa procera - hostlarvae particularly abundant in seeds
• Khaya senegalensis - hostAfrican mahogany

Mating occurs primarily during scotophase (dark period). Females produce and release sex pheromones to attract males. Males demonstrate oriented flight toward pheromone sources and engage in courtship behaviors prior to copulation. Larvae bore into terminal shoots, forming internal galleries.

Major pest limiting reproduction and establishment of mahogany populations. Serves as host for parasitoids including Trichospilus diatraeae (Eulophidae). Susceptible to entomopathogenic fungi including Beauveria bassiana, with one isolate from Brasília causing 70% mortality of eggs and newly hatched larvae.

Significant economic pest of mahogany and Spanish-cedar plantations throughout the Neotropics. Larval feeding on terminal shoots restricts reproduction of mahogany populations and damages timber quality. Subject of biological control research using entomopathogenic fungi.

• Hypsipyla ferrealisAdults distinguished by gray hindwings versus silvery hyaline hindwings in H. grandella

• pest
• forestry
• shoot borer
• Mahogany
• Pyralidae

• BugGuide
• Wikipedia
• GBIF taxonomy match
• iNaturalist taxon
• NCBI Taxonomy
• Catalogue of Life
• Hypsipyla grandella . [Distribution map].
• Hypsipyla grandella . [Distribution map].
• Mating Behavior ofHypsipyla grandella(Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) Under Laboratory Conditions
• Attraction and Ovipositional Response of Hypsipyla grandella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) to Host and Non-Host Materials1
• OCORRÊNCIA E PATOGENICIDADE DE Beauveria bassiana À Hypsipyla grandella COLETADA EM BRASÍLIA
• TRICHOSPILUS DIATRAEAE CHERIAN & MARGABANDHU, 1942 (HYMENOPTERA: EULOPHIDAE), UN NUEVO PARASITOIDE DE HYPSIPYLA GRANDELLA (ZELLER, 1848) (LEPIDOPTERA: PYRALIDAE)
• Volatiles as Attractants of Mahogany Shoot Borer, Hypsipyla grandella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae).