About Leucinodes laisalis (Walker, 1859)
Leucinodes laisalis is a species of moth in the family Crambidae. It was first described by Francis Walker in 1859 under the original name Megaphysa laisalis, based on specimens collected in Cape Province, South Africa. This moth has a wingspan ranging from 20 to 34 mm, and displays sexual dimorphism where females are somewhat larger than males. The ground color of its forewings varies from orange to grey-brown.
Leucinodes laisalis is distributed primarily across Africa, where it has been recorded in Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Ghana, Israel, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Réunion, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. It has also been observed in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. These European observations are likely not native populations, but instead unintentional introductions brought in through imports of eggplants, tomatoes, and other Solanaceae, which are the species' host plants. In southern Spain, L. laisalis has been a permanently established species since at least 1958, and has since extended its range into Portugal at a spread rate of 5.51–11.51 km per year.
Like all species in the tribe Lineodini, the larvae of L. laisalis feed exclusively on the fruits of Solanaceae. The recorded host plants for its larvae are Solanum anguivi, Solanum incanum, Solanum linnaeanum, Solanum macrocarpon, Solanum melongena, Lycopersicon esculentum, and Capsicum annuum.
