US Customs and Border Protection agents at Detroit Metropolitan Airport found seed pods in the luggage of a passenger arriving from the Philippines. According to the passenger, the seed pods were an ingredient in a special medicinal tea—no big deal. Turns out though, there were also moth larvae and pupae among the seed pods. From the US CBP:
Moth larvae and pupae were collected for further analysis, and while in quarantine, several of the pupae hatched to reveal "very flashy" moths with raised patches of black setae (bristles). Physical characteristics indicated the moths to be members of family Pyralidae, however genius or species were not able to be determined by agriculture specialist and specimens were submitted to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for further identification.
A USDA Smithsonian Institution etymologist later confirmed with CBP this was a first encounter of this species of moth since it was first described in 1912. This was also the first time that a larvae or pupae associated with this species has been collected.
