Southern European marshland pyralid
caterpillars often stay in the lower strata of the crop, sometimes attacking the stem of the plant as well as the leaves. Late instar larvae burrow into soft [...] even been known for the caterpillars to inflict damage to the roots of crops cultivated in an ebb-and-flow irrigation system. The damage threshold varies [...] groups of 5 to 10 eggs, overlapping in a tile-like fashion on both the upper and lower surface of leaves close to the veins, or low on the stem or stalk