Pests

Archips crataegana Hbn. - Brown Oak Tortrix, Hawthorn Leaf-Roller.

Taxonomic position.

Class Insecta, order Lepidoptera, family Tortricidae, subfamily Tortricinae, tribe Archipini, genus Archips.

Synonym.

Cacoecia crataegana Hbn.

Biological group.

It is a polyphagous pest of fruit crops and forest trees.

Morphology and biology.

Sexual dimorphism: Fore wings of imago are mainly brownish-gray, in male with yellow pollination (wingspan 26-28 mm in female, 19-21 mm in male). Wing pattern is dark-brown; in male distinct, with well discernible light limbation; in female diffused. Hind-wings are monochrome, brownish-gray, in female reddish pollinose at apex. Eggs are pale-yellow, slightly flattened, with rounded tops. Caterpillar is 20-23 mm long, with variable color depending on age, light-gray to grayish-green and velvety-black. Pupae (13-16 mm long) are dark-brown, weakly shining. Cremaster in form of truncated cone, bearing 8 (4 apical and 4 lateral) hooked setae. Average fertility is 219, potentially 130-270 eggs. Female lays eggs in groups of 10-70 eggs in a batch, 32-54 on the average, at height of 1-3 m or in forks of branches in bark folds and cavities. Egg-batch is covered with wax-like substance. Hatching caterpillars spread, damaging blossoming buds and flowers, and living under rolled leaf margins. Caterpillars of 4th instar make shelters by folding leaves along main vein and fastening their edges with silk threads, in contrast to A. rosana caterpillars that roll leaves. Caterpillars of the last instar live in leaf bundles at tip of shoots. Most individuals congregate at outer part of crown, in middle and upper layers. Duration of caterpillar development is 25-40 days. Pupation occurs in feeding places. The stage of pupa lasts 10-16 days at temperature 16-19°C. Eggs hibernate in winter. During mass reproduction the number of egg-batches can reach up to 18-46 on one meter of branch.

Distribution.

This species lives in Europe, Asia Minor and northwestern Africa. In the former USSR it is distributed in the European part (north to Leningrad, Arkhangelsk, and Kirov Regions), in Transcaucasia, southern Ural; records from Omsk and Almaty Regions require confirmation.

Ecology.

This species is monovoltive everywhere. Renewal of egg development begins from the end of April and is prolonged. Lower threshold of egg development is 5°C. Caterpillars hatch from the middle of May (simultaneously with caterpillars of A. rosana) at an average daily air temperature of 10°C and higher. At an average temperature of 16°C the hatching of caterpillars coincides mainly with the budding phase of apple. The temperature of days for the beginning appearance of caterpillars are usually 90-114°. On late forms of oaks a high death rate of caterpillars is observed because of the time difference between hatching and blooming of buds. Caterpillars are passive migrants. They are carried by wind on silk threads for significant distances; therefore, they are frequently found in nurseries and orchards devoid of egg-batches on fruit trees. Caterpillars cause harm over a period of 50 days. In the middle strip of the Russian Federation pupation occurs from the beginning of June. Moths fly from the middle of June until the middle of August (maximal flight occurs in the middle of July) at twilight and at night. In Crimea the flight begins in the 1st third of June. Moths become sexually mature in 2-4 days and start ovipositioning, which lasts for their entire lives.

Economic significance.

Polyphagous caterpillars damage apple, pear, cherry, plum, hawthorn, cotoneaster in orchards; bird cherry, mountain ash, hazel, oak, linden, ash, willow, elm, maple, etc., in forests. Sometimes they destroy 90% of leaves. Caterpillars cause damage to blossoming buds, flowering buds and flowers. On apple, pear, and plum they cause damage to ovaries and unripe fruits, gnawing around them on the outside and thus deforming them. Control measures are as follows: Agronomic measures include cutting of old and diseased branches; biological measures include the release of Trichogramma in orchards during egg laying and the application of biological preparations. Chemical measures include local insecticide treatments during hatching of caterpillars. Monitoring and forecast are possible with the use of pheromone traps.

Reference citations:

Avramenko A.V. 1959. Brown Oak Tortrix - pest of flood-plain forest of Lower Don Basin. In: Bukshtynov A.D., ed. Bulletin of scientific and technical information (Moscow: VNIILM), 10: 36-38. (in Russian).
Chekhonadskikh V.A. 1970. Brown Oak Tortrix. Zashchita rastenii, 3: 22. (in Russian).
Egorov I.N., Solozhenikina T.N. 1963. Brown Oak Tortrix - mass pest of oak forest in Voronezh Region. Zoologicheskii zhurnal, 42(10): 1501-1512. (in Russian).
Kostyuk Yu.A. 1974. Family Tortricidae. In: Vasil.ev V.P., ed. Pests of agricultural crops and forest plantations. V. 2. Arthropods. Kiev: Urozhai. 261-320 p. (in Russian).
Kostyuk Yu.A. 1980. Tortricidae. Issue 10. Tortricinae. In: Dolin V.G., ed. Fauna of Ukraine. V. 15. Kiev: Naukova dumka. 424 p. (in Ukrainian).
Kuznetsov V.I. 1994. Family Tortricidae. In: Kuznetsov V.I., ed. Insects and mites - pests of agricultural plants. V. 3(1). Lepidoptera. St. Petersburg: Nauka. 51-234 p. (in Russian).
Markelova E.M. 1957. Bilogical basis for Rose Tortrix and Brown Oak Tortrix control in apple orchards of Moscow Region. Doklady TSKHA, 27: 129-133. (in Russian).
Markelova E.M. 1959. Cacoecia crataegana Hb. - pest of fruit cultures. Entomologicheskoe obozrenie, 38(4): 750-765. (in Russian).
Savkovskii P.P. 1976. Atlas of the pests of fruit and berry plants. Kiev: Urozhai. 207 p. (in Russian).
Tropin I.V. 1960. Brown Oak Tortrix in forests. Zashchita rastenii ot vreditelei i boleznei, 7: 54. (in Russian).
Vasil.ev V.P., Livshits I.Z. 1984. Pests of fruit crops. Moscow: Kolos. 399 p. (in Russian).

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