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Species Acrobasis indigenella - Leaf Crumpler Moth - Hodges#5651

Leaf Crumpler Moth - Acrobasis indigenella Acrobasis indigenella  5651 – Acrobasis indigenella – Leaf Crumpler - Acrobasis indigenella Ugly-tube caterpillar = Oreo moth, Prunus - Acrobasis indigenella Leaf Crumpler Moth? - Acrobasis indigenella Acrobasis indigenella Acrobasis indigenella Acrobasis indigenella
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Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Pyraloidea (Pyralid and Crambid Snout Moths)
Family Pyralidae (Pyralid Moths)
Subfamily Phycitinae
Tribe Phycitini
No Taxon (Acrobasis Group)
Genus Acrobasis
Species indigenella (Leaf Crumpler Moth - Hodges#5651)
Hodges Number
5651
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Acrobasis indigenella (Zeller, 1848)
Myelois indigenella Zeller, 1848
Phycita nebulo (Walsh, 1860)
Phycita (Acrobasis) nebulella (Riley, 1872)
Myelois zelatella (Hulst, 1887)
Mineola grossbecki (Barnes & McDunnough, 1917)
Explanation of Names
Specific epithet from Latin indigenus meaning "native, indigenous."
Size
Wingspan 15-20 mm.
Identification
The larva varies in size (14.5 to 17.5 mm long). Its head is pale reddish brown; the top of the body is grayish green with some purplish markings, particularly where the segments overlap; the underside is pale grayish green. See Neunzig's detailed description. (1)
Range
Records from the Eastern half of the United States and southeastern Canada. (2)
Type locality: "Carolina."
Food
Pecan, apple, cherry, cotoneaster, crabapple, hawthorn, loquat, peach, pear, plum, prune, pyracantha, rose, walnut and quince have been recorded as hosts. (3)
Life Cycle
In the southeastern United States there are two generations of leaf crumplers each year. Eggs are deposited on the foliage, and they hatch in 2 to 3 weeks. The larvae construct tubes that are attached to twigs of host plants. As the larvae mature, they expand their tubes with silk and leaf fragments. The sinuous tubes can be 5 to 6 mm wide and 30 to 40 mm long when the larvae are fully grown. In late July and mid-August, larvae seal over the ends of the tubes and pupate. Pupation lasts about 2 weeks. Leaf crumplers overwinter as partially grown larvae in the tubes on the host. In the spring in eastern North Carolina, the larvae become active and resume their feeding. These larvae pupate about the middle of May.

During the winter, the first 5 to 10 mm of the reddishbrown tube may become detached from the host. The larvae seal up the open end so that the end of the tube is flat. Larvae first feed on developing leaves near their tubes; but when the adjacent food supply is depleted, they leave their shelters in search of more plant material. These wanderings are usually at night. Leaves brought back to the tube frequently dry and become unpalatable. The accumulation of dry leaves offers additional protection and may result when two or more larvae feed in proximity to one another.
Print References
Gill, J.B., 1917. The pecan leaf case-bearer. USDA Bulletin 571: 1-28. (Acrobasis nebulella)
Riley, C.V., 1872. The rascal leaf-crumpler - Phycita* (Acrobasis) nebulella Walsh. Fourth annual report on the noxious, beneficial, and other insects of the State of Missouri: 38.
Zeller, P.C., 1848. Exotische Phyciden, Isis von Oken 41(11): 867.