Species Archips cerasivorana - Ugly-nest Caterpillar Moth - Hodges#3661

3661

Cherry-eating Tortrix

Archips cerasivorana (Fitch, 1856)

Lozotaenia cerasivorana Fitch, 1856

Specific epithet from Latin cerasus + vorus meaning "cherry-eater."

Forewing length 10-12.5 mm. (1)

Wingspan 20-25 mm.

Larvae to 20 mm.

Adult - bright to pale ocherous orange crossed by broken, transverse lines of shining, dark rose rust prominent only on the costa. Hindwing ocherous yellow. (1)

Larva - body brownish or greenish-yellow; head shiny dark brown; lacks an anal fork (present in some other species of Archips).

Powell and Opler states range from northeast to British Columbia, Montana, Colorado and northern California. (1)

Type locality. New York.

Adults fly from July to September. Larvae from May to July.

Larvae feed gregariously on leaves of chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) and occasionally feed upon other members of the Rose family (Rosaceae), willow (Salix), aspen (Populus), and birch (Betula). (2)

Eggs are laid in fall in masses on bark of shrubs and young trees near the ground; eggs overwinter and hatch the next spring in May and June; larvae tie leaves together, forming a nest or web within which they live and feed; size of nest increases as larvae become larger, and Chokecherry trees may become completely covered; most larvae develop to pupal stage by mid-July; pupation occurs within the nest, and adults emerge from its outer wall; one generation per year. [adapted from text by Canadian Forest Service] Larvae spin unsightly webs on host plants (often noticeable along roadsides) but do little damage in most years, and are of minor economic importance.

Fitch, A., 1856. Insects infesting fruit trees. Third report on the noxious and other insects of the state of New York, 382.

Moth Photographers Group

E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum