Species Lorita scarificata - Chrysanthemum Flower Borer Moth - Hodges#3803

3803

Lorita scarificata (Meyrick, 1917)

Phalonia scarificata Meyrick, 1917

Lorita abornana Busck, 1939 (1), (2)

Lorita abornana chatka Busck, 1939 (1), (2)

Specific epithet from Latin meaning "scarified."

Forewing length: males 3.5-4.5 mm, females 3.9-5.2 mm. (2)

Larva to 6.4 mm. (2)

See Pogue, 1988, in Print References below. Includes info on larvae. (2)

Widely distributed in the southern Nearctic and Neotropical Regions and has been introduced into Hawaii. Known from California, Texas, Florida, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Antigua, Venezuela and Brazil. (2)

Described material: British Guiana, Bartica and Mallali, December to March (Parish); Dutch Guiana, Paramaribo; Brazil, Parana.

Pest on bell peppers (Capsicum) with larvae boring into the stalks and capsules (Busck 1939). Comstock (1939) and Busck (1939) also report dodder as a food plant in the sand dune area of El Segundo, Los Angeles Co., California. Has also been reared from Chrysanthemum (Compositae) blossoms in Waianae, Oahu, Hawaii. (2)

Busck, A. 1939. A generic review of the family Phaloniidae, with descriptions of two new genera and one new species. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences. 38(2): 100-102. (1)

Meyrick, E. 1917. Descriptions of South American Micro-Lepidoptera. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London. 1917: 3.

Pogue, M.G. 1988. Revision of the genus Lorita Busck (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae: Cochylini), with a description of a new species. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 90(4): 443, fig. 1-2. (2)

Images and Info at MPG

Images at BOLD