''Cryptophlebia ombrodelta'', the litchi fruit moth or macadamia nut borer, is a
moth
Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...
of the family
Tortricidae
The Tortricidae are a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths or leafroller moths, in the order Lepidoptera. This large family has over 11,000 species described, and is the sole member of the superfamily Tortricoidea, although the genu ...
. The species was first described by
Oswald Bertram Lower
Oswald Bertram Lower (28 February 1864 in Norwood, South Australia – 18 March 1925 in Wayville, South Australia)McQuillan, Peter B., Edwards, Ted & Camilleri, Jenny (26 September 2023) Oswald Bertram Lower (1864–1925): a South Australian pio ...
in 1898. It is native to India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, western Malaysia,
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
, the Philippines, Japan,
Guam
Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...
, the
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the cen ...
, Australia and has been introduced to
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
.
Description
The
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...
is 15–22 mm. Forewings brownish to reddish brown. A dark-brown pre-tornal spot is distinctive in females, but faded in males. Males possess sex scales on the hindwing, hind tibia, and abdomen. Females with a costal fold on forewings, which is absent in males.
Eggs are white, round and flat, and laid in small groups of 15 on the fruit. Late
instar
An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...
s are 13–20 mm long. The abdomen of the caterpillar is yellowish white. In the final instar, its color turns to red. Pinacula large and darker than body. Head and prothoracic shield blackish to dark brown in early instars which turns pale to yellowish brown in final instars. Anal comb rudimentary with 4-6 small teeth. Pupa yellow brown.
Pest attack
It is considered a pest of legumes.
The larvae are a minor polyphagous pest and feeds on a wide range of plants.
Larval host plants
*''
Acacia
''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...
'' sp.
*''
Acacia farnesiana
''Vachellia farnesiana'', also known as ''Acacia farnesiana'', and previously ''Mimosa farnesiana'', commonly known as sweet acacia, huisache, casha tree, or needle bush, is a species of shrub or small tree in the legume family, Fabaceae. Its flo ...
''
*''
Acacia nilotica''
*''
Adenanthera pavonina
''Adenanthera pavonina'' is a Perennial plant, perennial and non-climbing species of leguminous tree. Its uses include food and drink, traditional medicine, and timber.
Common names
Common names for ''Adenanthera pavonina'' include Acacia co ...
''
*''
Aegle marmelos
''Aegle marmelos'', commonly known as bael (or ''bili'' or ''bhel''), also Bengal quince, golden apple, Japanese bitter orange, stone apple or wood apple, is a species of tree native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is present i ...
''
*''
Averrhoa carambola''
*''
Bauhinia hirsuta''
*''
Bauhinia malabarica''
*''
Bauhinia purpurea''
*''
Buckinghamia celsissima''
*''
Caesalpinia decapetala''
*''
Caesalpinia pulcherrima''
*''
Caesalpinia sappan
''Biancaea sappan'' is a species of flowering tree in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is native to tropical Asia. Common names in English include sappanwood and Indian redwood. It was previously ascribed to the genus '' Caesalpinia''. Sappanwoo ...
''
*''
Cassia fistula
''Cassia fistula'', also known as golden shower, purging cassia, Indian laburnum, kani konna, or pudding-pipe tree,U. S. Department of Agriculture, William Saunders; Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agric ...
''
*''
Cassia occidentalis''
*''
Cassia alata''
*''
Cassia sophera''
*''
Cassia bicapsularis''
*''
Citrus
''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes.
''Citrus'' is nativ ...
'' sp.
*''
Coccoloba uvifera
''Coccoloba uvifera'' is a species of tree and flowering plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Its common names include seagrape and baygrape. It is native to coastal beaches throughout tropical America and the Caribbean. It has edible fru ...
''
*''
Cocos nucifera
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...
''
*''
Cupaniopsis anacardioides''
*''
Delonix regia
''Delonix regia'' is a species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae native to Madagascar. It is noted for its fern-like leaves and flamboyant display of orange-red flowers over summer. In many tropical part ...
''
*''
Dimocarpus longan''
*''
Feronia Feronia may mean:
* Feronia (mythology), a goddess of fertility in Roman and Etruscan mythology
* Feronia (plant), ''Feronia'' (plant), a genus of plants
* Feronia Inc., a plantations company operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Fero ...
'' sp.
*''
Filicium decipiens
''Filicium decipiens'', called the ferntree, fern tree or fern leaf tree, is a species of ''Filicium'' found in east Africa, Madagascar, India and Sri Lanka. It is planted as an ornamental tree in the Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, Hawaii, and e ...
''
*''
Glycine max
The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed.
Soy is a key source of f ...
''
*''
Indigofera suffruticosa
''Indigofera suffruticosa'', commonly known as Guatemalan indigo, small-leaved indigo (Sierra Leone), West Indian indigo, wild indigo, and anil, is a flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae.
''Anil'' is native to the subtropical and tropi ...
''
*''
Limonia acidissima''
*''
Litchi chinensis
Lychee ( , ; ''Litchi chinensis''; ) is a monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus ''Litchi'' in the Sapindus, soapberry family, Sapindaceae.
There are three distinct subspecies of lychee. The most common is the Indochinese lychee fo ...
''
*''
Macadamia
''Macadamia'' is a genus of four species of trees in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. They are indigenous to Australia—specifically, northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland. Two species of the genus are comm ...
'' sp.
*''
Nephelium litchi''
*''
Nephelium lappaceum''
*''
Parkia'' sp.
*''
Parkinsonia aculeata''
*''
Phaseolus lunatus
A lima bean (''Phaseolus lunatus''), also commonly known as butter bean, sieva bean, double bean or Madagascar bean, is a legume grown for its edible seeds or beans.
Origin and uses
''Phaseolus lunatus'' is found in Meso- and South America. Tw ...
''
*''
Phaseolus vulgaris
''Phaseolus vulgaris'', the common bean,, is a herbaceous annual plant grown worldwide for its edible dry seeds or green, unripe pods. Its leaf is also occasionally used as a vegetable and the straw as fodder. Its botanical classification, alo ...
''
*''
Pithecellobium dulce''.
*''
Poinciana pulcherrima''
*''
Prosopis juliflora''
*''
Prosopis pallida''
*''
Senna alata''
*''
Senna bicapsularis''
*''
Senna occidentalis''
*''
Senna septemtrionalis''
*''
Senna sophera''
*''
Sesbania aculeata''
*''
Sesbania bispinosa''
*''
Sesbania grandiflora''
*''
Tamarindus indica''
Control
Adult moths can be eradicated by mechanical methods such as hand picking and trapping. Passive trapping methods such as emergence traps, flight traps, malaise traps and sticky traps are ineffective. Bait traps are also found ineffective to catch adults. Light traps, suction traps and
pheromone trap
A pheromone trap is a type of insect trap that uses pheromones to lure insects. Sex pheromones and aggregating pheromones are the most common types used. A pheromone-impregnated lure is encased in a conventional trap such as a bottle trap, delta ...
s are effective. It is also found that the
Robinson light trap attracted more males than females.
Parasitoids such as ''
Trichogramma cryptophlebiae'', ''
Brachymeria pomonae'', ''
Gotro bimaculata'' and ''
Bracon'' species can be used to destroy eggs and caterpillars.
Other methods such as mating disruption, hot water treatments, irradiation and usage of insecticides can also be used.
References
*Bradley, J. D. 1953. Some important species of the genus ''Cryptophlebia'' Walsingham, 1899, with descriptions of three new species (Lepidoptera: Olethreutidae). ''Bulletin of Entomological Research''. 43: 679–689.
*Horak, M. 2006. Olethreutine moths of Australia (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). ''Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera'', Vol. 10. 522 pp.
*Jones, V. P. 1994. Feeding by ''Cryptophlebia illepida'' and ''C. ombrodelta'' (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) on macadamia nut abortion. ''Journal of Economic Entomology''. 87: 781–786.
External links
Eurasian TortricidaeA life system study of ''Cryptophlebia ombrodelta'' (Lower) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in southeast QueenslandTrapping ''Cryptophlebia illepida'' and ''C. ombrodelta'' (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in macadamia in HawaiiBiology of macadamia nut borer (''Cryptophlebia ombrodelta'' (Lower)) 1974Record of ''Cryptophlebia ombrodelta'' (Lower) (Tortricidae: Lepitoptera) on bael (''Aegle marmelos'') and tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') in eastern IndiaSemiochemicals of ''Cryptophlebia ombrodelta'', the Macadamia nut borer''Cryptophlebia ombrodelta'' (Lower, 1898) legal status
Grapholitini
Moths described in 1898
Moths of Japan
{{Olethreutinae-stub