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The carnation tortrix moth, Cacoecimorpha pronubana (Hübner, [1799]) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is one of the most economically important insect species affecting the horticultural industry in the UK. The larvae consume foliage, flowers or fruits, and/or rolls leaves together with silken threads, negatively affecting the growth and/or aesthetics of the crop. In order to understand the polyphagous behaviour of this species within an ornamental crop habitat, we hypothesized that different host plant species affect its life history traits differently. This study investigated the effects of the host plant species on larval and pupal durations and sizes, and fecundity (the number of eggs and the number and size of egg clutches). At 20°C, 60% RH and a 16L:8D photoperiod larvae developed 10, 14, 20 and 36 days faster when reared on Christmas berry, Photinia (Rosaceae), than on cherry laurel, Prunus laurocerasus (Rosaceae), New Zealand broadleaf, Griselinia littoralis (Griseliniaceae), Mexican orange, Choisya ternata (Rutaceae), and firethorn, Pyracantha angustifolia (Rosaceae), respectively. Female pupae were 23.8 mg heavier than male pupae, and pupal weight was significantly correlated with the duration of larval development. The lowest and the highest mean numbers of eggs were produced by females reared on Pyracantha (41) and Photinia (202), respectively. Clutch size differed significantly among moths reared on different host plants, although the total number of eggs did not differ. This study showed that different ornamental host plants affect the development of C. pronubana differently. Improved understanding of the influence of host plant on the moth's life history parameters measured here will help in determining the economic impact that this species may have within the ornamental plant production environment, and may be used in developing more accurate crop protection methodologies within integrated pest management of this insect.

The insect ryanodine receptor (RyR) is a novel target of the anthranilic and phthalic insecticides, which have high activity against lepidopteran insects. Several diamide insecticides have been used to control pests in orchards in China. To enhance our understanding of the effects of diamides on RyRs, full-length cDNAs were isolated and characterized from the summer fruit tortrix moth, Adoxophyes orana, which is the most severe pest of stone and pome trees worldwide. In addition, the modulation of AoRyR mRNA expression by diamide insecticides was investigated. The AoRyR mRNA obtained had an open reading frame (ORF) of 15 402 bp nucleotides encoding 5 113 amino acids, and shared high and low identity with its orthologs in other insects and mammals of 77–92 and 45–47% identity, respectively. One alternative splice site with two exclusive exons was revealed in AoRyR (a/b). The usage of exon was more frequent in eggs and larvae than in pupae and adults. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) showed that AoRyR mRNA was expressed at all developmental stages, especially in eggs, male pupae and male adults. The expression levels of AoRyR mRNA in the whole body were up-regulated markedly after 3rd instar larvae were treated with chlorantraniliprole at LC10, LC20 and LC50 dosages. The results could provide the basis for further functional studies of AoRyR and for the development of new chemicals with selective activity against insects.

BACKGROUND Captures of codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.), in traps are used to establish action thresholds and time insecticide sprays. The need for frequent trap inspections in often remote orchards has created a niche for remote sensing smart traps. A smart trap baited with a five‐component pheromone‐kairomone blend was evaluated for codling moth monitoring among an assemblage of other nontargets in apple and pear orchards. RESULTS Codling moth captures did not differ between the smart trap and a standard trap when both were checked manually. However, the correlation between automatic and manual counts of codling moth in the smart traps was low, R 2 = 0.66 ÷ 0.87. False‐negative identifications by the smart trap were infrequent, Cydia pomonella monitoring with smart traps baited with pheromone‐kairomone lures enabled remote detection of the target species, but also of other pests, including Grapholita molesta, Synanthedon myopaeformis, and Cacoecimorpha pronubana. © 2021 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Long-term pest insect monitoring in agriculture and forestry has advanced population ecology. However, the discontinuation of research materials such as pheromone lure products jeopardizes data collection continuity, which constrains the utilization of the industrial datasets in ecology. Three pheromone lures against the smaller tea tortrix moth Adoxophyes honmai Yasuda (Lepidoptera; Tortricidae) were available but one was recently discontinued. Hence, a statistical method is required to convert data among records of moths captured with different lures. We developed several generalized additive mixed models (GAMM) separating temporal fluctuation in the background male density during trapping and attenuation of lure attractiveness due to aging or air exposure after settlement. We collected multisite trap data over four moth generations. The lures in each of these were unsealed at different times before trap settlement. We used cross-validation to select the model with the best generalization performance. The preferred GAMM had nonlinear density fluctuation terms and lure attractiveness decreased exponentially after unsealing. The attenuation rates varied among lures. A light trap dataset near the pheromone traps was a candidate for a male density predictor. Nevertheless, there was only a weak correlation between trap yields, suggesting the difficulty of data conversion between the traps differing in attraction mechanisms.

One of the possible consequences of climate change is a change in the demographic dynamics of phyllophagous insects. For a retrospective analysis of this dynamics, tree rings are used, especially in regions with limited documentary data. Due to the complex nature of the factors determining tree growth, in order to more clearly identify pest-induced defoliation in tree-ring chronologies one suppress the climatic signal expressed directly or indirectly (through chronologies of non-host tree species). However, in South Siberia, the choice of non-host species is hampered by the wide distribution of polyphages, like the gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar Linnaeus) and the Siberian silk moth (Dendrolimus sibiricus Tsch.). Therefore, the analysis of pest outbreaks in larch forests of the Republic of Tuva low mountains was started by removing the climatic response based on instrumental data, identifying depressions in the residual time-series of individual tree radial growth at several sites, and comparing them with available actual data on forest damage by phyllofages. Dendroclimatic analysis showed that the model including the precipitation-to-maximum-temperature ratio for June-September of the previous season and June of the current year, i.e. the degree of aridity during the previous and current growing season, describes 43.7% of the regional variation in the growth of Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.). After removal of this component, several periods of larch growth depression were revealed during confirmed outbreaks of the Siberian silk moth, gypsy moth, and larch tortrix (Zeiraphera diniana Gn.). The use of documented data over 1998–2016 allowed to clarify the threshold values of the portion of affected trees for intensities of the growth depression ranging 1–1.5 standard deviations, providing the required reliability of the outbreak reconstruction. The dependence of the spatio-temporal patterns of growth depression on the pest species was revealed, reflecting their migration in the affected area. It has been shown that growth depressions may be delayed compared with the actual damage by pests due to the long recovery after recurrent defoliation.

Wolbachia are inherited intracellular bacteria that cause male-specific death in some arthropods, called male-killing. To date, three Wolbachia strains have been identified in the oriental tea tortrix Homona magnanima (Tortricidae, Lepidoptera); however, none of these caused male-killing in the Japanese population. Here, we describe a male-killing Wolbachia strain in Taiwanese H. magnanima. From field-collected H. magnanima, two female-biased host lines were established, and antibiotic treatments revealed Wolbachia (wHm-t) as the causative agent of male-killing. The wsp and MLST genes in wHm-t are identical to corresponding genes in the nonmale-killing strain wHm-c from the Japanese population, implying a close relationship of the two strains. Crossing the Japanese and Taiwanese H. magnanima revealed that Wolbachia genotype rather than the host genetic background was responsible for the presence of the male-killing phenotype. Quantitative PCR analyses revealed that the density of wHm-t was higher than that of other Wolbachia strains in H. magnanima, including wHm-c. The densities of wHm-t were also heterogeneous between host lines. Notably, wHm-t in the low-density and high-density lines carried identical wsp and MLST genes but had distinct lethal patterns. Furthermore, over 90% of field-collected lines of H. magnanima in Taiwan were infected with wHm-t, although not all host lines harboring wHm-t showed male-killing. The host lines that showed male-killing harbored a high density of Wolbachia compared to the host lines that did not show male-killing. Thus, the differences in the phenotypes appear to be dependent on biological and genetic characteristics of closely related Wolbachia strains.

The smaller tea tortrix, Adoxophyes honmai Yasuda (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is one of the main insect pests of tea, Camellia sinensis Kuntz, in Japan. Recently, A. honmai has developed a high resistance to diacylhydrazine analog insect growth regulators, such as tebufenozide, in Shizuoka Prefecture. Previously, we identified a point mutation (A415V) in the ecdysone receptor gene (EcR), a candidate factor responsible for tebufenozide resistance. In this study, we have developed a molecular method of diagnosis to detect the EcR A415V mutation by polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP). This method was confirmed to be successfully applicable to larvae reared in the laboratory and adults collected by pheromone traps in the field. The appearance ratio of the resistant allele in the A. honmai populations from various Japanese districts examined by the method revealed a high correlation with the magnitude of tebufenozide resistance. These results verified that the A415V mutation is the principal factor responsible for tebufenozide resistance and the PCR–RFLP method may be used as a reliable and convenient tool for monitoring tebufenozide resistance in the field.

The strawberry tortrix (Acleris comariana Lienig and Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is a major pest of strawberry in Denmark and southern Sweden. Chemical and electrophysiological analyses revealed a single compound, (E)-11,13-tetradecadienal (E11,13-14:Ald), in gland extracts of females eliciting a strong antennal response in conspecific males. Also (Z)-11,13-tetradecadienal (Z11,13-14:Ald) was found to be antennally active, but not detected in gland extracts. The corresponding alcohol and acetate of E11,13-14:Ald, which are biologically active in other Acleris species, were not produced by females and did not trigger electrophysiological response in males. Trapping experiments at a commercial strawberry farm in southern Sweden showed that E11,13-14:Ald and Z11,13-14:Ald, alone or in combination, attracted large numbers of males. Trap catches increased with increasing dose of E11,13-14:Ald, with traps baited with 100 µg and 1,000 µg being most attractive. Our results confirm the widespread use of E11,13-14:Ald as a key sex pheromone component in the genus Acleris. The identification of a highly attractive sex pheromone is a first step in developing pheromone-based methods for monitoring and control of A. comariana in European strawberry production. (Less)

Oaks are one of the most important and most common deciduous tree species in the forests of Central Europe, accounting for 10% of the total area. However, due to progressive global warming, the oak is increasingly exposed to biotic and abiotic stressors. In addition to drought and heat, thermophilic herbivorous insects are also a challenge for the oaks. During studies on the green oak leaf roller (Tortrix vidiana L.) in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany), differences in the infestation intensity of individual oaks by this herbivorous moth were found, which led to a definition of tolerant (T-oaks, little defoliated) and susceptible (S-oaks, heavily defoliated) oaks. To validate results from conducted biochemical and molecular studies, ethological studies were carried out with the specialist Tortrix viridana (2013) and the generalist Lymantria dispar L. (gypsy moth) (2019). The parameters used to determine the performance of these herbivorous insects on the two different oak genotypes were developmental time, amount of fed leaves, and mortality of larvae and pupae during the juvenile phase. While the overall developmental time of green oak leaf roller larvae did not show a significant difference on S- and T-oaks, especially the female larvae of Lymantria dispar needed a longer developmental time on T-oaks. On T-oaks, larvae of Tortrix viridana had to consume significantly more leaf material to achieve approximately the same pupal weight as larvae fed on S-oaks. In contrast, larvae of the gypsy moth tended to ate less T-oak than S-oak leaf material without revealing differences in pupal weights. For the green oak leaf roller the mortality of pupae from T-oaks was significantly higher than from S-oaks. For Lymantria dispar no significant differences in mortality was observed. Basically, T-oaks seem to offer a poorer nutritional and developmental basis for both kinds of leaf-eating insects.

Environmental pollution is currently identified as one of the major drivers of rapid decline of insect populations, and this finding has revitalized interest in insect responses to pollution. We tested the hypothesis that the pollution-induced decline of insect populations can be predicted from phenotypic stress responses expressed as morphological differences between populations inhabiting polluted and unpolluted sites. We explored populations of the brassy tortrix Eulia ministrana in subarctic forests along an environmental disturbance gradient created by long-lasting severe impacts of aerial emissions of the copper-nickel smelter in Monchegorsk, northwestern Russia. We used pheromone traps to measure the population densities of this leafrolling moth and to collect specimens for assessment of three morphological stress indices: size, forewing melanization, and fluctuating asymmetry in wing venation. Wing length of E. ministrana increased by 10%, and neither forewing melanization nor fluctuating asymmetry changed from the unpolluted forest to the heavily polluted industrial barren. However, the population density of E. ministrana decreased 5 to 10 fold in the same pollution gradient. Thus, none of the studied potential morphological stress indicators signaled vulnerability of E. ministrana to environmental pollution and/or to pollution-induced environmental disturbance. We conclude that insect populations can decline without any visible signs of stress. The use of morphological proxies of insect fitness to predict the consequences of human impact on insect populations is therefore risky until causal relationships between these proxies and insect abundance are deciphered.

184. ��� Tortrix ��� liquefacta Meyrick, 1908 Tortrix liquefacta Meyrick, 1908; J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 18: 619. TL: India, Assam. Distribution: India (Assam)., Published as part of Pathania, Prakash C., Das, Apurva & Chandra, Kailash, 2020, Catalogue of Tortricidae Latreille, 1802 (Lepidoptera: Tortricoidea) of India, pp. 1-95 in Zootaxa 4757 (1) on page 37, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4757.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3756053, {"references":["Meyrick, E. (1908 a) Descriptions of Indian Microlepidoptera. VI. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 18, 437 - 460."]}

Ascogaster reticulata Watanabe (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is an egg‐larval endoparasitoid of the smaller tea tortrix, Adoxophyes honmai Yasuda. Recent studies have examined tritrophic interactions among Camellia sinensis, A. honmai and A. reticulata, but the effect of non‐host insects on the induction of tea plant that may affect foraging behaviour of A. reticulata remains unclear. In this study, we selected two non‐host insects, Homona magnanima Diakonoff and Ostrinia furnacalis (Guenee), as representative species in our bioassays. Tea leaves were treated with homogenized female reproductive tissues of a non‐host insect in comparison with untreated leaves in a choice test. Residence times of parasitoids on both leaves were recorded. The parasitoids seemed to prefer walking on leaves treated with homogenates of H. magnanima over untreated leaves, but the difference in residence times was not significant. In contrast, its residence time on leaves treated with homogenates of O. furnacalis was significantly shorter than that on untreated leaves. Thus, the induction of tea leaf surface chemicals may differ among moth species, which may produce different types of elicitors. This difference may, in turn, affect the host‐searching behaviour of A. reticulata.

The chestnut weevil ( Curculio elephas ) is a major pest of chestnut. Female weevils oviposit in the fruit and emergent larvae eat the kernel, making the nut unmarketable. In Turkey, the fruit is gathered into piles called gomu and allowed to ripen over a 1–2 month period. Late instars emerge from infested nuts to pupate in the soil underlying the gomu. Since the pest is concentrated, the opportunity exists for targeted control with biological control agents such as entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) and nematodes (EPN). The efficacy of the EPF Metarhizium brunneum strains ARSEF 4556 and V275 used alone and in combination with the EPN Heterorhabditis bacteriophora on the mortality of last instar chestnut weevil was assessed. Both M. brunneum ARSEF 4556 and V275 were highly virulent causing 86% and 94% mortality, respectively. Although H. bacteriophora killed the larvae (68% mortality) more quickly, the fungal strains were more efficacious 12 days post-inoculation. Application of ARSEF 4556 and V275 as a top dressing (spreading the fungus uniformly over the soil surface) in simulated gomu resulted in 78% and 80% larval mortality in laboratory pot tests and 83% and 70% mortality in outdoor trials, respectively. Premix applications (mixing the fungus in the top few centimeters of soil) of ARSEF 4556 and V275 resulted in 83% and 85% larval mortality indoors, respectively, yet outdoor trials caused >80% larval mortality. These EPF strains were also evaluated against larvae of the chestnut tortrix, Cydia splendana , which also feeds on nut kernels, and emerges at the same time as the chestnut weevil larvae to pupate in the soil. Both ARSEF and V275 caused 96.6% mortality inlast instar C. splendana . In contrast, the most virulent EPN ( Steinernema feltiae ) caused only 80% mortality. Co-application of this nematode with M. brunneum resulted in 100% mortality with the interactions being additive.

The smaller tea tortrix, Adoxophyes honmai Yasuda (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is one of the most common pests that affect the tea plant, Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze. Diacylhydrazine-analog insect growth regulators, such as tebufenozide, have been used as controls; however, the species began showing resistance to this compound in approximately 2004. Previously, we identified an amino acid mutation (A415V) in the ecdysone receptor gene (EcR) as a principal factor in tebufenozide resistance and developed a molecular diagnostic method to detect the EcR A415V mutation through polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP). However, for the continuous management of tebufenozide resistance in A. honmai, a simple and quick genetic diagnostic method that does not require specialized equipment is preferable. In this study, we developed a novel technique to detect the mutation using allele-specific loop-mediated isothermal amplification (AS-LAMP). This method enables the monitoring and detection of tebufenozide-resistance alleles much faster than PCR–RFLP and with moderate accuracy. Therefore, it could be a powerful tool for the early detection of tebufenozide-resistant A. honmai in tea plantations.

(1) Background: Pheromone-based devices are successfully used to control insect pests in agriculture. (2) Methods: Investigations were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of mating disruption (MD) to control the chestnut tortrix moths, Cydia fagiglandana and Cydia splendana. Surveys were performed in northern Italy in 2019–2020. MD was carried out using the pheromone dispenser Ecodian® CT. The effectiveness of MD was assessed by recording male adult catches in pheromone-baited sticky traps and larvae in chestnut fruits, comparing MD and control plots. (3) Results: The total number of trapped males was significantly lower in MD plots than in control ones, for all sites and years. Trap catch suppression in MD plots averaged 89.5% and 93.8% for C. fagiglandana and 57.4% and 81% for C. splendana in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The larval infestation rate in fruits did not vary between plots except for one site where a reduction of about 71% in the MD plot was recorded in 2019. (4) Conclusions: Low catches in MD plots turned out to be a good measure of the effectiveness of communication disruption, but no satisfactory data have been obtained regarding fruit infestation, highlighting how the reduction of male catches cannot always be considered as a reliable indicator of successful control. Specific investigations about background population density, dispersal and mating/oviposition behavior are thus essential for a viable management strategy.

From citizen science data we report the first records of blue to violet-colored oniscideans (Oniscidea: Isopoda), indicating potential invertebrate iridescent virus (IIV; Betairidovirinae: Iridoviridae) infection: in Africa, South America, and Oceania; and of the new hosts Armadillidium nasatum and Balloniscus sellowii. DNA sequencing of indigo Porcellio scaber confirms the presence of Invertebrate iridescent virus 31 in Australia. Beyond the Oniscidea, new, putative IIV hosts are identified: hoverfly pupae (Eristalinae), a tortrix moth larva (Phaecasiophora niveiguttana), and a millipede (Harpaphe haydeniana). In addition, the purported positive correlation between virion diameter and wavelength of iridescence is analyzed qualitatively for the first time.

Current publication is devoted to the problem in identifying the type of population dynamics (on an example of green oak tortrix (Tortrix viridana L.)). For fitting of time series of tortrix fluctuations (Korzukhin and Semevsky, Sin-ecology of forest. Gidrometeoizdat, Saint-Petersburg, 1992), generalized discrete logistic model was used. Results of model parameter estimations obtained with ordinary least squares (OLS) and method of extreme points (MEP) (Nedorezov. Chaos and Order in Population Dynamics: Modeling, Analysis, Forecast. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, Saarbrucken. 2012. p. 352; Nedorezov. J. Gen. Biol. 73(2), 114–123, 2012; Nedorezov. Biophysics 61(1), 149–154, 2016) were compared. It was assumed that the model demonstrates good correspondence to time series if and only if deviations between time series and model trajectory satisfy with several statistical tests. It was shown that model with OLS estimations of parameters cannot be used for fitting of time series. Analyses of four various variants of MEP estimations were provided, and it was obtained that observed dynamic regime of population dynamics isn’t cyclic (if length of cycle is less than 1500 years). For the selected dynamic regimes, a rapid decrease in values of auto-correlation functions with further small fluctuations near zero level was observed. It means that forecasting the change in population size for short or long time periods is practically impossible.

Postharvest losses are a major brake on the economic growth of the fruit sector and on the development of the production of certain fruit species in organic farming. Chestnut (Castanea sativa Miller) is a very sensitive commodity with high losses due to insect infestation and diseases. In 2014, the first trials were carried out to evaluate the efficacy of postharvest heat treatments combined with high CO2 or N2 atmospheres to kill insects. Different treatments of 40 min at 45°C and 100% CO2 or 100% N2 were applied on chestnut fruit tortrix larvae (Cydia splendana) and proved to be completely effective on larvae mortality. A higher temperature (50°C) with a 40% CO2 concentration gave similar results. These preliminary results must be validated in vivo to confirm the potential of this technique for killing chestnut fruit tortrix.

Durangularia, gen.n., is described and illustrated from the northern Neotropics. As currently defined, the genus includes two species: D. druana (Walsingham, 1914), comb.n., from the southwestern U.S. (Arizona, Texas), Mexico, and Guatemala; and D. giganteana, sp.n., from Costa Rica. The new genus is assigned to Cochylini (Euliina) on the basis of the presence of non-deciduous cornuti in the phallus of the male genitalia and the absence of a signum in the female genitalia.

Adoxophyes honmai Yasuda (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is a serious pest of tea plants in Japan. Damage caused by larvae is widely distributed throughout tea plantations, but the modes of oviposition and offspring feeding are still unclear. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to determine oviposition preference for leaf age in A. honmai as related to performance of offspring. Two-choice experiments between young and old leaves showed that A. honmai female adults preferred to oviposit on the area close to old leaves rather than young leaves. Therefore, volatiles from old tea leaves appear to act as attractants and stimulate oviposition. In contrast, more than 70 % of neonates fed on young leaves 24 h after starting the experiments, and development of larvae that continuously fed on young leaves was higher than larvae that fed on old leaves. After hatching, neonates likely move to the young leaves to start feeding. Finally, we conclude that leaf age affects not only maternal insect ability to find suitable habitats for oviposition, but also affects the development of their offspring.

The effects of temperature on egg and larval development of Grapholita lobarzewskii Nowicki (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) were studied under controlled conditions to complement the basis for phenological forecasting and thus to optimize the timing of monitoring and control measures with respect to sustainable pest management. Egg development lasted on average 28.1 days at 12.7 °C and 5.5 days at 26.1 °C. Egg mortality was generally low, varying between 12 and 14% within a temperature range of 12.7–22.0 °C, but slightly increased to 20% at 26.1 °C. For egg development, a lower thermal threshold of 9.7 °C and a thermal constant of 90.6 degree days were established. Larval development took on average 76.0 days at 12.7 °C and 21.5 days at 26.1 °C. Larval mortality was 51% at 12.7 °C but only 6–12% at temperatures above 17 °C. The lower thermal threshold and the thermal constant for larval development were 7.6 °C and 389.2 degree days, respectively. Final larval weight increased with temperature from 18.6 mg at 12.7 °C to a maximum of 23.9 mg at 22.0 °C. Based on mortality rates, the optimal temperature range was between 12.7 and 22.0 °C for egg development and between 17.1 and 22.0 °C for larval development, which was confirmed based on the weight of fully grown larvae. These biological parameters of egg and larval development enabled us to parameterise a phenology model for G. lobarzewskii, which was incorporated into an existing decision support system for fruit pests. Precise forecasts of pest phenology facilitate the optimal timing of monitoring and control measures, improve their efficiency, and thereby contribute to sustainable crop protection.

Five Neotropical tortricine species which currently lack meaningful generic assignment (i.e., “Archipini unplaced”) are assigned to genera. The following new combinations and synonymies are proposed: Argyrotaenia telemacanaRazowski and Becker, 2010, new synonymy, as a junior synonym of Argyrotaenia tristriata (Meyrick, 1931); Teras jamaicanaWalker, 1863, new synonymy, as a junior synonym of Pandemis heparana ([Denis and Schiffermuller], 1775); Raisapoana parana (Busck, 1911), new combination; Archipimima mansueta (Meyrick, 1924), new combination; Sisurcana biforata (Meyrick, 1930) new combination, including Sisurcana validaRazowski and Becker, 2011, new synonymy; Sisurcana recurvana (Zeller, 1866), new combination; and Sisurcana clivigera (Meyrick, 1932), new combination. In addition, Farragona Austin and Dombroskie, new genus is proposed to accommodate two species: Tortrix cratistaWalsingham, 1914 and Tortrix cremnobatesWalsingham, 1914 (the latter currently placed in Clepsis Guenee); the former of which has a lectotype and paralectotype designated. This results in F. cratista (Walsingham, 1914), new combination and F. cremnobates (Walsingham, 1914), new combination.

Clepsis peritana (Clemens, 1860) is a native species of North America that has been accidentally introduced in Europe in 80’s. This species was mentioned as occurring in Gibraltar, Spain, Denmark and Italy, but no precise collecting data were provided. The presence of the garden tortrix, Clepsis peritana, in Italy is confirmed by a single specimen collected in Central Italy (Umbria region) that is identified by both external characters and dissection of the male genitalia.

Asymmetric interactions among conspecifics can have diverse effects on population dynamics including stabilization, generation of cycles, and induction of chaotic fluctuations. A difficult challenge, however, is establishing the link between the impact of asymmetric interactions on life history and the consequences for population dynamics. The smaller tea tortrix, Adoxophyes honmai, is a good example. Larval instars differ dramatically in size and have a tendency for cannibalism, which suggests the potential for strong asymmetric interactions among instars. Yet whether these asymmetries have any role in generating the distinct single-generation cycles observed in the field and laboratory is unclear. Here we report on the development of a new experimental approach to characterize the impact of asymmetric interactions on life history that can be directly embedded into stage-structured population models. The experiments use donor-replacement protocols in which focal individuals are challenged to complete their life cycles in competitive environments where the instar and density of the competitors are held constant. The experimentally derived interaction surface contains all the information about stage-specific interactions and provides a straightforward framework for evaluating alternative ways of abstracting the interactions into traditional models of asymmetric competition. Working with the smaller tea tortrix, we found strong evidence of asymmetric interactions and identified critical "tipping points" in the competitive environment that strongly affected survival but not development. We incorporated the experimentally derived interaction surface into a stage-structured population model and found that despite the strong impact that asymmetric interactions have on tea tortrix life history, they do not scale-up to impact the predicted asymptotic population dynamics. Comparing these dynamics with two abstracted models of stage-structured interactions revealed that while the quantitative details of the emergent dynamics depends on the shape of the interaction surface, the qualitative features, such as the emergence of single-generation cycles and rapid synchronization of development among individuals, are pleasingly robust.

Cannibalism is relatively common in herbaceous insects, but studies looking at life-history traits on conspecific versus herbaceous diets reveal a mix of outcomes. In some taxa, fitness is highest on a conspecific diet, but in others, fitness is highest on an herbaceous diet. Identifying factors that maintain the cannibalistic feeding strategy has been complicated by the interaction between the direct effect of consuming conspecifics and the indirect effect of releasing future competition. Here, we isolate and study the direct fitness consequences of consuming conspecifics in the tea tortrix (Adoxophyes honmai) by comparing a flexible choice diet against three fixed-composition diets (0, 50, and 100% conspecific). While overall rates of cannibalism were low in the flexible choice treatment (17%), these cannibalistic individuals ingested a greater amount of resources than any other treatment. Increased ingestion is strongly correlated with greater pupae mass suggesting that these trait changes are a relatively straightforward consequence of resource acquisition. In contrast, development time was only weakly correlated with ingestion suggesting a more complex relationship with resource quantity and quality. Interestingly, individuals feeding on either pure conspecific or pure herbaceous diet revealed a trade-off between pupae mass and development rate, whereas the trade-off disappeared for individuals consuming mixed diets. Combining all life-history traits, fitness was maximal on the flexible choice diet compared to all three fixed-composition diets. Our manipulations reveal that only low levels of cannibalism confer a direct fitness advantage. The direct fitness benefit likely emerges from the balance of ingestion rate and nutritional value for each food type. Cannibalism is common in herbaceous insects, but there is contradictory evidence as to whether the feeding strategy has a higher fitness than pure herbivory. Identifying the direct effects of cannibalism on fitness is challenging as most common experimental approaches do not disentangle these effects from the indirect effect of releasing future competition. Here, we study the direct effect of cannibalism on fitness in a tea tortrix moth and show that low levels of cannibalism have the highest fitness compared to either pure herbivory or pure cannibalism. By measuring ingestion rates, we show that benefits to life-history traits come about from a combination of increased ingestion under low levels of cannibalism and relaxation of the trade-off between development time and pupae mass. As a result, our study investigates the proximate mechanisms that explain the maintenance of low levels of cannibalism in an herbaceous insect.

Many species are considered as pests in walnut production such as insects and mites, diseases, weeds and vertebrate pests. Among them, insects and mites are key pests of walnut and cause considerable damage. The knowledge of biology and nature of damage helps in the management of target insect pests at appropriate time, which reduces pesticidal applications and least effects on natural enemies in the field to maintain the pest populations in equilibrium position. Some insect pests, like aphids and chafer beetle, infest the nursery and cause serious damage. In the field, stem borer infesting tree trunk, shot hole borer infesting branches, gypsy moth and tortrix moth defoliating the leaves, blister mite puckering or blistering the leaves and husk fly damaging the husk all affect the quality and market value of the fruit. In storage, some insect pests, viz. Indian meal moth and sawtooth beetles, cause damage to the walnut. IPM is an ecofriendly based strategy that relies heavily on long-term prevention of pests and their damage through different techniques.

A complete control on quarantine insect pests is required for exporting domestic apples to other countries. To this end, a controlled atmosphere and heat treatment system (CATTS) has been developed as a post-harvest treatment. This study determined the CATTS conditions to control completely two lepidopteran insect pests, the smaller tea tortrix moth, Adoxophyes paraorana and the peach pyralid moth, Dichocrocis punctiferalis, which exhibit different feeding behviors. In both species, the fifth instar larvae were the most tolerant developmental stage to the heat treatment. Under CATTS conditions with 15% and 1% for 1 h heat treatment at , the fifth instar larvae of A. paraorana exhibited a complete lethality, while those of D. punctiferalis underwent 88% mortality. To control completely the fifth instar larvae of D. punctiferalis, 2 h heat treatment required under the same atmosphere condition. These CATTS treatment effects were confirmed against over 3,000 fifth instar larvae of each species infesting apples. This study demonstrates that the longer exposure to CATTS conditions is required for the complete disinfestation of the internal apple feeder compared to the non-internal apple feeder.

Tea tortrix, Homona coffearia Nietner (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is a seasonal pest of tea in Sri Lanka. Though it is active in dry weather, it is observed that populations do occur in wet weather causing serious damage to tea. The parasite, Macrocentrus homonae Nixon (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), controls the tortrix populations, but the efficiency of Macrocentrus has been reduced on account of hyperparasites in recent times. Level of hyperparasitism was studied in some tea tortrix prone areas in the up country region to study how this affected the tortrix populations during wet weather. The hyperparasitism varied during the study period of which average values observed ranged from 35% to 52% in the plantations studied. A negative linear relationship was observed between the average number of parasite cocoons in a cocoon mass and the percentage hyperparasitism. Three generations of tortrix were evident during the study period of May to November 2005. It is observed that tortrix populations do occur in dry and wet weather, and that hyperparasitism has been identified as the major cause affecting the efficient control of tortrix by the parasite. Possibilities of tea tortrix control in wet weather are discussed.

The structure of cephalic ganglia was studied in all the larval instars and the pupae of the large fruittree tortrix Archips podana Scopoli. The main centers of the supraesophageal ganglion develop non-uniformly. At the larval stage, the mushroom bodies and structures of the central complex develop earlier than the optic ganglia and olfactory lobes. Continuity in the visual system development is expressed in integration of residues of the larval stemmata into the imaginal optic lobes at the pupal stage.

Arthropods are frequently infected with inherited symbionts, which sometimes confer fitness benefits on female hosts or manipulate host reproduction. Early male killing, in which infected males die during embryogenesis, is induced by some bacteria, such as Wolbachia and Spiroplasma. A female-biased sex ratio has been found in Homona magnanima, collected from a tea plantation in Japan. Here, we examined the male-killing trait in H. magnanima and identified the agent that induces early male killing. The sex ratio distortion (SR) strain produced only females and no males, and its egg hatch rate was significantly lower than that of the normal (N) strain. The N strain was infected with only Wolbachia, whereas the SR strain was infected with both Wolbachia and Spiroplasma. Antibiotic treatment with 0.10% tetracycline restored the 1:1 sex ratio in the SR strain. Females treated with 0.05% tetracycline were positive for Spiroplasma but not for Wolbachia and showed a female-biased sex ratio, whereas Wolbachia-positive females did not revert to male killing. When inoculated with a homogenate of the SR strain female, females infected with only Spiroplasma produced female-biased offspring. Sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that Spiroplasma sp. of H. magnanima belonged to the ixodetis clade. These results indicate that Spiroplasma was responsible for male killing in H. magnanima. Late male killing is induced in H. magnanima by an RNA-like virus, and therefore this is the first case in which different male-killing agents expressed at different times in the life cycle have been found within one host species.

The effects of temperature on adult lifespan, reproduction, and oviposition behaviour of Grapholita lobarzewskii Nowicki (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) were studied under controlled and semi-field conditions to improve the basis for phenological forecasting. The average female lifespan ranged from 18.9 days at 25.1 °C to 65.3 days at 11.0 °C. For adult female ageing, a lower thermal threshold (THR) of 8.6 °C and a thermal constant (K) of 298 degree days (dd) were established. At constant temperatures, fecundity ranged from 0.3 eggs per female at 11.0 °C to 107 eggs per female at 21.2 °C. The highest fecundity of 127 eggs per female was observed at fluctuating temperatures. Oviposition lasted on average 350 dd, but 50% of the eggs were laid within the first 100 dd after adult emergence. Grapholita lobarzewskii had a distinct circadian rhythm for oviposition. Females began to lay eggs at ca. 16:00 hours and ceased at 24:00 hours with the peak occurring generally at 19:00 hours. Females reacted very sensitively to sudden temperature changes. A temperature drop of 3.1 °C could cause a 1-day interruption of oviposition.

We investigated the susceptibility of the smaller tea tortrix, Adoxophyes honmai Yasuda, to diamide insecticides in the Shimada-Yui tea fields in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, from 2006 to 2011. By 2011, the insects had developed significant resistance even to concentrations far above the registration concentrations of two diamides, flubendiamide and chlorantraniliprole. The lethal concentration 50 (LC50) values of flubendiamide showed a rapid annual increase from 16.2 ppm in 2007 to 161 ppm in August 2011, exceeding the registration concentration of 100 ppm in 2010 and 2011. The LC50 values of chlorantraniliprole increased sharply from 25.3 ppm in 2010 to 98.8 ppm in August 2011, exceeding the registration concentration of 50 ppm. The LC50 values for flubendiamide and chlorantraniliprole at 10 days after treatment in insects collected in August 2011 were 105-fold and 77.2-fold higher, respectively, than those in a susceptible strain.

New building block (3S,5R)-6-(benzyloxy)-3-methylhexane-1,5-diol was obtained, and based thereon new formal syntheses of (Z)-trogodermal, a component of the sex pheromone of smaller tea tortrix and of the alarm pheromone of ants of genus Crematogaster were suggested. A new synthetic protocol for (3S)-5-methyl-5-oxopentyl acetate and (3S)-5-(benzyloxy)-3-methylpentanal, convenient building blocks for insect pheromones designing was developed. A new simple and efficient asymmetric synthesis of C7–C14 fragment of the cytotoxic macrolactone amphidinolide L was carried out.

A strain of Adoxophyes honmai resistant to Adoxophyes honmai nucleopolyhedrovirus (AdhoNPV) was established from a field-collected colony by repeated selection. Fifth-instar larvae of this resistant strain (R-strain) had over 66 666-fold greater resistance in terms of 50 % lethal concentration values to oral infection of AdhoNPV than non-selected strain larvae (susceptible for AdhoNPV; S2-strain). In this study, the mechanism of resistance to AdhoNPV was determined in R-strain larvae. An assessment of viral genome replication in AdhoNPV-infected S2- and R-strain larvae by quantitative PCR showed no viral genome replication occurring in R-strain larvae. Transcription of AdhoNPV ie-1, vp39 and polyhedrin genes was also not detected in R-strain midgut cells. Besides, a fluorescent brightener had no effect on AdhoNPV infection in either S2- or R-strain. However, binding and fusion of occlusion-derived virus with R-strain were significantly lower than those of S2-strain. These findings suggest that R-strain Adoxophyes honmai larvae possess a midgut-based resistance to oral infection by AdhoNPV in which midgut epithelial cells are infected less efficiently.

While monitoring for the seasonal occurrence of the tea tortrix moth, Homona magnanima Diakonoff (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), a number of Neocalyptis angustilineata (Walsingham) were attracted to traps baited with H. magnanima attractant, a 9:1 blend of (Z)-11-tetradecenyl acetate (Z11-14Ac) and (Z)-9-dodecenyl acetate (Z9-12Ac). We evaluated a 1:1 blend (1 mg) and a 9:1 blend (1 mg) of Z11-14Ac and Z9-12Ac for their attractiveness to the two moth species. H. magnanima was attracted only to the 9:1 blend. However, N. angustilineata was equally attracted to both blends. Thus, we report the 9:1 blend as a co-attractant for N. angustilineata and H. magnanima. This blend is the first finding for the attractant for N. angustilineata.

Insect Cycles Rapid increases in insect populatio n sizes can result in significant crop losses. Seasonal temperature has been proposed to drive such outbreaks. Despite clear evidence that temperature can drive individual insect development, its influence at the population level is much less clear. Nelson et al. (p. 796 , published online 1 August) analyzed data collected over 50 years on the tea tortrix moth, which affects Japanese tea plantations, to reveal the impacts of temperature on cyclical outbreaks.

A laboratory colony of Adoxophyes honmai was selected for resistance over 156 generations by feeding neonate larvae of every generation with the LC60 or LC70 of its nucleopolyhedrovirus, Adoxophyes honmai nucleopolyhedrovirus (AdhoNPV). A significant difference in LC50 values between the selected (R-strain) and unselected (S1- and S2-strain) strains was first observed after three generations of selection, and the resistance level then increased continuously. The highest degree of acquired resistance, based on the ratio of the LC50 values of R- and S1-strains, was more than 400,000-fold. After selection was stopped at either the 21st or the 149th generation, LC50 values did not decrease significantly, suggesting that resistance of the R-strain to AdhoNPV was stable. To assess which of the two routes of baculovirus infection is affected by resistance to AdhoNPV, 5th instar larvae of the R-strain were inoculated orally and intrahemocoelically with AdhoNPV and their susceptibility was compared to that of S-strain. The ratio of the LC25 values of selected and unselected strains was 91-fold when budded viruses were injected into 5th instar larvae, but was 107,000-fold after oral inoculation. These results indicate that the resistance mechanism of the R-strain of A. honmai disrupts both midgut primary infection and hemocoelic secondary infection.

Twenty one species of tea pests have been recorded for the first time from the tea gardens of Manipur which include twelve species of cutting and chewing pests, seven species of sucking pests, a stem borer and a leaf miner. Among them, red spider mite, (Oligonychus coffeae), leaf roller, (Caloptilia theivora), thrips (Mycterothrips setiventris) and aphid, (Toxoptera aurantii) were categorised as important pests and the rest as minor pests based on the observations carried out for one pruning cycle during 2010 to 2013. Field studies had shown that red spider mite (RSM) infested the tea plants all through the year with peak density of 16 mites per leaf per bush in April, whereas occurrence of thrips had been recorded with maximum abundance of 6 thrips per leaf per bush during October. On the other hand, tea aphids infested the plant from March to October with maximum of 200 individuals per 5 cm length of tea shoot in September. The stem borer, Zeuzera coffeae was noticed during March, April and September with an average density of 9.5 borers per 40 bushes. Among the foliage folders, leaf roller was predominant over flush worm and tea tortrix. Occurrence of leaf rolls was noticed from June to November with maximum incidence of 6 larvae per bush in October, but flushworms and tortrix were abundant even in April with the mean of 3 larvae per infested tea bush. Based on the above observation, a pest calendar was prepared for the tea pests of Manipur for planning pest control measures. Besides, 16 species of natural enemies attacking the tea pests are also reported in this article.

The activity of seven Cry1, one Cry9 and one hybrid Cry1 protoxins against neonate larvae of summer fruit tortrix (Adoxophyes orana - Fischer von Rosslerstamm) has been investigated. Cry1Ia is identified as the most toxic protein, followed by Cry1Aa and Cry1Ac. Cry1Ca, Cry1Cb, Cry1Da and Cry1Fa were less active, while SN19 (Cry1 hybrid protein with domain composition 1Ba/1Ia/1Ba) and Cry9Aa exhibited negligible toxicity against A. orana. In vitro trypsin-activated Cry1Ac is still less active than Cry1Ia pro toxin, suggesting that toxicity of Cry1Ia is most probably due to more complex differences in further downstream processing, toxin-receptor interactions and pore formation in A. orana's midgut epithelium. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. This is peer-reviewed version of the following article: Radosavljevic, J.; Naimov, S. Toxicity of Bacillus Thuringiensis (L.) Cry Proteins against Summer Fruit Tortrix (Adoxophyes Orana - Fischer von Rösslerstamm). Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 2016, 138, 63–65. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jip.2016.06.004]

The influence of precocene II, an antijuvenile agent, on the development of adult antennae in the large fruit-tree tortrix A. podana Scop. was demonstrated. Treatment of the fifth instar larvae and prepupae with different doses of precocene proved to cause different sensitivity of the specimens to the juvenile hormone deficit. Treatment with 450 and 600 μg precocene per specimen during the first days after ecdysis to the fifth instar caused the death of larvae. Treatment with 300, 450, and 600 μg per specimen on the third day of the fifth instar larvae and prepupae caused a delay in the development of adult antennae. The results are discussed with respect to the role of the juvenile hormone in the development of imaginal structures during metamorphosis.

Although the Chestnut Leaf-roller Pammene fasciana is always included among the main chestnut-feeding tortrix moths in Europe (together with Cydia splendana and C. fagiglandana), its actual distribution has never been investigated in detail, since it is often considered to be a minor pest. A survey of Tortricidae feeding on chestnuts in Greece revealed not only that P. fasciana is present, but also that in some regions the leaf-roller's distribution is directly comparable to that of the other two Cydia species. This is the first time that the exact geographic distribution of P. fasciana within a country has been determined, and suggests that this leaf-roller's significance as a pest has been seriously underestimated. In order to facilitate the identification of this pest in future studies, the DNA barcode of P. fasciana has been elucidated and deposited in a data bank.

Population cycles have fascinated ecologists since the early nineteenth century, and the dynamics of insect populations have been central to understanding the intrinsic and extrinsic biological processes responsible for these cycles. We analyzed an extraordinary long-term data set (every 5 days for 48 years) of a tea tortrix moth (Adoxophyes honmai) that exhibits two dominant cycles: an annual cycle with a conspicuous pattern of four or five single-generation cycles superimposed on it. General theory offers several candidate mechanisms for generation cycles. To evaluate these, we construct and parameterize a series of temperature-dependent, stage-structured models that include intraspecific competition, parasitism, mate-finding Allee effects, and adult senescence, all in the context of a seasonal environment. By comparing the observed dynamics with predictions from the models, we find that even weak larval competition in the presence of seasonal temperature forcing predicts the two cycles accurately. None of the other mechanisms predicts the dynamics. Detailed dissection of the results shows that a short reproductive life span and differential winter mortality among stages are the additional life-cycle characteristics that permit the sustained cycles. Our general modeling approach is applicable to a wide range of organisms with temperature-dependent life histories and is likely to prove particularly useful in temperate systems where insect pest outbreaks are both density and temperature dependent.

Chestnut tortrix Cydia splendana (Hbn) (Lepidoptera: Torticidae) and Chestnut weevil Curculio elephas (Gyllenhal) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are known as the most important pests and yield losses due to these pests may reach 50% in chestnut growing areas of our country. In this research, infestation ratios of 24 different chestnut cultivars and insect pests were determined by sampled according to harvest time in Yildirim, Karacabey and Inegol towns of Bursa province, Bandirma town in Balikesir province and Karamursel town in Kocaeli province in 2010. It was seen that C. splendana and C. elephas cause the infestation. In the early period the Chestnut leafroller Pammene fasciana (Linnaeus, 1761) (Lepidoptera: Torticidae) larvae were also found. The mean infestation ratio for different chestnut cultivars in Bursa province ranged 6.8–40 % in Fidyekizik (Yildirim town), 25.6–34.5 % in Cumalikizik (Yildirim town), 18–32% in Yenikoy (Karacabey town) and %11.7-18.1 in Kestane alani village (Inegol town). These ratios in other provinces were found 12.6–57.8 % in Tepe village (Kocaeli–Karamursel) and 7.5–28 % in Cakil village (Balikesir-Bandirma). According to these results; at least infestation ratio 6.8 % in Demirci cultivar (Fidyekizik) and the highest 57.8 % in Firdola cultivar(Tepe village) were determined among the examined chestnut cultivars.

As a defense response to attacks by herbivores such as the smaller tea tortrix ( Adoxophyes honmai Yasuda), tea ( Camellia sinensis ) leaves emit numerous volatiles such as (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, linalool, α-farnesene, benzyl nitrile, indole, nerolidol, and ocimenes in higher concentration. Attack of Kanzawa spider mites ( Tetranychus kanzawai Kishida), another major pest insect of tea crops, induced the emission of α-farnesene and ocimenes from tea leaves. The exogenous application of jasmonic acid to tea leaves induced a volatile blend that was similar, although not identical, to that induced by the smaller tea tortrix. Most of these herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPV) were not stored in the tea leaves but emitted after the herbivore attack. Both the adaxial and abaxial epidermal layers of tea leaves emitted blends of similar composition. Furthermore, HIPV such as α-farnesene were emitted mostly from damaged but not from undamaged leaf regions. A principal component analysis of metabolites (m/z 70-1000) in undamaged tea leaves exposed or not to HIPV suggests that external signaling via HIPV may lead to more drastic changes in the metabolite spectrum of tea leaves than internal signaling via vascular connections, although total catechin contents were slightly but not significantly increased in the external signaling via HIPV.