Cacoecia occidentalis

Status

EXOTIC

PORT INTERCEPT

Taxonomy

"Cacoecia" occidentalis Walsingham (Tortricidae: Tortricinae: Archipini)

Note: This species is not to be confused with the Nearctic Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman (western spruce budworm).

Razowski (2008a)Razowski (2008a):
Razowski, J. 2008a. Tortricidae (Lepidoptera) from South Africa. 6: Choristoneura Hubner and Procrica Diakonoff. Polskie Pismo Entomologiczne. 77: 245-254. transferred the African species Cacoecia occidentalis Walsingham into Choristoneura, thus rendering C. occidentalis Freeman a junior homonym. Razowski proposed C. freemani as a replacement name for the western spruce budworm. Brunet et al. (2017)Brunet et al. (2017):
Brunet, B. M. T., Blackburn, G. S., Muirhead, K., Lumley, L. M., Boyle, B., Leacute;vesque, R. C., Cusson, M., Sperling, F. A. H. 2017. Tworsquo;s company, threersquo;s a crowd: new insights on spruce budworm species boundaries using genotyping-by-sequencing in an integrative species assessment (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Systematic Entomology. 42: 317-328. and Fagua et al. (2018)Fagua et al. (2018):
Fagua, G., Condamine, F., Dombroskie, J., Byun, B.-K., De Prins, J., Simonsen, T., Baez, M., Brunet, B., Sperling, F. 2018. Genus delimitation, biogeography and diversification of Choristoneura Lederer (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) based on molecular evidence. Systematic Entomology. 44(1): 19-38. reject this placement and instead treat Cacoecia occidentalis Walsingham as "Archipini unplaced". We follow this treatment and indicate this generic uncertainty with quotation marks.

Choristoneura heliaspis (=Cacoecia heliaspis) was synonymized under Cacoecia occidentalis by Brown (2005)Brown (2005):
Brown, J. W. 2005. Tortricidae (Lepidoptera) In : World Catalogue of Insects 5: 1-741. Apollo Books, Stenstrup, Denmark.. Razowski (2008a)Razowski (2008a):
Razowski, J. 2008a. Tortricidae (Lepidoptera) from South Africa. 6: Choristoneura Hubner and Procrica Diakonoff. Polskie Pismo Entomologiczne. 77: 245-254. resurrected the name based on minor differences in the male sacculus and placed it in the genus Choristoneura, but the generic placement is questionable.

Commons names: citrus leafroller

Adult Recognition

FWL: 9.0–13.0 mm

Forewings are a mix of purplish brown and yellowish brown, with a dark reddish-brown median fascia and costal spot. Hindwings and abdomen are orange. Males are more heavily marked than females and dark forms exist where the hindwings and abdomen are grayish brown. Females are larger than males, and the costal margin of the female forewing is sinuate. Males have a short forewing costal fold.

Male genitalia are characterized by a broad uncus, large gnathos, and membranous valvae. Female genitalia are characterized by a twisted ductus bursae and single signum in the corpus bursae.

Larval Morphology

Larval morphology is unknown for this species.

Similar Species

Adults of "Cacoecia" occidentalis could be confused with some species of Archips and Choristoneura. A genitalia dissection may be required for identification. 

Larvae of the apple leafroller (Lozotaenia capensana) cause similar damage to crops such as avocado.

Distribution

"Cacoecia" occidentalis is widely distributed throughout Sub-Saharan Africa as evident by records from Gambia, Kenya, Mozambique, Rhodesia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia.

Biology

The following account is summarized from Newton and Catling (1998)Newton and Catling (1998):
Newton, P. J., Catling, H. D. 1998. Citrus leaf roller Archips (= Cacoecia ) occidentalis Walsingham, pp. 207-210. In : Bedford, E. C. G., Van den Berg, M. A., De Villiers, E. A. (eds.), Citrus Pest in the Republic of South Africa. ARC Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Crops, Nelspruit, South Africa..

Females lay eggs in masses on the upper surface of leaves and cover them with a white protective secretion. On citrus (Citrus spp.), larvae prefer to feed on young fruit under the calyx, causing damage similar to that of citrus thrips. Larvae will also feed on leaves, young growth, and web leaves to fruit. Pupation occurs in rolled or webbed leaves. In South Africa, most damage to oranges is caused from October to November.

In South Africa, "Cacoecia" occidentalis is a pest of citrus, avocado (Persea spp.), coffee (Coffea spp.), and various ornamental plants.

Plant Associations

View full screen host table here