Eulia ministrana

Status

NATIVE

PORT INTERCEPT | DOMESTIC SURVEY

Taxonomy

Eulia ministrana (Linnaeus) (Tortricidae: Tortricinae: Cochylini) 

Common names: ferruginous Eulia moth, brassy twist, brassy tortrix

Synonyms: dilutana (Lophoderus ministrana ab.), ferrugana (Olethreutes), ferugana (Tortrix), infuscanus (Lophoderus ministrana ab.), livoniana (Ptycholoma), subfascianus (Lophoderus), subfascianus (Lophoderus)

Adult Recognition

FWL: 9.5–11.5 mm

Head, thorax orange to dark red; thorax with strong thoracic tuft; forewing broad, orange-red to dark red; pale yellow or white patches present along costa; fasciae faint, diffuse, often obsolete; male with forewing costal fold absent; hindwing pale gray to dark gray.

Male genitalia are characterized by a very slender uncus; broadly quadrate terminal plate of the gnathos; elongate, elliptical valvae; and an extremely slender, hooked phallus. Female genitalia are characterized by broad papillae anales; a large, well-sclerotized sterigma; a corpus bursae poorly differentiated from ductus bursae, densely covered with minute sclerites anteriorly.

Larval Morphology

The following account is summarized from Kuznetzov (1978)Kuznetzov (1978):
Kuznetzov, V. I. 1978. Family Tortricidae (Olethreutidae, Cochylidae), pp. 193-680. In : Medvedev, G. S. (ed.), Keys to the insects of the European part of the USSR 4(1). Opred. Faune SSSR (117): 193-686 [In Russian; English version published for the National Science Foundation (Washington, DC) by Amerind Publishing Co.].. Detailed accounts of larval chaetotaxy have not been published.

Young larvae are yellowish-green with black heads. Mature larvae have the head dark amber brown; prothoracic shield, body, and legs pale green.

Similar Species

Eulia ministrana is unlikely to be confused with any other species of tortricid. It is a highly distinctive species in both forewing pattern and genitalia.

Distribution

Eulia ministrana is broadly Holarctic in distribution, ranging from Great Britain across northern Eurasia as far east as Siberia and Japan. In North America, it has been recorded from Alaska to Oregon and east to Maine and Nova Scotia and south through the Appalachians to Tennessee and North Carolina. There is no clear genetic separation between Palearctic and Nearctic populations (Gilligan et al. 2020bGilligan et al. 2020b:
Gilligan T. M., Brown, J. W., Baixeras, J. 2020b. Immigrant Tortricidae: Holarctic versus Introduced Species in North America. Insects. 11(9): 1-59.).

Biology

Despite its widespread occurrence, very little is published in the way of life history notes for Eulia ministrana. There is a single generation per year, with adults peaking in activity in mid June, regardless of hemisphere. In North America, adults fly as early as late May in Washington and Alaska and as late as mid-July in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Females lay eggs singly or in groups of up to 20 on the leaves the host plant. Larvae feed inside rolled leaves. Overwintering occurs as a mature larva with pupation occurring in the spring (Kuznetzov 1978Kuznetzov 1978:
Kuznetzov, V. I. 1978. Family Tortricidae (Olethreutidae, Cochylidae), pp. 193-680. In: Medvedev, G. S. (ed.), Keys to the insects of the European part of the USSR 4(1). Opred. Faune SSSR (117): 193–686 [In Russian; English version published for the National Science Foundation (Washington, DC) by Amerind Publishing Co.]., Zverev and Kozlov 2020Zverev and Kozlov 2020:
Zverev, V., Kozlov, M. V. 2020. Decline of Eulia ministrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in polluted habitats is not accompanied by phenotypic stress responses. Insect Science. 28(5): 1–9.).

Eulia ministrana is a highly polyphagous species and has been recorded feeding on many different plants.

Plant Associations

View full screen host table here

Links

Additional photos and a distribution map of this species in North America are available at Moth Photographers Group.