Pandemis spp.

Status

ADVENTIVE | NATIVE

PORT INTERCEPT | DOMESTIC SURVEY

Taxonomy

Pandemis Hübner (Tortricidae: Tortricinae: Archipini)

Overview

Pandemis contains approximately 70 described species. The center of diversity for the genus is Madagascar, where at least 30 species occur. Whether or not these Madagascan species are conspecific with the type species of the genus remains to be seen. Decent numbers of species also occur in China, Europe, and North America. Seven species of Pandemis are native to North America; two Palearctic species have been introduced for a total of nine species occurring in North America. We treat five of these species on this site and include a sixth, P. canadana, in the table below.

Larvae of Holarctic species tend to be highly polyphagous leaf-rollers of broad-leaved trees and shrubs, reaching significant pest status at times. There are one or two generations per year, depending on species and climate. Females lay eggs in large clusters on the leaves or twigs of the host plant. For all species treated on this site, overwintering occurs as a larva in a spun hibernaculum on the host plant, after which larvae resume feeding and pupate in the final feeding site.

Most Pandemis have a very archetypal archipine forewing pattern with well-defined fasciae and a yellow-brown to dark brown ground color. Males of the Nearctic species have an antennal notch (poorly developed in species formerly placed in Parapandemis: P. borealis, P. coniferana, and P. morrisana) and lack a forewing costal fold. Larvae can be distinguished from other Nearctic Tortricidae by the characters outlined in MacKay (1962a)MacKay (1962a):
MacKay, M. R. 1962a. Larvae of the North American Tortricinae (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Canadian Entomologist, Supplement 28: 1-182..

Species determination in Pandemis can be difficult and is primarily based on forewing and hindwing pattern and coloration, but these differences are not always reliable. Examination of the genitalia is useful for some species, but not for others (Dombroskie and Sperling 2012Dombroskie and Sperling 2012:
Dombroskie, J. J., Sperling, F. A. H. 2012. Phylogeny of Nearctic Pandemis (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), with focus on species boundaries in the P. limitata group. Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 105: 768-780.). Male genitalia are characterized by a broad uncus and large, circular or obliquely triangular valvae with a well-developed sacculus. Female genitalia are characterized by a broad, funnel-like ostium and a relatively short thorn-like signum with a large basal plate and/or capitulum.

Pandemis lamprosana, P. cerasana, and P. heparana, can be identified by wing color and male genitalia. Three other common species, P. canadana, P. limitata, and P. pyrusana, exhibit variable wing patterns, share nearly identical genitalia, and cannot be reliably separated where their distributions overlap. The following table lists a combination of wing color and geographic distribution that can be used to identify many Pandemis individuals collected in the United States.

Species	Forewing color	Hindwing color	Sex scales on male 2nd abd. segment	Distribution
canadana	medium to dark brown	all gray	present	Maine, Colorado, Wyoming, Southern Canada
cerasana	straw to light brown	grayish brown	present	Pacific Northwest, British Columbia; Europe and Asia
heparana	medium brown	light to medium grayish brown	absent	Pacific Northwest; Northeastern United States and neighboring Canada; Europe and Asia
lamprosana	tan to light brown	white to light gray	absent	Eastern United States and neighboring Canada, south to Tennessee/North Carolina
limitata	straw to medium brown	gray and white	present	Eastern United States and neighboring Canada, generally absent in the United States west of the Rocky Mtns.
pyrusana	straw to medium brown	all white	present	Rocky Mtns. west to California, southern Alberta and British Columbia

 

Included species:

Adventive species

Pandemis cerasana

Pandemis heparana

Native species

Pandemis lamprosana

Pandemis limitata

Pandemis pyrusana

Links

Additional photos and distribution maps for species in North America are available at Moth Photographers Group.