''Archips goyerana'', the baldcypress leafroller, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

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 ...

Distribution

It is known from southern

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

and south-western

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. It originally may have been endemic to forested wetlands, but has undergone a population explosion and expansion of its range since 1983.

Description

The length of the forewings is 6.8–8.5 mm for males and 8–10 mm for females.

Biology

The larvae feed on ''

Taxodium distichum ''Taxodium distichum'' (bald cypress, swamp cypress; french: cyprès chauve; ''cipre'' in Louisiana) is a deciduous conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States. Hardy and tough, this tree adapts to a wide r ...

'' and are considered a serious pest of that tree species. There is one generation per year, with overwintering egg masses attached to the bark of thin twigs of the host plant in obligate diapause. Dormant eggs hatch by bud break of baldcypress trees during late February and early March. The first instar larvae disperse and seek out the terminal portions of expanding foliage, burrow within the cluster of young needles and begin feeding. They feed on the opening leaf buds and elongating leaves. As the foliage expands, developing larvae produce silk to roll adjacent needles and branchlets into a tight mass, surrounding themselves individually and then feeding on the foliage inside. Larvae undergo five larval instars before pupation. Adults emerge between late April and mid May.

Etymology

The species is named for Richard A. Goyer of the Department of Entomology, Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He collected the holotype as well as most of the paratypes, and is responsible for the majority of the research on the biology and ecology of the species.

External links

Archips goyerana, n. sp. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) an important pest of baldcypress (Taxodiaceae) in Louisiana and Mississippimothphotographersgroup
Archips Moths described in 2000 Moths of North America {{archips-stub