The green oak tortrix, ''Tortrix viridana'', also known as the European oak leafroller and the green oak moth is a distinctive green moth whose larvae feed on tree leaves, especially

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

. The head, forebody and front wings are green, the hind wings lightly greyish. The wingspan is 18-24 millimetres. An infestation of the larvae can defoliate an oak tree. The adult female lays its eggs next to leaf buds, which the larvae consume when they emerge. As the larvae grow bigger they eat larger leaves, and then roll themselves up in a full-sized leaf to

pupa A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

te. Larvae occur from April to June; adults are on wing in June and July. The

Ichneumon wasp The Ichneumonidae, also known as the ichneumon wasps, Darwin wasps, or ichneumonids, are a family of parasitoid wasps of the insect order Hymenoptera. They are one of the most diverse groups within the Hymenoptera with roughly 25,000 species cur ...

Dirophanes invisor ''Dirophanes'' is a genus of parasitoid wasps belonging to the family Ichneumonidae The Ichneumonidae, also known as the ichneumon wasps, Darwin wasps, or ichneumonids, are a family of parasitoid wasps of the insect order Hymenoptera. They ...

'' is a

parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...

which specializes on ''T. viridana''. They are commonly found in many parts of Britain. In the Butterfly Conservation’s Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as common.Green oak tortrix (''Tortrix viridana'') up NatureSpot
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References

External links

Green oak tortrix on UKmothsLepiforum.de
Insect pests of temperate forests Moths described in 1758 Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Tortricini Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Tortricini-stub