''Homona coffearia'', the tea tortrix or camellia tortrix, 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 species was first described by Nietner in 1861. It is widely distributed in the Oriental region.

Description

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 16–20 mm for males and about 23 mm for females. The ground colour of the forewings in males is greyish brown, with brown markings and a darker spot at the costa. The hindwings are dark fuscous. In females, the forewings are pale brown, almost without distinct markings. Adults are on wing between December and April in Sri Lanka. There are two generations per year in China with adults appearing in late May.

Ecology

The larvae feed on ''

Acacia auriculiformis ''Acacia auriculiformis'', commonly known as auri, earleaf acacia, earpod wattle, northern black wattle, Papuan wattle, and tan wattle, akashmoni in Bengali, is a fast-growing, crooked, gnarly tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Australi ...

'', '' Arachis hypogaea'', '' Bauhinia'', ''

Cajanus indicus The pigeon pea (''Cajanus cajan'') is a perennial legume from the family (biology), family Fabaceae native to the Old World. The pigeon pea is widely cultivated in tropical and semitropical regions around the world, being commonly consumed in Sou ...

'', '' Calophyllum inophyllum'', ''

Camellia sinensis ''Camellia sinensis'' is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree in the flowering plant family Theaceae. Its leaves and leaf buds are used to produce the popular beverage, tea. Common names include tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree (not to ...

'', '' Cinnamomum'', ''

Citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...

'', '' Coffea'', ''

Crotalaria ''Crotalaria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae (subfamily Faboideae) commonly known as rattlepods. The genus includes over 700 species of herbaceous plants and shrubs. Africa is the continent with the majority of ''Crotalar ...

'', ''

Derris ''Derris'' is genus of leguminous plants found in Southeast Asia and the southwest Pacific islands, including New Guinea. The roots of '' D. elliptica'' contain rotenone, a strong insecticide and fish poison. Despite the secondary compounds foun ...

'', ''

Eucalyptus alba ''Eucalyptus alba'', commonly known as white gum, khaki gum or poplar gum, is a species of tree that is native to Australia, Timor, and New Guinea. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowe ...

'', '' Eugenia polyantha'', '' Glochidion'', '' Gossypium'', '' Linum'', '' Melochia indica'', ''

Nephelium ''Nephelium'' is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the family Sapindaceae, native to southeastern Asia. They are evergreen trees with pinnately compound leaves, and edible drupaceous fruit; one species, ''N. lappaceum'' (rambu ...

'', ''

Pluchea indica ''Pluchea indica'' is a species of flowering plant in the aster family, Asteraceae. Its common names include Indian camphorweed, Indian fleabane, and Indian pluchea.

'' and ''

Pyrus Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the po ...

''. Newly hatched larvae mostly move upwards to the growing points of their host plant and begin feeding. From the second to the fifth and final

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ass ...

, they make nests by webbing two or more leaves together. A single larva usually makes several nests. Pupation takes place within the final nest.

Life cycle

The tea tortrix has a life cycle which takes about 35 to 49 days to complete. Immediately after copulation, adult females lay 100 to 150 clusters of egg on the surface of the leaves of host plant. Eggs are scaly and minute with overlapping appearance. After 6 to 8 days of laying, larvae hatch from the eggs. Larvae complete five instars and become fully grown after 3 to 4 weeks. Fully grown caterpillar is about 22 mm in length. Pupation occurs in the folds of the leaves. After 6–8 days of pupal life, adult emerges.

Control

Adults can be mechanically removed by hand and light traps. Parasite '' Macrocentrus homonae'' used successfully in tea estates of Sri Lanka and India. In Sri Lanka, egg parasitoid '' Trichogramma erosicornis'' was used but results were not encouraging. New Guinea effectively used '' Theronia simillima'' and '' Camptotypus clotho'' to control the caterpillars and adults. Several chemical pesticides such as aminocarb, fenitrothion and

formothion Formothion (chemical formula: C6H12NO4PS2) is a chemical compound used in acaricides and insecticides. References

Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors Organophosphate insecticides Acaricides Methyl esters Formamides {{organic-compound-stub ...

are effective, but they also destroy natural enemies of the moth.

Distribution

''Homona coffearia'' is found in Asia and on two occasions has been found in Great Britain. In

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. three ''Camellia'' plants imported from Japan, during the winter of 1964, produced three moths which emerged in April. There are also two records of the moth from Torpoint in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

References

External links

Sex pheromone of the tea tortrix moth (''Homona coffearia'' Neitner)Macrocentrus homonae-a polyembryonic Parasite of Tea Tortrix ''Homona coffearia''Diets for Rearing the Tea Tortrix, ''Homona coffearia'' (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in VitroSemiochemicals of ''Homona coffearia'', the Coffee tortrix
{{Taxonbar , from=Q5891462 Homona (moth) Moths described in 1861 Moths of Asia Taxa named by John Nietner