''Archips podana'', the large fruit-tree 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 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 genus ...

. The species was first described by

Giovanni Antonio Scopoli Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinized as Johannes Antonius Scopolius) (3 June 1723 – 8 May 1788) was an Italian physician and naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first anational European" and the "Linnaeus of the Au ...

in his 1763 ''

Entomologia Carniolica ' is a taxonomic work by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, published in Vienna in 1763. As well as describing hundreds of new species, ' contained observations on the species' biology, including the first published account of queen bees mating outside th ...

''. It is found in Europe, Asia from

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

to Japan and is an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

in North America.

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 o ...

is 18–26 mm. The thorax is crested. The forewings have a sinuate vertical termen. The costal fold is short, basal and red-brownish or ochreous, in female strigulated with dark brown. In the male there is a dark red-brown dorsal spot near base, above which is a grey and whitish suffusion. The central fascia in males is dark red -brown, in females brownish or outlined only, anterior edge nearly straight. The costal patch, an apical terminal mark, and a stria (in male thickened) from tornus are all dark red-brown. The hindwings are grey, the apex broadly orange. The larva is green; dorsal line sometimes darker; head and plate of 2 brown or black: Julius von Kennel provides a full description. The moth flies in one generation from May to September in western Europe. Flies in the late afternoon and comes to

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 te ...

. Eggs are laid in several batches of 50 to 100 on the upper surface of a leaf and are covered in a wax-like substance, which closely matches the colour of the leaf. The eggs difficult to find and hatch in 17–23 days. Larvae can be found from July to early May and are polyphagous, feeding on trees and shrubs, such as

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

(''Malus'' species),

pear 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 ...

(''Pyrus'' species), cherry (''Prunus'' species), plum (''Prunus'' species) and sometimes conifers ( Coniferae). Larvae feed on both surfaces of the leaf for a few days, before dispersing, when they spin a fine web and feed on the underside of a leaf. On first ecdysis, the larvae feed on the skin of the fruit, spinning a leaf for shelter. They continue to feed until the fruit is picked, or falls to the ground, and overwinter in a silken hibernaculum on a twig. In the spring, as a fourth instar, they feed on the opening buds, often boring into them, and later between two or more spun leaves. They pupate in the larval habitation.

References

External links

''Lepiforum e.V.''

For a list of food plants see Plant Parasites of Europe
{{Taxonbar, from=Q136322 Archips Moths described in 1763 Moths of Asia Tortricidae of Europe Moths of North America Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli