Author: (Linnaeus, 1758)
Spruce tortricid
Species Overview:
Adult: wingspan males 19-21 mm; forewings purplish-brown, with violet-pink shine and chestnut-brown markings, subterminal marking separated from subapical blotch; hindwings grey-brown, often tinged with cupreous apically.
Wingspan females 22-28 mm; forewings ochreous with brown markings; hindwing brownish; rust to ochreous in terminal part.
Egg: deposited on the needles or on terminal buds.
Larva: greenish, with dark brown or black head and similarly edged prothoracic shield; pinacula and thoracic legs brown.
Pupa: reddish brown; in feeding place.
Taxonomic Description:
Male:
Archips oporana male 1
Archips oporana male 2
External characters: 19-21 mm wingspan. Labial palpus rust-brown or ferruginous-yellow; head rust-brown to brown, with frons paler ventrally; thorax concolorous with upper part of head; abdomen paler and greyer. Forewing hardly expanding terminally; costa convex in basal third and indistinctly concave or straight subterminally; apex very short; termen slightly concave postapically. Costal fold to beyond one-third of costa, slender, tapering in distal portion. Forewing ground colour purple-brown; costal fold more violet-grey, paler scaled towards middle of wing; basal portion of wing mixed grey or sprinkled whitish, similar suffusion in distal part of wing costally. Markings velvety chestnut-red or purplish-red, thinly edged with white, grey or pale brown. Basal blotch typically developed, median fascia very narrow costally, produced into a narrow process near middle distally, often accompanied by a dark spot in disc. Subapical spot paler than remaining markings, well separated from subterminal marking. Cilia rather concolorous with ground colour or more grey. Hindwing dark grey-brown, sometimes tinged with cupreous apically; cilia somewhat paler (Razowski, 1977; Bradley et al., 1973).
male genitalia A. oporana
Genitalia: Uncus rather slender; socius indistinctly sclerotized. Valva large with ventral edge more or less strongly convex submedially; sacculus provided with long, slender, terminal part. This sparsely-bristled terminal part extends somewhat beyond valva and is smooth apically. Aedeagus long, terminating into a slender distal process, which is curved downwards; split of aedeagus very broad. Shape of uncus and proportions of sacculus and aedeagus show slight variation.
Female:
Archips oporana female 1
Archips oporana female 2
External characters: wingspan 22-28 mm. Head and thorax usually paler than in male, more rust-ochreous. Forewing uniformly broad throughout with costa distinctly curved outwards basally then straight or hardly concave subterminally; apex slightly longer than in male, provided with extending costal scales; termen somewhat concave postapically with maximum at vein M 2. Ground colour purplish ochreous to orange, often mixed with brownish. Markings chestnut-brown, consisting of indistinct basal blotch, rather slender median fascia broadening towards dorsum, slender subapical blotch and indistinct subterminal pattern. Distinct transverse strigulation forming with suffusion of veins, reticulation in basal (when blotch atrophied) and terminal parts of wing well developed. Cilia concolorous with ground colour or darker, dark at apex and postapically. Hindwing brownish to brown, rust to ochreous distally, rarely grey with whole distal third ochreous-cream. Strigulation of pale part occasionally present; cilia brownish and ochreous respectively (Razowski, 1977; Bradley et al., 1973).
female gen. A. oporana
Genitalia: Sterigma large, cup-like, strongly elongated proximally where partially fused with sclerite of antrum; caudal margin with rather short median process and large strongly sclerotized distal lobes. Ductus bursae proportionally short, broad and somewhat swung distally; cestum absent. Signum long with fairly short basal sclerite.
Biology:
First to third instar larvae mine, then some needles are spun to form a tube. Hibernation is in the third larval instar. The larva then feeds from April to June on young shoots, spinning the needles. They can sometimes be found in empty buds that are left by Epinotia nigricana. Hibernation and pupation occur in feeding place of larvae. Moth flies from end of May till mid June in Northern Italy, from end of June till the end of July in the UK, the Netherlands and Western Russia (St. Petersburg area), and from the end of May till late August in Japan. In Europe, there is a single generation yearly. In Southern China and many parts of Japan, two generations appear.
Host plants:
Picea, Abies, Pinus, Larix, Tsuga, Cryptomeria, Cedrus, Taxus, Juniperus, Elaeagnus, Chamaecyparis.
Damage:
Larvae mine or tie needles; usually this feeding is not economically important. However, they also bore into the stems of their host, causing them to shrivel and break off. On juniper it spins a thick web amongst the leaves.
Distribution:
Palaearctic Region: from the British Isles, France and north Italy to Primorsk (Russia), Korea and Japan
Oriental region: Kwantung (China) and Vietnam.
Pheromone:
Pheromone unknown.
Attractantia:
Z 11-14Ac : 9
E 11-14Ac : 1 (Booij and Voerman, 1984a)
Parasitoids:
Acropimpla jezoensis Matsumura (Ichneumonidae)
Acropimpla pictipes Gravenhorst (Ichneumonidae)
Agrothereutes japonicusUchida (Ichneumonidae)
Apechthis rapaeUchida (Ichneumonidae)
GIypta bipunctoria Thunberg (Ichneumonidae)
Gambrus tricoloripesUchida (Ichneumonidae)
Itoplectis alternans Gravenhorst (Ichneumonidae)
Phaeogenes spiniger Gravenhorst (Ichneumonidae)
Pimpla disparis Viereck (Ichneumonidae)
Scambus heichinus Sonan (Ichneumonidae)
Scambus coniferae Momoi (Ichneumonidae)
Theronia atalantae Poda (Ichneumonidae)
Macrocentrus marginatol Nees (Braconidae)
Macrocentrus resinellae L. (Braconidae)
Eurytoma sp. (Eurytomidae)
Habrocytus sp. (Pteromalidae)
Mesopolobus subfumatus (Ratzeburg) (Pteromalidae)
Mesopolobus tortricidis Kamijo (Pteromalidae)
Pteromalus semotus (Walker) (Pteromalidae) (secondary parasite)
Mokrzeckia abietis Kamijo (Pteromalidae) (secondary parasite through Macrocentrus resinellae)
Elodia tragica Meigen (Tachinidae)
Nemorilla maculosa Meigen (Tachinidae)
Nemorilla floralis maculosa Meigen(Tachinidae)
Pseudoperichaeta insidiosa Robineau-Desvoidy (Tachinidae)
Besides Archips issikii, Archips audax and Archips xylosteana, which are already dealt with elsewhere, the following species of Archips have been recorded from Abies in Japan.
1. Archips ingentana (Christoph)
Archips ingentana male; Archips ingentana female; male genitalia A. ingentana ; female gen. A. ingentana
Subterminal markings absent
Genitalia: The sacculus of the male genitalia of this species also has a large, bristled termination. In all other species mentioned here, the termination of the sacculus is short and glabrous. In Archips oporana, the termination is only sparsely bristled and the apex is glabrous. In Archips ingentana the termination is more densely bristled. Furthermore, the sacculus is provided with a variably shaped submedian thorn. The apex of the aedeagus has a strong lateral tooth.
The cestum of the female genitalia does not reach the middle of the ductus bursae. The sterigma is large and has a strong median process. The cup-shaped portion of the sterigma has very short, rounded anterior lobes.
Host plants are Abies firma, Acer, Artemisia, Cerasus, Disporum similacinum, Filipendula, Fragaria, Houttuynia cordata, Lonicera, Malus pumila, Petasites japonicus, Polygonum , Prunus salicina, Pyrus simoni, Quercus serrata, Urtica thunbergia.
Distribution: Japan: Hokkaido, Honshu; North Korea; China: Manchuria; Russia: S. Kuril Is., S. Primorsk, S. Sakhalin.
2. Archips pulcher (Butler)
Archips pulcher adult; male genitalia A. pulcher ; female gen. A. pulcher
Forewing without transverse markings; four pale grey-blue or grey-violet longitudinal fasciae present; costal fold absent.
Genitalia: The sacculus of the male genitalia of Archips pulcher has a short free termination. The uncus is broadening terminally, and rounded apically. The aedeagus is provided with a laterally situated row of teeth before apex.
The cestum of the female genitalia is long. The sterigma is proportionally small.
Host plants are Abies sachalinensis, Abies homolepis, Abies concolor and Picea excelsa.
Distribution: Japan: Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku; Russia: Primorsk, De Friz I.; Korea.
3. Archips abiephaga (Yasuda)
Archips abiephaga adult ;male genitalia A. abiephaga; female gen. A. abiephaga
Moths resemble those of Archips pulcher.
Genitalia: Males of this species can be distinguished from all other mentioned species by the characteristic bifurcate long uncus. The aedeagus has a distinct subapical prominence and small lateral teeth.
The ductus bursae of the female genitalia is rather short. The cestum is proportionally long. The sterigma is very broad, straight distally and rounded proximally, and has a very short cup-shaped part. The sclerite of the antrum is rather delicate.
Host plants are Abies sachalinensis and Abies concolor.
Distribution: Japan: Hokkaido, Honshu.
4. Archips capsigerana (Kennel)
Archips capsigerana male ; male genitalia A. capsigerana; female gen. A. capsigerana
Costal fold conspicuous, broad, yellow with reddish brown tinge; median fascia broad; terminal markings slender; apex of hindwing yellow.
Genitalia: In Archips capsigerana, the sacculus is short, provided with dorsal processes and a short free termination. The uncus does not expand terminally. The aedeagus broadens terminally and is marked with two minute dents dorso-apically. It is minutely dentate, mainly in the median portion.
The cestum of the female genitalia reaches to beyond the middle of the ductus bursae. The sterigma has a prominent median process.
Host plants are Prunus salicina, Maesa japonica, Daphniphyllum teijsmanii, Acer palmatum, Machilus thunbergi, Fraxinus mandshurica and Abies firma.
Distribution: Japan: Honshu; Russia: S. Primorsk.
5. Archips fumosa (Kodama)
Archips fumosa male
male genitalia A. fumosa ; female gen. A. fumosa
Subterminal marking and subapical blotch converge to form one elongate marking.
Genitalia: In Archips fumosa, the sacculus has a short free termination. The uncus narrows slightly postmedially and expands towards the end. The aedeagus is provided with a small dorso-lateral, dentate process, situated postmedially.
The cestum of the female genitalia almost reaches the antrum. The sterigma has a very small median process. The cup-shaped part is short, tapering anteriorly. The sclerite of the antrum is small.
Host plants are Abies sachalinensis, Taxus cuspidata and Picea pungens.
Distribution: Japan: Hokkaido; China: Yunnan.