Adoxophyes honmai

Author: Yasuda, 1998

Smaller tea tortrix

Species Overview:

Adult: male 15-19 mm wingspan; forewings ochreous-yellowish, marked with dark brown; hindwings paler than forewing. Female: 18-22 mm wingspan; forewing tawny-ochreous, markings less pronounced and more reticulate than in male; hindwing more yellow. Veins R4 and R5 in forewing stalked in both sexes.
Egg: pale yellow; laid in egg masses of oval shape, about 5 mm in diameter, on the under-surfaces of tea leaves [Adoxophyes honmai egg batch ]
Larva: 20 mm long; green or yellowish green, head and prothoracic plate yellowish brown; thoracic legs light brown [Adoxophyes honmai larva ; A. honmai larva 2 ]
Pupa: dark brown [Adoxophyes honmai pupa ].

Taxonomic Description:

Male:

Adoxophyes honmai male
Adoxophyes honmai male 2
Adoxophyes honmai male 3
External characters: 15-19mm wingspan. Antenna shortly ciliate. Head, palpus and thorax brownish-ochreous. Abdomen glossy greyish ochreous, and tuft large, pale fuscous. Forewing elongate-truncate, with a broad, richly ciliate costal fold, just not reaching middle of costa; costa broadly curved along anterior 2/3, posterior third appearing slightly concave; termen vertical above, rounded below. Ochreous-yellowish, glossy, faintly suffused with pale brown except faint light edges to markings. Markings greyish-brown, narrowly edged with pale ground colour. Basal patch represented by a semicircular spot, occupying almost anterior 1/3 of dorsum; transverse central fascia from before middle of costa, from before end of costal fold which is suffused with dark grey there, to 2/3 of dorsum, sharply edged with pale ochreous, moderately broad along upper half, below middle of disc triangularly dilated posteriorly, reaching from 2/3 of dorsum to tornus, where its posterior edge is suffused; posterior edge of fascia above its end with a posterior branch running first horizontally, and bent at an angle, then narrowed and terminating at the tornus; concavity on dorsal edge filled with lilac; costal patch large, erect-triangular, occupying costa from 2/3 almost to apex, its anterior edge very oblique. Cilia glossy ochreous-yellowish, slightly suffused with greyish brown. Hindwing light ochreous-yellowish, somewhat darker posteriorly. Cilia glossy light ochreous-yellowish, paler than wing (Yasuda, 1998).

male genitalia A. honmai
aedeagus A. honmai
Genitalia: The male genitalia of this species resemble those of Adoxophyes orana. The differences may be summarized as follows:
In Adoxophyes honmai:
- uncus slightly truncate on top, apical membranous projection small, and neck of uncus narrower than in Adoxophyes orana (uncus Adoxophyes honmai )
- brachiola finger-shaped (brachiola A. honmai )
- lobes of transtilla not touching at proximal ends
(transtilla A. honmai ).

Female:

Adoxophyes honmai female
Adoxophyes honmai female 2
Adoxophyes honmai female 3
External characters: 18-22 mm wingspan. Antenna minutely ciliate. Head, palpus and thorax tawny-ochreous. Abdomen glossy greyish ochreous. Forewing with costa curved anteriorly, rather straight posteriorly, apex obtuse, termen vertical above, little rounded below. Deep tawny-ochreous; costa with a series of small suffused greyish-brown specks; basal patch indicated by a conspicuous small erect triangular greyish-brown patch on 1/3 of dorsum, with top continued into a more or less distinct irregular streak to costa; central fascia from 2/5 of costa to 2/3 of dorsum, moderately broad along upper half, below middle of disc triangularly dilated posteriorly, reaching from 2/3 of dorsum to tornus, lilac-filled cavity larger; costal patch wedge-shaped, occupying costa from before 2/3 to well before apex; on costa this patch marked with two dark elongate dots on margins; anterior edge of patch abruptly sinuate and oblique below costa, concave in middle; posterior edge of patch straight; an elongate, ill-defined lilac-grey suffusion below costa filling extended part of costal patch except its edges; a minute, dark brown marginal line along termen, interrupted in veins. Cilia brighter than in male. Hindwing somewhat more yellow; dorsum as far as vein CuP suffused with pale grey. Cilia light ochreous, glossy.
Strigulation darker than in Adoxophyes orana (Yasuda, 1998).

female genitalia A. honmai
Genitalia: Sterigma narrow with ill-defined anterior portion and tapering terminally lateral parts; antrum indistinct; ostium small, round; ductus bursae narrow, distinctly longer than in Adoxophyes orana ; bursa copulatrix slightly smaller than bulla seminalis, signum thorn-like, strongly curved. Inception of ductus seminalis immediately following antrum.

Taxonomic note:

For a long time, the scientific name Adoxophyes orana (Fischer von Röslerstamm) was used for this common pest of tea in Japan. Studies by Honma (1973) however revealed that two different species of Adoxophyes occur in Japan, one attacking tea and the other apple. For a while, the name Adoxophyes fasciata Walsingham was used for the species on tea, however Yasuda, 1975b, reinvestigated Adoxophyes spp. in Japan and proposed the name Adoxophyes orana fasciata for the leafroller on apple and left the leafroller on tea without a proper name. Not until 23 years later, this species was properly described by Yasuda, 1998, as Adoxophyes honmai. He found that there are in fact 3 species of Adoxophyes present in Japan, the third being Adoxophyes dubia. This species is recorded from Ribes and Lyonia, but never from tea.

Biology:

A. h. rolled kiwi fruit leaves
The adult female lays egg masses of oval shape about 5 mm in diameter on the under-surfaces of tea leaves. The egg period is 5-7 days in the summer and 11-17 days in the spring and the autumn. The newly hatched larva is pale yellowish white with a dark brownish head and has a body length of about 1.5 mm. Subsequently the body colour changes to green or yellowish green, and mature larvae grow to about 20 mm in length. Larvae disperse after hatching and prefer the growing part of the plant or young leaves. After growing, the larva makes a nest by webbing one or several leaves together. Distribution of damaged leaves is rather uniform on a tea bush, in contrast to the damage caused by Homona magnanima. The larval period is 20-30 days from the spring (May) to the autumn (October) and 100-200 days in the winter. The mature larva pupates inside the leaf nest. The pupal period is 5-6 days in the summer and about 10 days in the spring and autumn. There are generally five to six larval instars, but some individuals in the overwintering population show an additional larval stage. No diapause was observed in winter. This species generally has four generations per year, but sometimes five in the southern part of Japan. In Central Japan, for example in Shizuoka prefecture, the first flight is in early April to early June, the second flight in early June to the end of July, the third in mid June to the end of August, and the fourth in the end of August to early November. In general, the most abundant larval population is observed in the second and third generations in the field.

Host plants:

Artemisia sp., Citrus spp., Myrica rubra, Polygonum sp., Quercus phillyraeoides, Quercus acutissima, Quercus variabilis, Camellia sinensis, Solidago altissima, Vitis, Actinidia deliciosa (kiwi fruit).

Damage:

Adoxophyes honmai damage on tea leaves
Adoxophyes honmai damage on tea leaves
A. honmai webbing on grape
A. h. damage on satuma mandarin
A. h. damage on Japanese pear
A. honmai damage on kiwifruit
This species is mainly a pest of tea, but it may occur on many trees and shrubs. On tea, larvae feed on the growing part of the plant or on young leaves. After growing, the larva makes a nest by webbing one or several leaves together. Distribution of damaged leaves is rather uniform on a tea bush.

Distribution:

Japan: Honshu, Shikoku.

Pheromone:

Pheromone unknown.

Attractantia:

Z 9-14Ac : 63
Z 11-14Ac : 31
E 11-14Ac : 4
10me-12Ac : 2 (Tamaki et al., 1980)

Parasitoids:

Trichogramma dendrolimi Matsumura (Trichogrammatidae)
Bracon adoxophesi Minamikawa (Braconidae)
Apanteles adoxophyesi Minamikawa (Braconidae)
Ascogaster reticulata Watanabe (Braconidae)
Campoplex homonae Sonan (Ichneumonidae)

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