Author: (Treitschke, 1835)
Plum fruit moth
larva = red plum maggot
Species Overview:
Adult: 10-15 mm wingspan; general colouration of forewing fuscous-brown, distal area irrorate (tips of scales) with white or greyish white; pairs of interspaces between poorly defined blackish brown costal strigulae obscure; fasciate markings blackish brown. Hindwing fuscous, lighter basally and along termen. Similar to Grapholita molesta but generally larger; distinguished from Grapholita tenebrosana by the darker, greyish fuscous labial palpi and irons and the whitish irroration in the distal and medio-dorsal areas of the forewing.
Egg: 0.7 x 0.6 mm; flat, lenticular-ovate, translucent white, gradually becoming yellow [G. funebrana egg ].
Larva: mature larva: 9-12 mm long; head dark brown to black (paler before pupation); spinules appear as bright spots of pink; prothorax pale yellow, prothoracic plate pale brown with darker brown mottling along posterior margin; thoracic legs pale yellow; abdomen bright reddish pink dorsally and yellowish ventrally; pinacula light brown, inconspicuous; peritreme of spiracles brown, inconspicuous; anal plate pale light brown, marked with small blackish spots; anal comb with 4-7 prongs and 1-3 small additional prongs laterally. Young larvae are translucent white and have grey-black prothoracic and anal plates, spiracles, spinules and legs [G. funebrana mature larva ].
Pupa: 6-7 mm long; light brown; in a cocoon spun up in almost any convenient situation such as dead wood, a crevice in the bark of the tree, under moss or in the soil. Cocoons are frequently found in wicker baskets or containers used for carrying fruit.
Taxonomic Description:
Male:
G. funebrana adult 1
G. funebrana adult 2
G. funebrana adults
External characters: Wingspan 10-15 mm. Labial palpus and frons greyish fuscous. Forewing ground colour white, overlaid with fuscous-brown except obscure pairs of interspaces between poorly defined blackish brown costal strigulae; fasciate markings blackish brown, indeterminate except outer edge of sub-basal fascia which is weakly indicated dorsally; a minute, indistinct, white discocellular spot present; distal area irrorate (tips of scales) with white or greyish white, most pronounced in ocellus; a similar irroration medio-dorsally, forming an indistinct blotch; ocellus comprising usually four black dots, edged laterally by a thick plumbeous stria on inner margin and a similar but thinner stria on outer margin; cilia concolorous with wing basally, otherwise grey, with a black sub-basal line indented subapically. Hindwing fuscous, lighter basally and along termen; cilia greyish white, with a fuscous sub-basal line (Bradley et al., 1979).
male genitalia G. funebrana
Genitalia: Ventral margin of valva with large pointed dent; cucullus broad and short, outer margin strongly convex. Sacculus rounded ventrally.
Female:
External characters: Similar to male.
female gen. G. funebrana
Genitalia: Sterigma in form of a ring encircling ostium (dorsal side much broader then ventral side), with small digitate lateral processes. Seventh sternite at least 3 times as broad anteriorly as posteriorly. Cingulum (sclerite in ductus bursae) more or less star-shaped.
Variation:
Individual variation occurs in the clarity of the white interspaces on the costa and in the strength of the whitish irroration in the distal and medio-dorsal areas of the forewing.
Biology:
damage on plum 1 (fruit)(G. f.)
In the majority of fruit-growing areas Grapholita funebrana has a two-generation cycle. However, in Northern Europe a weak second generation will only develop when climatic conditions are favourable. In Northern Italy, 3 distinct flight periods were observed, suggesting there are 3 generations yearly there.
Eggs are laid on the fruitlets, often close to the depression which passes from fruit stalk to fruit tip, and usually just one per fruitlet. Eggs hatch in about two weeks. Each larva then bites into the fruitlet a short distance from its empty egg shell. Larvae feed for several weeks, passing through five instars. When full-grown, they bore out of the fruits and spin silken cocoons under loose bark or in other suitable situations. Second-generation adults tend to lay their eggs on the lower parts of maturing fruits; they often deposit more than one egg per fruit, but then only one of the larvae normally survives. In the main fruit-growing districts of Central Europe, it is the larva originating from the second generation moths that causes considerable loss of plum fruits that mature in the mid or late season. Hibernation occurs as a full-grown larva at the base of the tree or in the soil; pupation follows in the spring (Dickler, 1991).
Host plants:
Prunus domestica (plum), Prunus domestica subsp. insititia, Prunus armeniaca (apricot), Prunus persica (peach), Prunus avium (sweet cherry), Prunus spinosa, Prunus japonica.
Damage:
damage on plum 2 (fruit)(G. f.)
resin drop on fruit
Grapholita funebrana is an important pest of plum. Larvae feed within relatively large fruitlets. On entering the flesh, the young larva forms a narrow, winding tunnel under the surface, directed from the point of entry towards the fruit stalk. The tunnel soon turns brown and is then clearly visible through the skin. From near the stalk, the tunnel is extended to the centre of the fruit and as the larva grows the flesh around the stone is eaten and replaced by masses of wet, brown frass. When full fed, the larva escapes through the side of the fruit, leaving a small (ca 2 mm) circular hole in the skin. Frass is not ejected from red plum maggot tunnels, but attacked fruits ripen prematurely and are easily recognized amongst the developing crop. When infestations are initiated in nearly ripe fruits (typical of second-generation attacks) the larval tunnel runs directly from the point of entry to the stone. Resin oozes from the fruits damaged by larval feeding.
Even low pest levels can be important in crops sent for processing, since the present of only a few infested fruits may lead to the rejection of complete consignments (Alford, 1984).
Distribution:
Europe to Asia Minor and Central Asia; Trans-Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Southern Siberia, southern part of Eastern Russia, China, Korea and Japan; North-Western Africa.
Pheromone:
Z 8-12Ac : 0.5 *
E 8-12Ac : 0.005 *
Z 8-12OH : 0.01
12Ac : 0.08
Z 10-14Ac : 0.03
Z 8-14Ac : 0.15
14Ac : 1
16Ac : 0.15
18Ac : 0.03
20Ac : 0.2
Components marked with * are involved in attraction (Guerin et al., 1986c).
Attractantia:
Z 8-12Ac : 96
E 8-12Ac : 4 (Arn et al., 1976)
Parasitoids:
Egg parasitoids Trichogramma embryophagum , Trichogramma dendrolimi, Trichogramma turkeiensis, Trichogramma kilinceri and Trichogramma buluti were obtained from eggs of Grapholita funebrana in Turkey.
Trichogramma embryophagum cacoeciae has been used as a biological control against Grapholita funebrana in the former USSR, in the Black Sea area.