Author: (Meyrick, 1936)
Species Overview:
Adult: 10-12 mm wingspan (males slightly smaller than females); ground colour greyish brown, beyond middle suffused with cream-white and grey; median fascia indicated by grey wide band dusted with greyish olive (inconspicuous in females); costa with 4 (males) or 6 (females) pairs of cream-white strigulae; two conspicuous black dashes present on apical half, and a black spot on apex.
Larva: 9-10 mm long; head longer than broad, light brown, latero-posterior edge black, with black pigmentation in region of stemmata. Spinneret slender, with round top. Prothoracic shield yellowish brown, posterior edge dark. Thoracic legs yellowish brown. Body yellowish brown, dark reddish before pupating; integument densely spinulose. Pinacula small, concolorous with body. Setae short, pale. Anal plate light brown. Anal fork present. Crochets in a uniordinal circle; 27-29 on ventral leg, 16-17 on anal proleg [Heleanna melanomochla larva ;Heleanna melanomochla larva 2 (before pupation)].
Pupa: 5-6 mm long; light brown; frons round; clypeus with 3 pairs of setae, of these setae cephalad pair long; anal segment with four pairs of hooked setae. In a folded leaf [Heleanna melanomochla pupa ].
Taxonomic Description:
Male:
Heleanna melanomochla male
External characters: 10-11 mm wingspan; head brownish grey, tips of scales whitish; antenna thick, brownish grey; thorax greyish olive, whitish posteriorly; tegula brownish. Forewing elongate oblong, without costal fold, apex and tornus rounded, costa concave at the base, with some small rounded scale-tufts on the basal half. Ground colour greyish brown, beyond middle suffused with cream-white and grey. Costa with four pairs of cream-white strigulae from apex to middle. Median fascia indicated by grey wide band dusted with greyish olive, running from basal 1/3 of costa to middle of dorsum. Two conspicuous black dashes on apical half, and a black spot on apex. Cilia brownish grey, whitish on tornus. Hindwing semi-triangular, dorsum extended. Colour light greyish brown, semi-transparent; veins blackish, conspicuous. Cubital pecten long. Cilia light greyish brown, blackish on dorsum (Nasu, 1995).
male genitalia H. melanomochla
Genitalia: Tegumen with a wide dorsal concavity. Uncus absent. Socius long, setose on inner side, with five or six stout setae on the apex. Gnathos weakly sclerotized. Aedeagus cone-shaped, armed with 11-12 fusiform cornuti. Valva constricted deeply (neck distinct, long); basal opening with a setose lobe on the posterior edge. Cucullus oval, with many stout setae on the inner side, the posterior edge with some short stout setae.
Female:
Heleanna melanomochla female
External characters: 10.5-12 mm wingspan; head and thorax similar to those of male, but antenna slender. Forewing colouration and markings as in male, but costa moderately curved, with six pairs of costal strigulae from apex to basal 1/4; median fascia inconspicuous, indicated by whitish sinuous streaks, originating from the fifth and sixth costal strigulae. Hindwing semioval, with cubital pecten shorter than that of male, cilia light greyish.
female gen. H. melanomochla
Genitalia: Papillae analis flat. Apophyses posteriores as long as apophyses anteriores. Intersegmental membrane between sternites 7 and 8 weakly sclerotized, with a pair of spinulose pits on the surfaces. Sternite 7 quadrate, with a pair of strongly sclerotized latero-posterior processes. Antrum cup-shaped; lamella postvaginalis concave posteriorly, extending laterally, connected with posterior part of sternite 7. Ductus bursae long, with long ring-like sclerotization (cingulum). Corpus bursae pyriform; signa in form of two blade-shaped sclerites, equal in size.
Biology
Larvae feed on the young leaves of mango, folding the apices and margins of the leaves longitudinally. Pupation takes place in the pupal case in a folded leaf (Nasu, 1995).
Host plants:
Mango (Mangifera indica).
Damage:
H. melanomochla damage to mango (folded leaves)
Larvae feed on the young leaves of mango, folding the apices and margins of the leaves longitudinally (Nasu, 1995).
Distribution:
Taiwan
Pheromone:
Pheromone unknown.