Author: (Linnaeus, 1758)
Bramble shoot moth
larva= bramble shoot webber
Species Overview:
Adult: 15-20 mm wingspan; forewing ground colour ochreous-white, heavily suffused with ochreous-grey; markings poorly defined except for a large, conspicuous, rounded-triangular, deep red-brown or chocolate-brown pre-tornal marking which is thinly edged with whitish ground colour. Hindwing grey.
Egg: 0.65 x 0.5mm; lenticular but somewhat irregular in shape, varying from ovate to circular, the chorion remaining soft until hatching, surface punctate. When first laid the egg is translucent white but later darkens to pale cream.
Larva: 14-15 mm long; head shining black, becoming brown prior to pupation; prothoracic plate broad, shining black or blackish brown, lateral and anterior margins pale greyish brown, medial sulcus distinct; abdomen brown to dull reddish brown, pinacula darker, moderately conspicuous; peritreme of spiracles blackish brown; anal plate blackish brown or black; anal comb absent; thoracic legs black [N. uddmanniana larva].
Pupa: 9-11 mm long; dark reddish brown, frons protruding, without processes; tip of abdomen blunt, abdominal segment with 3 pairs of hooked setae dorsally and 2 pairs of hooked setae ventrally, ventral rim weak or slightly wrinkled, spines on anal segment clearly bigger than those on the ninth segment, the latter situated in a single row [details pupa N. uddmanniana ].
Taxonomic Description:
Male:
Notocelia uddmanniana adult
Notocelia uddmanniana male 1
Notocelia uddmanniana male 2
External characters: 15-20 mm wingspan. Forewing with costal fold reaching to middle; hindwing with dorsal fold. Forewing ground colour ochreous-white, heavily suffused with ochreous-grey, the suffusion forming sinuous dark grey or fuscous striae; markings light ochreous-grey to olivaceous-grey; basal and sub-basal fasciae forming a large, poorly defined basal patch extending along costa and coalescing with median fascia, its outer edge angled above middle, thence inward-oblique to dorsum, thinly edged with whitish ground colour; median fascia moderately developed costally, becoming obsolete dorsally before a large, conspicuous, rounded-triangular, deep red-brown or chocolate-brown pre-tornal marking which is thinly edged with whitish ground colour; subterminal fascia arising from below middle of termen, dilated in upper part of distal area and terminating before costal strigulae, sometimes a sprinkling of black in ocellar area; cilia ochreous-white, suffused with reddish brown around apex and along termen, with a dark grey sub-basal line. Hindwing grey; cilia paler, with a dark sub-basal line (Bradley et al., 1979).
male genitalia N. uddmanniana
Genitalia: Uncus rudimentary, gnathos not developed. Socii narrow. Valva with arcuate, apical clasper; ventral margin of valva with slight notch before brush of cucullus. Aedeagus with group of long cornuti, and two additional fixed, short cornuti, situated terminally.
Female:
Notocelia uddmanniana female
External characters: Similar to male, forewing without costal fold.
female gen. N. uddmanniana
Genitalia: Lamella postvaginalis broad, with semi-membranous hairy lobes posteriorly. Cingulum situated medially in ductus bursae, ductus seminalis originating here. Corpus bursae with 2 signa.
Biology:
Tent of larva N. uddmanniana
Moths occur from late June to the end of July. Eggs are laid singly on leaves close to the tips of young canes. Each female deposits up to 300 eggs. Eggs hatch in about two weeks and the young larvae immediately invade the growing points. Here, each larva (usually no more than one per cane) webs together the two halves of a partly opened leaf, moving up the cane to younger leaves as the inhabited leaf becomes tougher. Larvae also burrow into the actual growing points of the canes but, when about three weeks old and still small, each spins a tough cocoon on the lower half of the plant, between a leaf base and the cane. Here they overwinter, most individuals entering hibernation before the end of August as third-instar larvae. Activity is resumed in late March or April. The larvae then web together leaves on the fruiting laterals or at the cane tips, or burrow directly into flower buds. Larvae also invade the new canes, webbing together bunches of apical leaves to form tough, tent-like shelters. Masses of frass accumulate in the silken strands of the larval habitations, each web usually being occupied by a single larva. Larvae on fruiting canes migrate to the young vegetative growth after the blossom period, where they also form the characteristic tents of webbed leaves. Larvae spend much of their time in the shelter of their tents but may vacate them at night to feed on younger foliage elsewhere on the canes. Larvae pass through five instars and pupate from late May onwards, usually within the larval habitation. Adults emerge about three weeks later (Alford, 1984).
Host plants:
Various species of Rubus, preferably wild blackberry, especially Rubus fruticosus, but also on cultivated raspberry, Rubus idaeus, and loganberry, Rubusloganobaccus.
Damage:
N. uddmanniana damage on raspberry
The young larvae cause no harm before hibernation. In spring, however, attacks can be serious. Infested flower buds are hollowed out, leaving an outer shell of petals and sepals. Later, the terminal buds of webbed canes are killed, growth checked and canes distorted. Lateral shoots then develop from normally dormant buds. In consequence, weakened canes are produced and cropping potential for the following year is greatly reduced (Alford, 1984).
Distribution:
Western Europe from England and Scandinavia to the islands of the Mediterranean and Northern Africa; from Northern Karelia to the Caucasus; Trans-Caucasus, Trans-Ural, Kazakhstan, Tadzhikistan; Asia Minor; Iran.
Pheromone:
14Ac : 11
Z 10-14Ac : 2.5
, -14Ald : 1
E 10E 12-14Ac : 3.5
E 10Z 12-14Ac : 1
Z 10Z 12-14Ac : 65.5 *
Z 10Z 12-14OH : 7.5
16Ac : 8
Component marked with * is involved in attraction (Witzgall et al., 1991a).
Parasitoids:
Campoplex mutabilis Hlgr. (Ichneumonidae)
Apanteles sp. (Braconidae)
Nemorilla notabilis Mg. (Tachinidae)
Trichogramma semblidis (Auriv.) (Trichogrammatidae)