Hedya nubiferana (Haworth)
(Also known as Argyroploce variegana (Hübner), Tortrix variegana (Hübner), Hedya dimidioalba (Retzius), Acleris variegana (Denis and Schiffermüller)).
Common names: Spotted apple budworm, bud moth, marbled orchard tortrix, garden rose tortrix.
Systematic position: Insecta, Holometabola, Lepidoptera, Tortricidae.
Distribution: North America, Europe, European parts of Russia, North Africa, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, far east.
Morphology: The larvae are about 17 mm in length, body initially yellow, later dark green to brown, head black, posterior (anal) segment black, with 4 prolegs. Forewings with the anterior part dark-brown with black patches, distal part white with a mid-wing darker blotch. The hindwings are grey.
Host plants: Various Rosaceae.
Life history: This pest is monovoltine. During May-June the overwintered larvae feed, initially on buds and then on leaves and flowers of various arboreal Rosaceae. They bind the leaves together with silken threads, forming a nest, and feed therein for several weeks. Later they spin pupating cocoons, the adults emerging about 2 weeks later. They fly at night and are attracted to light. Fecundity comes to about 170 eggs/female, deposited on their rosaceous host plants. The very young larvae spend the winter in bark cracks or other protected sites.
Economic importance: This species is a significant pest of rosaceous fruit plants, especially apple, pear, plum, apricot and other fruit trees. Feeding by a single larva can result in the death of 2 to 3 inflorescences. Larval nibbling on the skin of late apples may promote the entry and development of molds, resulting in fruit rotting. Various chemicals applied in orchards in order to control other pests, reduce the numbers, and hence the damage, of H. nubiferana.
Management
Monitoring: The occurrence of the pest can be monitored with pheromone traps.
Horticultural methods: Removing old and diseased branches.
Chemical Control: Pesticides should be applied in spring, before or immediately after flowering.
Biological control: Several species of the tricogrammatid egg parasitoid Trichogramma embryophagum (Hartig) attack the eggs of the pest in Turkey. In Hungary the baconid Macrocentrus pallipes Nees may play a significant role in the regulation of the pest’s populations.
References
Bulut, H. 1990. Investigations on the distribution and natural effectiveness of Trichogramma embryophagum (Hartig) in the eggs of Hedya nubiferana and Spilonota ocellana F. Proceedings of the Second Turkish National Congress of Biological Control pp. 25-35.
Cross, V. 1996. A pheromone trap survey of tortricid moths (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in apple orchards in England subject to different insecticide management. Entomologist 115: 168-180.
Kilinçer, N., Gürkan, M. O. and Bulut, H. 1992. Control using pheromones in fruit orchards in Ankara Province. Proceedings of the Second Turkish National Congress of Entomology, 193-200 (in Turkish with an English abstract).
Osman,, S.E. and Balázs, K. 1988. Observations on the parasitoid Macrocentrus pallipes Nees (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in connection with its two hosts Hedya nubiferana Haw. and Pandemis heparana Den & Schiff. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Acta Phytopathologica et Entomologica Hungarica 23: 147-152.
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