Isotenes miserana (Walker, 1863)
Orange Fruit Borer
(one synonym : Teras absumptana Walker, 1866)
ARCHIPINI,   TORTRICINAE,   TORTRICIDAE,   TORTRICOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Isotenes miserana
(Photo: courtesy of Harold McQueen, North Maclean, Queensland)

This Caterpillar has variable colours with vague broad brown bands along the body, a dark brown head and prothorax, and has a stiff white hair projecting each side from each segment.

Isotenes miserana

The caterpillar is a pest: attacking flowers, fruit, and foliage of a wide variety of agricultural plants, fruit trees, and weeds, including:

  • Avocado ( Persea americana, LAURACEAE ),
  • Mulberry ( Morus species, MORACEAE ),
  • Pigweed ( Portulaca oleracea, PORTULACACEAE ),
  • Macadamia ( Macadamia integrifolia, PROTEACEAE ),
  • Orange ( Citrus sinensis, RUTACEAE ),
  • Lychee ( Litchi chinensis, SAPINDACEAE ), and
  • Cultivated Grapes ( Vitis vinifera, VITACEAE ).

    The caterpillar grows to a length of about 2 cms. It pupates in a cocoon protected by leaves joined around it.

    Isotenes miserana

    The adult moths are varied in colour and pattern, being a patchy speckled brown or grey, often with a broad indistinct dark diagonal stripe across each forewing. The moths have a wingspan of about 2 cms.

    Isotenes miserana
    (Photo: courtesy of Harold McQueen, North Maclean, Queensland)

    The eggs are laid in a mass protected by a fence of scales deposited around them by the female moth.

    Isotenes miserana
    (Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    The species is endemic to Australia, being found in

  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania, and
  • Western Australia.

    and has unfortunately also appeared in

  • New Zealand, and
  • Taiwan.

    The pest has been controlled by the use of: Endosulfan or Carbaryl.


    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, figs. 27.12, 51.15, pp. 68, 279.

    Francis Walker,
    Tortricites & Tineites,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 28 (1863), p. 301, No. 67.


    previous
    back
    caterpillar
    Australian
    Australian Butterflies
    butterflies
    Australian
    home
    Lepidoptera
    Australian
    Australian Moths
    moths
    next
    next
    caterpillar

    (updated 4 September 2011, 21 April 2017, 26 October 2020)