Homona spargotis Meyrick, 1910
Avocado Leafroller
(previously known as : Ericiana spargotis)
ARCHIPINI ,   TORTRICINAE ,   TORTRICIDAE

Don Herbison-Evans ( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley


(Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda)

This Caterpillar is a pest on a variety of tropical crops, including :

  • Avocado ( Persea americana, LAURACEAE ),
  • Coffee ( Coffea arabica, RUBIACEAE ),
  • Custard Apple ( Annona reticulata , ANNONACEAE ),
  • Carambola ( Averrhoa bilimbi, OXALIDACEAE ), and
  • Tea ( Camellia thea, THEACEAE ).

    It lives in a shelter formed from a rolled leaf held with silk.


    (Picture: courtesy of CSIRO Entomology)

    The adult moths of this species are a patchy brown. The males have a wingspan of about 2 cms. The females have a wingspan of about 3 cms. The moths have a curious resting posture, with the hindwings protruding from under the forewings, and the protruded parts folded over.

    The eggs are yellow and flattened. They are laid on the upper surface of a foodplant leaf in overlapping masses of several hundred.

    The species is found in

  • Queensland.


    Further reading :

    Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
    A Guide to Australian Moths, CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 103.


    >

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

    (updated 25 January 2012)