| Oriental Peach Moth (previously known as Laspeyresia molesta) GRAPHOLITINI, OLETHREUTINAE, TORTRICIDAE, TORTRICOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Illustration by Arthur Cushman,
USDA Systematics Entomology Laboratory,
courtesy of Bugwood.org)
This Caterpillar is initially white. Later instars become shaded with pink. The head is brown with dark markings, the thoracic shield yellow, and the anal plate dark brown. The caterpillar is an international pest on fruit trees in ROSACEAE, particularly :
although it will also attack other species including :
The caterpillars bore into young shoots, causing gumming and malformation.
The adult moths are grey to brown with a pattern on each forewing which includes a complex pale patch near the middle of the hind margin, and diagonal stripes along the costa. The wingspan is about 1.3 cms. In courtship, the male moth emits pheromones from hairs on the tip of the abdomen, which the females find attractive.
The eggs are white, oval, with a diameter of about 0.g mm. They are laid singly on leaves, particularly young shoots, of the food plant. A female moth can lay over 200 eggs.
The species is found over much of the world including for example
and has been introduced into Australia by unfortunate accident, now occurring in:
Various means have been suggested to control the species :
Further reading :
August Busck,
in: A.I. Quaintance & W.B. Wood,
Laspeyresia molesta, an important new insect enemy of the peach,
Journal of Agricultural Research Washington,
Volume 7 (1916), pp. 373-377, Plates 26-31.
Peter B. McQuillan, Jan A. Forrest, David Keane, & Roger Grund,
Caterpillars, moths, and their plants of Southern Australia,
Butterfly Conservation South Australia Inc., Adelaide (2019), p. 66.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 5 January 2010, 12 February 2025)
