Large Fruit-Tree Tortrix

Archips podana

1. Identification

• Common name: Large fruit-tree tortrix
• Scientific name: Archips podana Scopoli
• Order: Lepidoptera
• Family: Tortricidae

2. Pest description

• Greenish-brown caterpillars, very mobile, which roll leaves with silken threads.
• Adults with brown forewings showing variable patterns and pale hindwings.
• It attacks leaves, shoots, flowers and young fruits.
• Polyphagous species, common on pome fruits, stone fruits and ornamentals.

3. Main hosts

• Apple tree.
• Pear tree.
• Plum tree.
• Peach tree.
• Grapevine.
• Various ornamentals and fruit trees.

4. Symptoms and damage

• Leaves rolled and bound together by silken threads.
• Holes and consumption of the leaf blade.
• Damage to flowers and young fruits.
• Flower drop and reduced fruit set.
• Production losses and decline in fruit quality.

5. Biological cycle

• One to two generations per year, depending on the climate.
• Eggs laid in batches on trunks and branches in summer.
• Caterpillars overwinter in the first instar.
• They resume activity in spring, feeding on leaves and shoots.
• Pupation inside rolled leaves.
• Adults emerge in late spring and summer.

6. Monitoring

• Observation of rolled leaves and presence of caterpillars.
• Checking for damage to flowers and young fruits.
• Monitoring with pheromone traps to detect flights.
• Assessment of attack intensity throughout the growing cycle.

7. Management measures

• Cultural: removal of attacked leaves and shoots, destruction of crop residues and improved canopy ventilation.
• Biological: use of Bacillus thuringiensis on young caterpillars and conservation of natural enemies.
• Integrated protection: monitoring with pheromones, interventions only when justified and judicious application of authorized insecticides.

Bibliographic references

• EPPO Global Database – Archips podana.
• CABI Invasive Species Compendium – A. podana.
• Ioriatti, C., & Lucchi, A. (2016). Semiochemical strategies for tortricid control in fruit crops. Journal of Pest Science.
• Witzgall, P., Kirsch, P., & Cork, A. (2010). Sex pheromones and their impact in pest management. Journal of Chemical Ecology.
• Alford, D. (2007). Pest management in fruit crops.