Light brown apple moth

Epiphyas postvittana

1. Identification

• Common name: Light brown apple moth
• Scientific name: Epiphyas postvittana Walker
• Order: Lepidoptera
• Family: Tortricidae

2. Pest description

• Yellowish-green caterpillars, very mobile, which roll leaves with silken threads.
• Adults with light brown forewings showing variable patterns and grayish hindwings.
• It attacks leaves, shoots, flowers and young fruits.
• Highly polyphagous species, with more than 500 recorded hosts.

3. Main hosts

• Apple tree.
• Pear tree.
• Plum tree.
• Peach tree.
• Grapevine.
• Citrus.
• Strawberry.
• 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

• Several generations per year, depending on the climate.
• Eggs laid in batches on leaves.
• Caterpillars develop through 5 instars.
• Pupation inside rolled leaves.
• Adults active during much of the year in mild regions.

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 – Epiphyas postvittana.
• CABI Invasive Species Compendium – E. postvittana.
• Suckling, D. M., & Brockerhoff, E. G. (2010). Invasion biology, ecology and management of Epiphyas postvittana. Annual Review of Entomology.
• Ioriatti, C., & Lucchi, A. (2016). Semiochemical strategies for tortricid control in fruit crops. Journal of Pest Science.
• Alford, D. (2007). Pest management in fruit crops.