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Archips rosana (L.)
Cacoecia rosana, Choristoneura rosanaceana (Harris)

Insecta, Lepidoptera, Tortricidae .

Rose leaf roller, Rose tortrix moth

Description, Biology, Life Cycle, Damage, Common Names, Images

[R]Description
- Adult: 17 to 19 mm wingspan in the male, 19 to 22 mm inr the female. The head and the thorax are brown, the abdomen brownish grey. The anterio wings are truncated at their top, light brown with 3 slanted, badly delimited spots, particularly for the female. The hind wings are browish grey with an orangy apex and fringes (*) .
- Eggs: deposited on the bark in egg-rafts (diameter up to 7 mm) bearing from 3 to over a hundred eggs, first greenish then brownish grey, imbricated and coated with a translucent protective substance (*) .
- Larva: 18 to 22 mm, olive green but capable of varying depending on its food, from yellowish to purple; shiny brown head and thoracic plate; brownish thoracic legs; lightly coloured abdominal legs with dark brown crochets; sometimes a medio-dorsal line of a slightly darker green; long silvery bristles which protrude from small whitish warts are dissemenated over the whole body (*) .

[R]Biology
- The caterpillars are found on Rosaceae, especially apple and pear, more rarely peach, plum and quince, rose (Rosa); they can also develop on forest trees: birch (Betula), maple (Acer), plane (Platanus), poplar (Populus), oak (Quercus), lime (Tilia), ash (Fraximus), elm (Ulmus), as well as bushes and annual or perennial plants: currant, raspberry, hop, hazel, laurel (Larrus), privet (Ligustrum), honeysuckle (Lonicera), myrtle (Myrtus), lilac (Syringa vulgaris), quelder-rose (Viburnum), nettle (Urtica).
- Adult: lifespan of 15 days. Average fecundity: 100 to 150 eggs.
- Eggs: distributed in 2 to 9 egg-rafts and disposed preferentially on the smooth surfaces of bark; they remain in diapause until the next spring.
- Larva: larval development lasts 28 to 55 days. The young caterpillars penetrate buds and bind the young leaves together with silk. Following this, they roll up the leaves making a sort of cigar (*) and gnaw the parenchyma leaving only the veins; the terminal buds are often most attacked. When larvae penetrate the still closed bud, they incise the peduncle below the calyx. During flowering, they gnaw the stamens and the pistil binding the petals by silk threads; this mode of attack is particularly frequent on apple.
- Pupa: development lasts 15 to 20 days.

[R]Life Cycle
- 1 generation per year.
- Hatching takes place from the end of February to the beginning of May depending on the temperature and the region; it finishes by the second flowering of apple trees at stage E; It occurs at intervals over an extended period following the exposition of the egg-rafts. Pupation occurs inside shrivelled leaves. Flights are observed from end of May to end of July. Eggs remain in diapause until the next spring.

[R]Damage
Damage is frequent on apple and pear (*) . The incisions on the bud peduncle lead to premature drop.Also, the fruits in contact with leaves are nibbled quite deeply in May and June which results in a local cessation of growth and in quite marked deformations (*) .

[R]Common Names
DE: Heckenwickler ES: Cacoecia de los brotes FR: Tordeuse des buissons IT: Tortrice verdastra dei germogli, Cacecia rosa dei fruttiferi. PT: Tortrícideo dos arbustos GB: Rose leaf roller, Rose tortrix moth

[R] Images

  1. Archips rosana (L.) Damage on the pear leaves To shelter themselve, larvae weave silk threads which prevent unfolding of the lamina.
  2. Archips rosana (L.) Damage on pears Springtime damage has prevent normal growth of the fruit.
  3. Archips rosana (L.) Damage on apples The apples have been cut open to show the extent of springtime attacks on very immature fruits.
  4. Archips rosana (L.) Larva on an apple leaf (Coutin R. / OPIE)
  5. Archips rosana (L.) 4631683@Egg raft@ on a smooth bark (Coutin R. / OPIE)
  6. Archips rosana (L.) Resting adult female (Coutin R. / OPIE)

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