TORTRICIDAE  -  Amorbia

Larval diagnosis (Detailed)

Brown (2011) divided intercepted tortricid larvae into four "types." Larvae of Amorbia fall under the "Tortricinae type" with D1 and SD1 on A9 located on separate pinacula, and an anal comb present. He used the following characters to identify larvae of Amorbia: L1 setae of anal shield extremely long (tribal-level character); prothoracic shield pale with distinct narrow band along ventral edge, continuing anterad on head (genal band) towards stemmatal region; L and SV pinacula on T1 brownish, somewhat sclerotized; dorsal pinacula on A1-8 usually somewhat rounded; V setae on A9 1.25-1.80 times as far apart as those on A8; frequently on Rubus, Crataegus, Limonium, cut flowers (mostly Central America).

MacKay (1962) defined lavae of Amorbia as "distinct" with the following characters: V1s on A9 about twice as far apart as those on A8; dorsal and subdorsal pinacula on the meso- and, to a lesser extent, on the meta-thorax elongated posteriorly and all pinacula large; spinules long and slender; anal shield strongly tapered; anal seta unusually long, L1s being more than twice as long as anal segment; D1s on anal shield closer to corresponding SD1s than to each other [MacKay's terminology for setae on the anal shield is outdated - in this case, L1 = SD1 and SD1 = SD2 in Stehr (1987)]. She listed several other characters, including: P1 on the head closer to P2 than to Adf2 and at the apex of a right or obtuse angle formed with P2 and Adf2; spinneret about four or five times as long as wide; D1 on meso- and meta-thorax dorsocaudal to D2, and SD2 anterodorsal to SD1; spiracle on abdomen moderately large and SD1 less than twice its (spiracle) diameter from it; SD2 on segments 1-8 on the SD1 pinaculum; L1 and L2 anterior to a vertical line through spiracle on segments 2-8; SV group on segments 1,2,7,8,9 usually 3:3:3:2:2; D2s on segment 8 usually slightly closer together than D1s; D1 on segment 9 always on its own pinaculum; crochets triordinal; anal fork [comb] present and well developed.

The lateral dark line on the prothoracic shield and head appears to be the best distinguishing character for Amorbia larvae. Typical Sparganothini larvae have an anal comb, more than 25 crochets on the abdominal prolegs, the SD2 pinaculum on A1-7 is tiny and fused with the larger SD1 pinaculum, and the SD1 [= L1 in MacKay (1959)] setae of the anal shield are extremely long (Brown 2011). Larvae from the New World with a combination of these characters and the lateral lines on both the head and prothoracic shield can be safely identified as Amorbia. Interestingly, MacKay (1962) did not mention the lateral line on the head and shield in her diagnosis of the genus, likely because it is absent in some individuals, especially early instars. Larvae with typical Sparagnothini characters that lack lateral lines on both the head and shield are best left to tribe or subfamily.

Problems arise when the larva is a typical New World Sparganothini with a distinct lateral line on the head (genal band), but the lateral line on the prothoracic shield is faint or missing. Molecular diagnostics have shown that these larvae are usually Amorbia, Platynota, or sometimes Argyrotaenia montezumae. Brown (2011) diagnosed Platynota with the following characters: prothoracic shield usually uniform dark in color; L and SV pinacula on T1 dark brown or black, strongly sclerotized; dorsal pinacula on A1-8 usually somewhat elongate-oval; V setae on A9 usually about 2 times as far apart as those on A8; on various hosts (Neotropics). Passoa and Hodges (1985) attempted to separate Platynota from Amorbia using the shape of the head capsule, which is rounded in Platynota and dorsally flattened in Amorbia, and body spinules, which appear as either rounded or pointed granules in Platynota, and are long, slender, and spinelike in Amorbia. They also listed the spacing of the D1 and SD1 setae on the anal shield, but this character appears to vary enough to not be useful in separating the two genera. A combination of Brown's (2011) characters along with the head shape and form of the body spinules should be sufficient to distinguish larvae of the two genera in most instances. Phillips and Powell (2007) illustrated several Amorphia larvae showing variation in the head markings.

Identification authority (Detailed)

Origin, and, to a lesser extent, host are useful for identification of Amorbia larvae. Amorbia is a New World genus, thus any positive interceptions should originate from North, Central, or South America, the Caribbean, or Hawaii. Both Amorbia and Platynota may be found on the same hosts; however, larvae of Platynota are slightly more polyphagous and may be found on a wider variety of plants.

Key to larval Tortricidae intercepted, or potentially encountered, at U.S. ports of entry

TORTRICIDAE  -  Amorbia

Origin records

Amorbia have been intercepted from the following locations:

Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Hawaii, Mexico, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela

Origins from outside of the New World are likely misidentifications and are not included here. Platynota stultana larvae have been found on peppers (Capsicum annum) originating from Spain - it is possible that these interceptions could be mistaken for Amorbia.

Host records

Amorbia have been intercepted on the following hosts:

Agapanthus sp., Allium porrum, Allium sp., Aloe vera, Alstroemeria sp., Amaranthus sp., Ammi majus, Ananas comosus, Anigozanthos sp., Anigozanthus sp., Annona cherimola, Antirrhinum majus, Apium graveolens, Artemisia dracunculus, Artemisia sp., Asparagus plumosus, Asparagus sp., Aster ericoides, Aster sp., Astilbe sp., Balsaminceae, Borago officinalis, Brassica pekinensis, Brassica rapa, Buxus sp., Capsicum annuum, Capsicum pubescens, Capsicum sp., Carica papaya, Carthamus sp., Casimiroa edulis, Chamaedorea sp., Chenopodium album, Chenopodium ambrosioides, Chenopodium berlandieri ssp. nuttalliae, Chenopodium sp., Chrysanthemum sp., Cicer arietinum, Citrus limetta, Citrus limettioides, Citrus maxima, Citrus reticulata, Citrus sinensis, Citrus sp., Coriandrum sativum, Crataegus pubescens, Crataegus sp., Crotolaria sp., Cucumis melo, Cucumis sp., Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita sp., Cydonia oblonga, Cydonia sp., Cymbopogon sp., Delphinium sp., Dendranthema sp., Dianthus sp., Diospyros digyna, Diospyros sp., Diospyros texana, Eriobotrya japonica, Eryngium sp., Erythrina sp., Eucalyptus sp., Fernaldia pandurata, Fragaria ananassa, Fragaria sp., Gypsophila sp., Helianthus annuus, Helianthus sp., Hemerocallis sp., Hydrangea sp., Hypericum sp., Iris sp., Lactuca sativa, Laurus nobilis, Leucadendron sp., Liatris sp., Lilium sp., Limonium sp., Lippia graveolens, Malus domestica, Malus sp., Malus sylvestris, Malvaceae, Mentha sp., Momordica charantia, Moringa oleifera, Myrtus communis, Myrtus sp., Nephelium lappaceum, Ocimum basilicum, Ocimum sp., Opuntia sp., Origanum majorana, Origanum sp., Origanum vulgare, Pelargonium sp., Persea americana, Persea sp., Phaseolus lunatus, Phaseolus sp., Physalis pubescens, Physalis sp., Piper sanctum, Piper sp., Pisum sativum, Pisum sp., Pithecellobium dulce, Porophyllum ruderale, Porophyllum sp., Portulaca oleracea, Prunus persica, Psidium guajava, Psidium sp., Punica granatum, Punica sp., Pyrus communis, Rosa sp., Rosmarinus officinalis, Rosmarinus sp., Rubus fruticosus, Rubus idaeus, Rubus sp., Rubus ulmifolius, Rubus ursinus, Ruta graveolens, Salvia officinalis, Salvia sp., Sechium edule, Sechium sp., Solanum lycopersicum var lycopersicum, Solidago canadensis, Solidago sp., Solidaster sp., Strelitzia sp., Thymus sp., Thymus vulgaris, Vaccinium angustifolium, Vaccinium corymbosum, Vaccinium ovalifolium, Vaccinium sp., Zea mays

TORTRICIDAE  -  Amorbia

Setal map

Amorbia setal map

Click here to download a full-size printable PDF of this larval setal map