KEYS    About TortAI    Fact Sheets    Glossary    ID Thumbnails    DNA Search    Dissection Guides Cryptophlebia spp << Previous Next >> CAPS Secondary Target - Adult Port Interception Target - Larva Cryptophlebia Walsingham (Tortricidae: Olethreutinae: Grapholitini) Fig. 1: C. illepida male Fig. 1: C. illepida male Fig. 2: C. illepida female Fig. 2: C. illepida female Fig. 3: C. illepida male genitalia Fig. 3: C. illepida male genitalia Fig. 4: C. illepida female sterigma Fig. 4: C. illepida female sterigma Fig. 5: C. ombrodelta male Fig. 5: C. ombrodelta male Fig. 6: C. ombrodelta female Fig. 6: C. ombrodelta female Fig. 7: C. ombrodelta male genitalia Fig. 7: C. ombrodelta male genitalia Fig. 8: C. ombrodelta female sterigma Fig. 8: C. ombrodelta female sterigma Fig. 9: C. peltastica male Fig. 9: C. peltastica male Fig. 10: C. peltastica female Fig. 10: C. peltastica female Fig. 11: C. peltastica male genitalia Fig. 11: C. peltastica male genitalia Fig. 12: C. peltastica female sterigma Fig. 12: C. peltastica female sterigma Overview The genus Cryptophlebia contains approximately 45 species and is distributed in all regions except the Nearctic. Adults are moderately sized with brown forewings and variable, subdued patterns. Most species have a darker brown pretornal patch that is more pronounced in females. Males have a variety of sex scales on the legs, abdomen, and in special pockets on the hindwing. The male genitalia are characterized by swollen valvae with multiple long spines on the inner surface of the cucullus. The female genitalia are characterized by a ovate or V-shaped sterigma, an anterior widening of the ductus bursae, and two signa in the corpus bursae (Komai 1999). Cryptophlebia  larvae are borers in seeds, nuts, fruits, pods, and stems. Larvae are whitish or pinkish with dark pinacula and a brown head and prothoracic shield. An anal comb is absent in most species. The large prespiracular pinaculum on T1 extends under the spiracle and the spiracle on A8 is located on the posterodorsal margin of the segment; these two characters group Cryptophlebia larvae with other closely related genera such as Gymnandrosoma and Thaumatotibia. This genus contains several pest species. The three treated here, the koa seedworm (C. illepida), macadamia nut borer (C. ombrodelta), and litchi moth (C. peltastica), are important pests of litchi and macadamia. Cryptophlebia larvae are intercepted very frequently at U.S. ports of entry, although it is likely that these are not distinguished from larvae of related species, such as false codling moth (Thaumatotibia leucotreta), which was previously placed in Cryptophlebia. Target species Cryptophlebia illepida Cryptophlebia ombrodelta Cryptophlebia peltastica References Bradley, J. D. 1953. Some important species of the genus Cryptophlebia Walsingham, 1899, with descriptions of three new species (Lepidoptera: Olethreutidae). Bulletin of Entomological Research. 43: 679-689. Jones, V. P. 1994. Feeding by Cryptophlebia illepida and C. ombrodelta (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) on macadamia nut abortion. Journal of Economic Entomology. 87: 781-786. Komai, F. 1999. A taxonomic review of the genus Grapholita and allied genera (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in the Palaearctic region. Entomologica Scandinavica Supplement 55. 226 pp. Manrakhan, A., D. Abeeluck and A. Gokool. 2008. Assessment of damage by Cryptophlebia peltastica (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in litchi orchards in Mauritius. African Entomology. 16: 203-208. Namba, R. 1957. Cryptophlebia illepida (Butler) (Lepidoptera: Eucosmidae) and other insect pests of the macadamia nut in Hawaii. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society. 16: 284-297. Timm, A. E., H. Geertsema and L. Warnich. 2006. Analysis of population genetic structure of two closely related tortricid species of economic importance on macadamias and litchis in South Africa. Agricultural and Forest Entomology. 8: 113-119. Zimmerman, E. C. 1978. Insects of Hawaii, Volume 9, Microlepidoptera, Part 1. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii, 881 pp. Tortricids of Agricultural Importance by Todd M. Gilligan and Marc E. Epstein Interactive Keys developed in Lucid 3.5. Last updated August 2014.