Classification

Gelechioidea: Gelechiidae: Pexicopiinae: Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders)

Common name

pink bollworm

Synonyms

Gelechia umbripennis

Larval diagnosis (Detailed)

The larvalarva:
the stages between the egg and pupa of those insects having complete metamorphosis
of P. gossypiella, the pink bollworm, has been described several times. Some examples are Busck (1917)Busck (1917):
Busck, A. 1917. The pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella. Journal of Agricultural Research 9: 343-370., Heinrich (1921)Heinrich (1921):
Heinrich, C. 1921. Some Lepidoptera Likely To Be Confused with the Pink Bollworm. Journal of Agricultural Research 20: 807-836., Capps (1958), Peterson (1962)Peterson (1962):
Peterson, A. 1962. Larvae of insects: an introduction to Nearctic species. Part I: Lepidoptera and plant infesting Hymenoptera. Columbus, Ohio. 315 pp., Weisman (1986)Weisman (1986):
Weisman, D. M. 1986. Keys for the identification of some frequently intercepted lepidopterous larvae. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine series 81-47. 64 pp., Stehr (1987), Sri et al. (2010)Sri et al. (2010):
Sri, I. A., V. R. Rao, P. R. Sekhar and M .S. V. Chalam. 2010. Taxonomic studies on different lepidopteran caterpillars on cotton, chilli and pulses. Annals of Plant Protection Sciences 18: 104-107., and Schnitzler et al. (2012)Schnitzler et al. (2012):
Schnitzler, F. R., J. W. Haw, L. Kumarasinghe and S. George. 2012. Identification Guide to Lepidoptera Larvae Intercepted on Trade Pathways. Bulletin of the Entomological Society of New Zealand 15. 105 pp.. Schmutterer (1990)Schmutterer (1990):
Schmutterer, H. 1990. Crop Pests in the Caribbean, with particular reference to the Dominican Republic. Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit. Eschborn, Federal Republic of Germany. 640 pp. photographed two color forms of the larvalarva:
the stages between the egg and pupa of those insects having complete metamorphosis
. One is an early instarinstar:
the stage between molts
with a dark head and prothoracic shieldprothoracic shield:
the dorsal shieldlike covering of the first thoracic segment
followed by segmental pink transverse bands on a light yellow ground color. The other is older and has the head, prothoracic shieldprothoracic shield:
the dorsal shieldlike covering of the first thoracic segment
and body colored light pink. The abdomen is paler between the segments. Color photographs in Hughes and Moore (2011)Hughes and Moore (2011):
Hughes, G. B. and W. Moore. 2011. Identification tool to the pink bollworm and its look-alikes. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine Identification Technology Program. Fort Collins, Colorado. are similar to Schmutterer (1990)Schmutterer (1990):
Schmutterer, H. 1990. Crop Pests in the Caribbean, with particular reference to the Dominican Republic. Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit. Eschborn, Federal Republic of Germany. 640 pp.. Pearson (1958)Pearson (1958):
Pearson, E. O. 1958. The insect pests of cotton in tropical Africa. Empire Cotton Growing Corporation and Commonwealth Institute of Entomology. London, England. 355 pp. described the four instars of P. gossypiella and illustrated two examples with a colored plateplate:
a larger sclerotized area of the body; = shield
. Naranjo et al. (2002)Naranjo et al. (2002):
Naranjo, S. E., G. D. Butler Jr. and T. J. Henneberry. 2002. A bibliography of the pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders). Bibliographies and Literature of Agriculture 136. United States Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Research Service. 56 pp. reviewed the literature on the pink bollworm.

Typically, the larvalarva:
the stages between the egg and pupa of those insects having complete metamorphosis
of P. gossypiella is recognized by a combination of characters (Busck 1917: 346, Heinrich 1921Heinrich 1921:
Heinrich, C. 1921. Some Lepidoptera Likely To Be Confused with the Pink Bollworm. Journal of Agricultural Research 20: 807-836.: 808-809, Weisman 1986Weisman 1986:
Weisman, D. M. 1986. Keys for the identification of some frequently intercepted lepidopterous larvae. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine series 81-47. 64 pp.). The adfrontal setaeseta:
a hairlike projection of the body wall that is articulated in a socket; compare to spine
are widely separated and AF2 is at the apex of the frontfront:
the frons or frontal area, sometimes including the clypeus
; the mandible has four teeth with the last one smaller than the others; a crescent shaped marking is often present on the prothoracic shieldprothoracic shield:
the dorsal shieldlike covering of the first thoracic segment
; the abdominal prolegsabdominal prolegs:
all prolegs on any abdominal segment except the last, which are Anal prolegs
have crochetscrochets:
sclerotized, hooklike structures, usually arranged in rows or circles on the prolegs of Lepidoptera larvae
in a uniordinaluniordinal:
crochets arranged so they are of a single length or slightly shorter toward the ends of the row
penellipse; the anal crochetscrochets:
sclerotized, hooklike structures, usually arranged in rows or circles on the prolegs of Lepidoptera larvae
are in a single uninterrupted band; and SD1 on A9 is setaform, not hairlike. The L group of A9 is normally bisetosebisetose:
two setae
(e.g., Okumura 1961Okumura 1961:
Okumura, G. T. 1961. Identification of lepidopterous larvae attacking cotton. California Department of Agriculture Bureau of Entomology Special Publication 282. 80 pp., Stehr 1987), but Busck (1917: plateplate:
a larger sclerotized area of the body; = shield
11) and Heinrich (1921: plateplate:
a larger sclerotized area of the body; = shield
103) showed a microscopic third L setaseta:
a hairlike projection of the body wall that is articulated in a socket; compare to spine
. We have not been able to confirm this chaetotaxychaetotaxy:
the arrangement and nomenclature of setae; see setal map
in the specimens we examined. Unlike some other gelechiids, P. gossypiella lacks an anal combanal comb:
the mesal sclerotized prong ventrad of the anal plate and adjacent to the anus; used to eject frass
(Heinrich 1921Heinrich 1921:
Heinrich, C. 1921. Some Lepidoptera Likely To Be Confused with the Pink Bollworm. Journal of Agricultural Research 20: 807-836.).

Several species of New World Anatrachyntis (= Pyroderces or Sathrobrota) intercepted at United States ports can be confused with the pink bollworm. They have SD1 on A8 anterioranterior:
front; in front of
to the spiracle, SD1 and D1 joined on A9, and the abdominal crochetscrochets:
sclerotized, hooklike structures, usually arranged in rows or circles on the prolegs of Lepidoptera larvae
in a circle (Adamski et al. 2006Adamski et al. 2006:
Adamski, D., J. W. Brown and W. H. White. 2006. Description of the immature stages of Pyroderces badia (Hodges) (Lepidoptera: Cosmopterigidae), with a new host record from Louisiana. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 108: 341-346.). The pink bollworm has abdominal crochetscrochets:
sclerotized, hooklike structures, usually arranged in rows or circles on the prolegs of Lepidoptera larvae
in a uniordinaluniordinal:
crochets arranged so they are of a single length or slightly shorter toward the ends of the row
penellipse and SD1 is dorsaddorsad:
toward the top or back
of the spiracle on A8. The D and SD setaeseta:
a hairlike projection of the body wall that is articulated in a socket; compare to spine
of A9 are on separate pinaculapinaculum:
a small, flat, or slightly elevated chitinized area bearing a seta or setae
.

Several pest species are easily confused with P. gossypiella. The cotton stem moth, P. subcinerea (= vilella) has the SV group bisetosebisetose:
two setae
on A8 and SD1 hairlike on A9 (Capps 1958aCapps 1958a:
Capps, H. W. 1958a. Structural characters for recognition of cotton stem moth (Platyedra vilella Zeller)). Cooperative Economic Insect Report. Survey methods 1958. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Plant Pest Control Division. 85 pp., b). Mometa zemiodes, the false pink bollworm, is found in rotten cotton bolls from Africa (McKinley 1967). The mandible has four teeth of almost equal size with a sharp point on the outer edge; the labrumlabrum:
the upper lip
is rounded with a notch of about 45 degrees; the pinaculapinaculum:
a small, flat, or slightly elevated chitinized area bearing a seta or setae
are large and the pink body color pattern is diffuse (Pearson 1958: 201, McKinley 1967: figs. 8, 14). Pectinophora scutigera is a PKNTO species (Pests not know to occur [in the United States]) (Hodges 1984Hodges 1984:
Hodges, R. W. 1984. Pests not known to occur in the United States or of limited distribution 46. Pink spotted bollworm. Pectinophora scutigera (Holdaway). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine 81-45. 10 pp.). It differs from the pink bollworm in having the abdominal crochetscrochets:
sclerotized, hooklike structures, usually arranged in rows or circles on the prolegs of Lepidoptera larvae
in two transverse bands and the anal crochetscrochets:
sclerotized, hooklike structures, usually arranged in rows or circles on the prolegs of Lepidoptera larvae
divided in two groups (Capps 1958bCapps 1958b:
Capps, H. W. 1958b. An illustrated key for identification of larvae of the cotton-pest species of Pectinophora Busck and Platyedra Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). Bulletin of Entomological Research 49: 631-632., Hodges 1984Hodges 1984:
Hodges, R. W. 1984. Pests not known to occur in the United States or of limited distribution 46. Pink spotted bollworm. Pectinophora scutigera (Holdaway). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine 81-45. 10 pp.). For more information on the larvalarva:
the stages between the egg and pupa of those insects having complete metamorphosis
of P. scutigera, consult Holdaway (1926)Holdaway (1926):
Holdaway, F. G. 1926. The pink bollworm of Queensland. Bulletin of Entomological Research 17: 67-83. and the illustrations of the crochetscrochets:
sclerotized, hooklike structures, usually arranged in rows or circles on the prolegs of Lepidoptera larvae
in Holdaway (1929)Holdaway (1929):
Holdaway, F. G. 1929. Confirmatory evidence of the validity of the species Pectinophora scutigera Holdaway (Queensland pink bollworm), from a study of the genitalia. Bulletin of Entomological Research 20: 179-185.. Except for P. scutigera that has been intercepted from Hawaii, the Dominican Republic, and West Germany on okra and cotton in baggage (Lima unpublished pathway study), we do not know of any interceptions for these other species at our ports.

Identification Authority (Detailed)

Many gelechiids have unknown larvaelarva:
the stages between the egg and pupa of those insects having complete metamorphosis
and quite a few may fit any of the couplets in Weisman's (1986) key. Thus it is important to restrict identifications of P. gossypiella to the proper hosts and known distribution. Pectinophora gossypiella feeds on Malvaceae (especially okra and cotton) (Pearson 1958Pearson 1958:
Pearson, E. O. 1958. The insect pests of cotton in tropical Africa. Empire Cotton Growing Corporation and Commonwealth Institute of Entomology. London, England. 355 pp.) and occurs in scattered locations throughout southern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and from the southern USA to Argentina in the New World (Gall 1966, Hill 1975Hill 1975:
Hill, D. 1975. Agricultural insect pests of the tropics and their control. Cambridge University Press. 516 pp.). Surprisingly, the pink body color can completely fade in preserved larvaelarva:
the stages between the egg and pupa of those insects having complete metamorphosis
.

Many of the exotic species related to the pink bollworm, although not common at ports, represent a serious threat to North American agriculture. Old World interceptions should be examined carefully to eliminate these as possibilities.

There is an unknown gelechiid species that looks like the pink bollworm except there are too few crochetscrochets:
sclerotized, hooklike structures, usually arranged in rows or circles on the prolegs of Lepidoptera larvae
(6-10 per segment) that tend to form a circle. Because SD1 is dorsaldorsal:
at the top or back or above
to the spiracle on A8, that rules out Anatrachyntis rileyi. It should be identified as Gelechiidae. Another unknown gelechiid species has a dark genal spot, this spot is lacking in the pink bollworm; it also should be identified as Gelechiidae.

Origin records

Pectinophora gossypiella has been intercepted from the following locations:

Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, US Virgin Islands, Venezuela

Host records

Pectinophora gossypiella has been intercepted on the following hosts:

Abelmoschus esculentus, Abelmoschus sp., Capsicum annuum, Galphimia glauca, Gossypium sp., Hibiscus sabdariffa, Malvaceae, Mangifera indica, Prunus sp., Sechium edule, Solanum sp., Solanum tuberosum

Hosts listed here that are not Malvaceae need confirmation.