Acleris minuta

Type

Native

Taxonomy

Acleris minuta (Robinson) (Tortricidae: Tortricinae: Tortricini)

Common names: yellow-headed fireworm, lesser apple leaf-folder

Synonyms: cinderella (Tortrix), malivorana (Tortrix), vacciniivorana (Tortrix), variolana (Teras)

Adult Recognition

FWLFWL:
forewing length; the distance from the base of the forewing to the apex, including fringe
: 6.5-9.5 mm

Forewing color is uniform, and adults occur in two forms: a summer form which is yellow or orange; and an overwintering form, which is gray and is sometimes referred to as the “cinderella” form. Males lack a forewing costal foldforewing costal fold:
a flap or fold at the base of the forewing that contains specialized sex scales
.

Male genitalia are characterized by long, thin sociisocii:
a pair of lightly sclerotized setose lobes
and a wide valvavalva:
an appendage flanking the intromittent organ that is used to clasp the female during copulation
with the distaldistal:
farthest from body, distant from point of attachment
end of the sacculussacculus:
the ventral margin of the male valva
greatly produced into a rounded lobe. Female genitalia are characterized by a wide ostiumostium:
see ostium bursae
, partially twisted ductus bursaeductus bursae:
a membranous tube connecting the ostium bursae to the corpus bursae
, and scobinatescobinate:
rasplike
signum.

Larval Morphology

The following account is summarized from MacKay (1962a)

Mature larva 10-12 mm in length; width of head approximately 1.1 mm. Head brownish yellow with darker pigmentation nearly ocellar area; body entirely greenish-yellow; pinaculapinaculum:
flattened sclerotized plates on a caterpillar that bear the setae
moderate in size; anal shieldanal shield:
a sclerotized plate on the dorsal surface of the last abdominal segment (in larvae)
slightly tapered posteriorly; anal fork present with 6-8 spines; SV group on A1, 2, 7, 8, 9 typically 3:3:2:2:1.

Similar Species

Acleris minuta is most similar to Acleris paracinderella Powell, which occurs in California. Powell (1964) speculated that A. paracinderella may merely be a western form of A. minuta. Some species of Sparganothis can be superficially to A. minuta in forewing pattern but can be separated by longer labial palpilabial palpi:
a pair of sensory appendages that project from the lower part of the head; usually covered in scales and three-segmented
and genitalia structure.

Biology

The following account is summarized from Weatherby (1982)Weatherby (1982):
Weatherby, J. C. 1982. The life system of the yellow-headed fireworm, Acleris minuta (Robinson) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Ph.D. thesis, Iowa State University Ames, Iowa. and Weatherby & Hart (1986).

Acleris minuta completes three or four generations over most of its range although only two generations have been recorded in northern localities. Adults of the first and second generation are orange or yellow and are present in June and August. Adults of the third generation and fourth generations are gray and are present in September to October. Overwintering occurs as a third or fourth generation adult. Females deposit eggs singly on bark in the spring or on leaves in the summer. Eggs hatch in 7-10 days and first instar larvae feed on the underside of leaves; later instars web together leaves to create a shelter or fold single leaves. Most larvae pass through five instars before pupating, but some pass through six or seven, especially the later generations.

In the past, this species has been recorded as a pest of apple, plum, and cranberry. The common name “fireworm” refers to the larval damage during heavy infestations, which has the appearance of being caused by fire. Acleris minuta is not currently considered a significant pest.

Larvae have been reported feeding on several plants, mostly in the families Ericaceae and Rosaceae.

Host plant	Host plant family	Reference(s)
Calluna sp.	Ericaceae	Benander 1964Benander 1964: Benander, P. 1964. Notes on the larvae of Swedish Micro-Lepidoptera. I. Opusc. Ent. 29: 266-272.
Kalmia angustifolia	Ericaceae	Ferguson 1975Ferguson 1975: Ferguson, D. C. 1975. Host records for Lepidoptera reared in eastern North America. United States Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin 1521. 49 pp.
Kalmia sp.	Ericaceae	Chapman & Lienk 1971
Vaccinium macrocarpon	Ericaceae	LACM IndexLACM Index: LACM Index. Records from the card file at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, California; transcribed by Gaeden Robinson (BMNH).
Vaccinium sp.	Ericaceae	Webster 1909Webster 1909: Webster, R. L. 1909. The lesser apple leaf-folder. Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 275: 298-301.; Forbes 1923Forbes 1923: Forbes, W. M. T. 1923. The Lepidoptera of New York and neighboring states. Primitive forms, Microlepidoptera, Pyraloids, Bombyces. Cornell Univ. Argic. Exp. Sta., Mem. 68. 729 pp.; McDunnough 1934McDunnough 1934: McDunnough, J. 1934. The Canadian species of the tortricid genus Peronea . Canadian Journal of Research. 11: 290-332.; Meyrick MS 1938Meyrick MS 1938: Meyrick MS 1938. Unpublished manuscript by E. Meyrick at BMNH, data captured by Gaeden Robinson.; Powell 1964bPowell 1964b: Powell, J. A. 1964b. Biological and taxonomic studies on tortricine moths, with reference to the species in California. University of California Publications in Entomology. Vol. 32. 317 pp.; LACM IndexLACM Index: LACM Index. Records from the card file at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, California; transcribed by Gaeden Robinson (BMNH).
Myrica gale	Myricaceae	Chapman & Lienk 1971
Malus pumila	Rosaceae	Webster 1909Webster 1909: Webster, R. L. 1909. The lesser apple leaf-folder. Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 275: 298-301.; McDunnough 1934McDunnough 1934: McDunnough, J. 1934. The Canadian species of the tortricid genus Peronea . Canadian Journal of Research. 11: 290-332.; Chapman & Lienk 1971
Malus sp.	Rosaceae	LACM IndexLACM Index: LACM Index. Records from the card file at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, California; transcribed by Gaeden Robinson (BMNH).; McDunnough 1934McDunnough 1934: McDunnough, J. 1934. The Canadian species of the tortricid genus Peronea . Canadian Journal of Research. 11: 290-332.; Powell 1964bPowell 1964b: Powell, J. A. 1964b. Biological and taxonomic studies on tortricine moths, with reference to the species in California. University of California Publications in Entomology. Vol. 32. 317 pp.
Prunus sp. (as "peach")	Rosaceae	MacKay 1962aMacKay 1962a: MacKay, M. R. 1962a. Larvae of the North American Tortricinae (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Canadian Entomologist, Supplement 28: 1-182.
Prunus sp. (as "plum")	Rosaceae	Webster 1909Webster 1909: Webster, R. L. 1909. The lesser apple leaf-folder. Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 275: 298-301.
Pyrus sp.	Rosaceae	Forbes 1923Forbes 1923: Forbes, W. M. T. 1923. The Lepidoptera of New York and neighboring states. Primitive forms, Microlepidoptera, Pyraloids, Bombyces. Cornell Univ. Argic. Exp. Sta., Mem. 68. 729 pp.; LACM IndexLACM Index: LACM Index. Records from the card file at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, California; transcribed by Gaeden Robinson (BMNH).
Salix sp.	Salicaceae	Chapman & Lienk 1971