Exotic
"Cacoecia" occidentalis Walsingham (Tortricidae: Tortricinae: Archipini)
Note: This species is not to be confused with the Nearctic Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman (western spruce budworm).
Razowski (2008) transferred the African species Cacoecia occidentalis Walsingham into Choristoneura, thus rendering C. occidentalis Freeman a junior homonym. Razowski proposed C. freemani as a replacement name for the western spruce budworm. Brunet et al. (2017) and Fagua et al. (2018) reject this placement and instead treat Cacoecia occidentalis Walsingham as "Archipini unplaced". We follow this treatment and indicate this generic uncertainty with quotation marks.
Choristoneura heliaspis (= Cacoecia heliaspis) was synonymized under Cacoecia occidentalis by Brown (2005)Brown (2005):
Brown, J. W. 2005. Tortricidae (Lepidoptera) In : World Catalogue of Insects 5: 1-741. Apollo Books, Stenstrup, Denmark.. Razowski (2008) resurrected the name based on minor differences in the male sacculussacculus:
the ventral margin of the male valva 
and placed it in the genus Choristoneura, but the generic placement is questionable.
Commons names: citrus leafroller
FWLFWL:
forewing length; the distance from the base of the forewing to the apex, including fringe
: 9.0-13.0 mm
Forewings are a mix of purplish brown and yellowish brown, with a dark reddish-brown median fasciafascia:
a dark transverse band on the forewing
and costal spotcostal spot:
a patch of contrasting scales on the costa, usually a remnant of the postmedian or preterminal fascia 
. Hindwings and abdomen are orange. Males are more heavily marked than females and dark forms exist where the hindwings and abdomen are grayish brown. Females are larger than males, and the costal margincostal margin:
see costa 
of the female forewing is sinuatesinuate:
a curved or wavy margin
. Males have a short 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 a broad uncusuncus:
a sclerotized process which is fused to the posterodorsal margin of tergum IX
, large gnathosgnathos:
a narrow bandlike structure that joins the posterolateral edges of the tegumen and supports the anal tube
, and membranous valvaevalva:
an appendage flanking the intromittent organ that is used to clasp the female during copulation
. Female genitalia are characterized by a twisted ductus bursaeductus bursae:
a membranous tube connecting the ostium bursae to the corpus bursae
and single signumsignum:
a sclerotized projection or patch on the interior of the corpus bursae
in the corpus bursaecorpus bursae:
a dilated membranous sac at the anterior end of the bursa copulatrix
.
Larval morphology is unknown for this species.
Adults of "Cacoecia" occidentalis could be confused with some species of Archips and Choristoneura. A genitalia dissection may be required for identification.
Larvae of the apple leafroller (Lozotaenia capensana) cause similar damage to crops such as avocado.
The following account is summarized from Newton & Catling (1998).
Females lay eggs in masses on the upper surface of leaves and cover them with a white protective secretion. On citrus, larvae prefer to feed on young fruit under the calyx, causing damage similar to that of citrus thrips. Larvae will also feed on leaves, young growth, and web leaves to fruit. Pupation occurs in rolled or webbed leaves. In South Africa, most damage to oranges is caused from October to November.
In South Africa, "Cacoecia" occidentalis is a pest of citrus, avocado, coffee, and various ornamental plants.
| Host plant | Host plant family | Reference(s) |
| Acacia mearnsii | Fabaceae | Swain & Prinsloo 1986 |
| Cajanus sp. | Fabaceae | Meyrick MS 1938Meyrick MS 1938: Meyrick MS 1938. Unpublished manuscript by E. Meyrick at BMNH, data captured by Gaeden Robinson. |
| Glycine max | Fabaceae | BMNH collectionBMNH collection: BMNH collection. Based on identified reared specimens in the collection of The Natural History Museum, London; identifications by staff of the Lepidoptera Section. |
| Vigna unguiculata | Fabaceae | Bradley MS 1987Bradley MS 1987: Bradley, J. D. 1987. Card catalogue of identified reared material received by Bradley for identification from about 1955 to 1987; original in BMNH Microlepidoptera Section library. |
| Allium sp. | Liliaceae | Harris 1938Harris 1938: Harris, W.V. 1938. Annual report of the entomologist for the year 1937. Report, Department of Agriculture Tanganyika, 16: 1–8. |
| Gossypium sp. | Malvaceae | Meyrick MS 1938Meyrick MS 1938: Meyrick MS 1938. Unpublished manuscript by E. Meyrick at BMNH, data captured by Gaeden Robinson.; Bradley MS 1987Bradley MS 1987: Bradley, J. D. 1987. Card catalogue of identified reared material received by Bradley for identification from about 1955 to 1987; original in BMNH Microlepidoptera Section library. |
| Ochna thomasiana | Ochnaceae | Brown et al. 2014 |
| Pinus patula | Pinaceae | BMNH collectionBMNH collection: BMNH collection. Based on identified reared specimens in the collection of The Natural History Museum, London; identifications by staff of the Lepidoptera Section. |
| Rosa sp. | Rosaceae | USNM collectionUSNM collection: USNM collection. Based on identified reared specimens in the collection of the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. |
| Coffea arabica | Rubiaceae | Evans et al. 1968Evans et al. 1968: Evans, D. E., Andrade, O., Mathenge, W. M. 1968. The biology and control of Archips occidentalis (Wals.) and Tortrix dinota Meyr. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) on coffee in Kenya. Journal of the Entomological Society of South Africa. 31: 133-140.; Bradley MS 1987Bradley MS 1987: Bradley, J. D. 1987. Card catalogue of identified reared material received by Bradley for identification from about 1955 to 1987; original in BMNH Microlepidoptera Section library. |
| Coffea sp. | Rubiaceae | Meyrick MS 1938Meyrick MS 1938: Meyrick MS 1938. Unpublished manuscript by E. Meyrick at BMNH, data captured by Gaeden Robinson.; Bradley MS 1987Bradley MS 1987: Bradley, J. D. 1987. Card catalogue of identified reared material received by Bradley for identification from about 1955 to 1987; original in BMNH Microlepidoptera Section library.; Pinhey 1975Pinhey 1975: Pinhey, E. C. G. 1975. Moths of southern Africa: descriptions and colour illustrations of 1183 species. Tafelberg. 273 pp. |
| Citrus x aurantium | Rutaceae | Pinhey 1975Pinhey 1975: Pinhey, E. C. G. 1975. Moths of southern Africa: descriptions and colour illustrations of 1183 species. Tafelberg. 273 pp.; Bradley MS 1987Bradley MS 1987: Bradley, J. D. 1987. Card catalogue of identified reared material received by Bradley for identification from about 1955 to 1987; original in BMNH Microlepidoptera Section library. |
| Citrus sp. | Rutaceae | Pinhey 1975Pinhey 1975: Pinhey, E. C. G. 1975. Moths of southern Africa: descriptions and colour illustrations of 1183 species. Tafelberg. 273 pp. |
| Theobroma cacao | Stericulaceae | Smith 1965Smith 1965: Smith, M. R. 1965. A list of Lepidoptera associated with cocoa in West Africa with notes on identification and biology of species in Ghana. Cocoa Res. Inst. (Ghana Acad. Sci.) Tech Bull. 9. |
| Corchorus sp. | Tiliaceae | Bradley MS 1987Bradley MS 1987: Bradley, J. D. 1987. Card catalogue of identified reared material received by Bradley for identification from about 1955 to 1987; original in BMNH Microlepidoptera Section library. |
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"Cacoecia" occidentalis is widely distribued throughout Sub-Saharan Africa as evident by records from Gambia, Kenya, Mozambique, Rhodesia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia.
