Native
Platynota rostrana (Walker) (Tortricidae: Tortricinae: Sparganothini)
Common name: omnivorous Platynota moth
Synonyms: connexana (Teras), repandana (Teras), saturatana (Teras)
FWL: 6.0-7.0 mm (males); 7.0-9.0 (females)
Head yellow-brown to brown, thorax darker anteriorly in male; labial palpilabial palpi:
a pair of sensory appendages that project from the lower part of the head; usually covered in scales and three-segmented
long, shorter in male; male forewing with basal four-fifths densely mottledmottled:
having spots or blotches of color
with dark brown and/or red-brown, distaldistal:
farthest from body, distant from point of attachment
fifth pale whitish-yellow or cream; well-developed forewing costal foldforewing costal fold:
a flap or fold at the base of the forewing that contains specialized sex scales
present; hindwing pale tan to orange with strongly contrasting strigulae and orange sex scales on anal marginanal margin:
see anal angle 
; female forewing light brown or pale orange brown with one or more fine, oblique lines from the costacosta:
the anterior margin of each wing 
to the inner margininner margin:
see dorsum 
; hindwing pale orange brown.
Male genitalia are characterized by a slender uncusuncus:
a sclerotized process which is fused to the posterodorsal margin of tergum IX
, wider at base; large, well-developed sociisocii:
a pair of lightly sclerotized setose lobes
; and rounded, elliptical valvaevalvae:
plural of "valva"
with short ventralventral:
lower, to the bottom, on the under side
process at the midpoint of the sacculussacculus:
the ventral margin of the male valva 
. Female genitalia are characterized by a large, bowl-shaped sterigmasterigma:
the sclerotized region surrounding the female ostium bursae 
; ostiumostium:
see ostium bursae 
large, somewhat globose; signumsignum:
a sclerotized projection or patch on the interior of the corpus bursae
present as a thin, free spine.
The following account is summarized from MacKay (1962a) and Powell & Brown (2012).
Mature larva 14-17 mm in length; head 1.2-1.4 mm in width, clear brownish yellow (almost orange), darker pigmentation present laterally; prothoracic shieldprothoracic shield:
a sclerotized plate on the dorsal surface of the prothorax 
, pinaculapinacula:
flattened sclerotized plates on a caterpillar that bear the setae
, legs, and anal shieldanal shield:
a sclerotized plate on the dorsal surface of the last abdominal segment (in larvae) 
brownish yellow; SV group on A1, 2, 7, 8, 9 usually 3:3:3:2:2; anal fork well-developed.
Adults of P. rostrana are most similar to adults of P. flavedana. Males can be separated by the complex scaling on the fronsfrons:
the upper anterior portion of the head (in adults) 
and the presence of long orange sex scales on the anal marginanal margin:
see anal angle of the hindwing, both of which are absent in P. flavedana. Females usually can be identified by differences in forewing patterns and the shape of the signumsignum:
a sclerotized projection or patch on the interior of the corpus bursae.
The following account is summarized from Nava et al. (2006) and Powell & Brown (2012).
Platynota rostrana is multivoltine, with the number of generations per year varying according to climate. In most of the range of P. rostrana, adults can be found year-round. In the United States, most capture dates for adults range from March to October. In a laboratory setting in Brazil, females laid approximately 300 eggs over the span of about a week. Eggs hatched in approximately eight days and the larva went through five instars before pupation took place. Larval development took an average of three weeks. In the wild, larvae feed by rolling leaves of the host plant together. Pupation takes place in the rolled leaves with adults eclosing about 8 days later. Total development from oviposition to eclosion of adults takes approximately 30 days, but likely takes longer at more northern latitudes.
Platynota rostrana is highly polyphagous, with larvae being recorded from a huge number of plants, including several economically important ones, such as citrus, mango, pineapple, and peppers. In Hawaii, larvae have been found feeding on several species of threatened and endangered native plants.
| Host plant | Host plant family | Reference(s) |
| Amaranthus sp. | Amaranthaceae | Meyrick MS 1938Meyrick MS 1938: Meyrick MS 1938. Unpublished manuscript by E. Meyrick at BMNH, data captured by Gaeden Robinson. |
| Annona squamosa | Annonaceae | Bruner et al. 1975Bruner et al. 1975: Bruner, S. C., Scaramuza, L. C., Otero, A. R. 1975. Catalogo de los insectos que atacan a las plantas economicas de Cuba: segunda edicion revisada y aumentada. Academeia de Ciencisa de Cuba, Instituto Zoologica, La Habana. 399 pp. |
| Bidens torta | Asteraceae | UHIM collectionUHIM collection: UHIM collection. Based on identified reared specimens in the collection of the University of Hawaii Insect Museum, Honolulu, HI |
| Eremanthus glomerulatus | Asteraceae | Diniz et al. 2001Diniz et al. 2001: Diniz, I. R., Morais, H. C., Camargo, A. J. A. 2001. Host plants of lepidopteran caterpillars in the cerrado of the Distrito Federal, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia. 45. 107-122. |
| Eremanthus goyazensis | Asteraceae | Diniz et al. 2001Diniz et al. 2001: Diniz, I. R., Morais, H. C., Camargo, A. J. A. 2001. Host plants of lepidopteran caterpillars in the cerrado of the Distrito Federal, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia. 45. 107-122. |
| Eupatorium sp. | Asteraceae | MacKay 1962aMacKay 1962a: MacKay, M. R. 1962a. Larvae of the North American Tortricinae (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Canadian Entomologist, Supplement 28: 1-182. |
| Gamochaeta purpurea | Asteraceae | 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). |
| Mikania micrantha | Asteraceae | 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. |
| Parthenium hysterophorus | Asteraceae | McClay et al. 1995McClay et al. 1995: McClay, A. S., Palmer, W. A., Bennett, F. D., Pullen, K. R. 1995. Phytophagous arthropods associated with Parthenium hysterophorus (Asteraceae) in North America. Annual Review of Entomology. 24: 796-809.; 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. |
| Ananas comosus | Bromeliaceae | MacKay 1962aMacKay 1962a: MacKay, M. R. 1962a. Larvae of the North American Tortricinae (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Canadian Entomologist, Supplement 28: 1-182.; Bruner et al. 1975Bruner et al. 1975: Bruner, S. C., Scaramuza, L. C., Otero, A. R. 1975. Catalogo de los insectos que atacan a las plantas economicas de Cuba: segunda edicion revisada y aumentada. Academeia de Ciencisa de Cuba, Instituto Zoologica, La Habana. 399 pp. |
| Carica papaya | Caricaceae | Bruner et al. 1975Bruner et al. 1975: Bruner, S. C., Scaramuza, L. C., Otero, A. R. 1975. Catalogo de los insectos que atacan a las plantas economicas de Cuba: segunda edicion revisada y aumentada. Academeia de Ciencisa de Cuba, Instituto Zoologica, La Habana. 399 pp. |
| Caryocar brasiliense | Caryocaraceae | Diniz et al. 2001Diniz et al. 2001: Diniz, I. R., Morais, H. C., Camargo, A. J. A. 2001. Host plants of lepidopteran caterpillars in the cerrado of the Distrito Federal, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia. 45. 107-122. |
| Erythroxylum campestre | Erythroxylaceae | Diniz et al. 2001Diniz et al. 2001: Diniz, I. R., Morais, H. C., Camargo, A. J. A. 2001. Host plants of lepidopteran caterpillars in the cerrado of the Distrito Federal, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia. 45. 107-122. |
| Erythroxylum deciduum | Erythroxylaceae | Diniz et al. 2001Diniz et al. 2001: Diniz, I. R., Morais, H. C., Camargo, A. J. A. 2001. Host plants of lepidopteran caterpillars in the cerrado of the Distrito Federal, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia. 45. 107-122. |
| Erythroxylum suberosum | Erythroxylaceae | Diniz & Morais 1995; Diniz et al. 2001Diniz et al. 2001: Diniz, I. R., Morais, H. C., Camargo, A. J. A. 2001. Host plants of lepidopteran caterpillars in the cerrado of the Distrito Federal, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia. 45. 107-122. |
| Erythroxylum tortuosum | Erythroxylaceae | Diniz et al. 2001Diniz et al. 2001: Diniz, I. R., Morais, H. C., Camargo, A. J. A. 2001. Host plants of lepidopteran caterpillars in the cerrado of the Distrito Federal, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia. 45. 107-122. |
| Euphorbia sp. | Euphorbiaceae | UHIM collectionUHIM collection: UHIM collection. Based on identified reared specimens in the collection of the University of Hawaii Insect Museum, Honolulu, HI |
| Jatropha gossypifolia | Euphorbiaceae | CSIRO Mexican Field Station; USNM collectionUSNM collection: USNM collection. Based on identified reared specimens in the collection of the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. |
| Maprounea guianensis | Euphorbiaceae | Diniz et al. 2001Diniz et al. 2001: Diniz, I. R., Morais, H. C., Camargo, A. J. A. 2001. Host plants of lepidopteran caterpillars in the cerrado of the Distrito Federal, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia. 45. 107-122. |
| Acacia farnesiana | Fabaceae | MacKay 1962aMacKay 1962a: MacKay, M. R. 1962a. Larvae of the North American Tortricinae (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Canadian Entomologist, Supplement 28: 1-182. |
| Acacia sp. | Fabaceae | Meyrick MS 1938Meyrick MS 1938: Meyrick MS 1938. Unpublished manuscript by E. Meyrick at BMNH, data captured by Gaeden Robinson. |
| Amorpha fruticosa | Fabaceae | MacKay 1962aMacKay 1962a: MacKay, M. R. 1962a. Larvae of the North American Tortricinae (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Canadian Entomologist, Supplement 28: 1-182. |
View full screen host table here
Platynota rostrana is a primarily coastal species for much of its range, occurring from the Delmarva Peninsula of Virginia south to Florida and west to Louisiana. It ranges inland to west Texas and Arizona and the Baja Peninsula. It also occurs throughout much of Central America and the Caribbean and as far south as Brazil. It has also been accidentally introduced to Hawaii (Austin & Rubinoff 2023).
