Native
Proteoteras aesculana Riley (Tortricidae: Olethreutinae: Eucosmini)
Common name: maple twig borer moth
FWL: 6.0-9.0 mm
Head, thorax variably colored, most often dark green, pale yellow-green, black, brown, or some combination of the four; forewing with ground color dark green with scattered black scales, patches of raised scales present; fasciaefasciae:
plural of "fascia"
grayish-white, often suffused with dark green or navy blue scales; a crescent-shaped mark from mid-costa to the apexapex:
the point furthest removed from the base or at the end of the costal area 
is present, but contrasts poorly with the adjacent fasciaefasciae:
plural of "fascia"; male forewing without costal fold, but the dorsaldorsal:
upper, to the top, on the back 
hindwing possesses a large subcostal hair pencil surrounded by black scales; hindwing otherwise brown.
Male genitalia are characterized by a reduced uncusuncus:
a sclerotized process which is fused to the posterodorsal margin of tergum IX
; lobe-like sociisocii:
a pair of lightly sclerotized setose lobes
; valvaevalvae:
plural of "valva"
narrow, with well-developed cuculluscucullus:
the distal portion of the male valva
; and sacculussacculus:
the ventral margin of the male valva 
bearing three to four large flattened setae towards distaldistal:
farthest from body, distant from point of attachment
end and patch of thin, dense setae towards base. Female genitalia are characterized by a long, narrow, and anteriorly enlarged lamella postvaginalis and corpus bursaecorpus bursae:
a dilated membranous sac at the anterior end of the bursa copulatrix
with two signasigna:
plural of "signum"
.
The following account is summarized from MacKay (1959)MacKay (1959):
MacKay, M. R. 1959. Larvae of the North American Olethreutidae (Lepidoptera). Canadian Entomologist, Supplement 10: 1-338. and Powell (1962).
Mature larva approximately 10 mm in length, robust; width of head 1.0-1.2 mm; head yellow-brown, with black pigmentation laterally; head darker in California specimens; thoracic shield yellow-brown with similar dark laterallateral:
to the side
pigmentation; legs brown; body pale grayish-white to yellow, pinaculapinacula:
flattened sclerotized plates on a caterpillar that bear the setae
slightly darker; anal shieldanal shield:
a sclerotized plate on the dorsal surface of the last abdominal segment (in larvae) 
yellow-brown; anal fork present, but poorly developed; SV group on A1, 2, 7, 8, 9 quite variable, but most often 3:3:2:1:1.
Detailed figures of larval chaetotaxychaetotaxy:
the arrangement of setae (in reference to Lepidoptera larvae), often depicted on a "setal map"
, including additional SV group combinations, is available in MacKay (1959)MacKay (1959):
MacKay, M. R. 1959. Larvae of the North American Olethreutidae (Lepidoptera). Canadian Entomologist, Supplement 10: 1-338..
Proteoteras aesculana closely resembles several other species of Proteoteras, but can be identified by the conspicuous black scaling around both sides of the costal hair pencil on the dorsaldorsal:
upper, to the top, on the back surface of the male hindwing and differences in the shape and structure of the male valvaevalvae:
plural of "valva" and female sterigmasterigma:
the sclerotized region surrounding the female ostium bursae 
.
The following account is summarized from Powell (1962c) and Solomon (1995)Solomon (1995):
Solomon, J. D. 1995. Guide to insect borers in North American broadleaf trees and shrubs. Forest Service Agriculture Handbook AH-706, USDA, Washington, D.C. 735 pp..
Adults have been collected from February to October, but have a more restricted flight period in the northern portions of its range. Numbers of adults appear to peak in June and July, but there are likely multiple generations per year throughout most of its range. Oviposition has not been recorded, but likely takes place near the base of young buds and terminal shoots in the spring. Larvae bore into these buds and shoots and begin feeding downwards, eventually boring into twigs, producing a spindle-like gall. The total length of these feeding tunnels is approximately 40 to 46 mm. Pupation takes place outside of the tunnel after a total of five instars.
The preferred larval host appears to be maple (Acer spp.), especially boxelder (Acer negundo). Buckeye (Aesculus spp.) has also been recorded.
| Host plant | Host plant family | Reference(s) |
| Acer negundo | Aceraceae | Powell 1962bPowell 1962b: Powell, J.A. 1962b. Biological and taxonomic notes on two California species of Proteoteras (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Pan-Pacific Entomologist 38: 191- 195.; Wong et al. 1983Wong et al. 1983: Wong, H. R., Drouin, J. A., Szlabey, D. L., Dang, P. T. 1983. Identification of three species of Proteoteras (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) attacking shoots of Manitoba maple in the Canadian prairies. Canadian Entomologist. 115: 333-339.; Miller 1987aMiller 1987a: Miller, W. E. 1987a. Guide to the Olethreutine moths of midland North America (Tortricidae). USDA Forest Service Agriculture Handbook 660: 1-104.; Johnson & Lyon 1991 |
| Acer sp. | Aceraceae | Riley 1881Riley 1881: Riley, C. V. 1881. Descriptions of some new Tortricidae. Transactions of the St. Louis Academy of Sciences. 4: 316-324.; Heinrich 1923bHeinrich 1923b: Heinrich, C. 1923b. Revision of the North American moths of the subfamily Eucosminae of the family Olethreutidae. Bulletin of the United States National Museum. 123: 1-298.; Prentice 1966Prentice 1966: Prentice, R. M. 1966. Vol. 4. Microlepidoptera. In : Forest Lepidoptera of Canada recorded by the Forest Insect Survey. Dept. For. Canada Publ. 1142: 543-840.; Powell 1962bPowell 1962b: Powell, J.A. 1962b. Biological and taxonomic notes on two California species of Proteoteras (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Pan-Pacific Entomologist 38: 191- 195.; Solomon 1995Solomon 1995: Solomon, J. D. 1995. Guide to insect borers in North American broadleaf trees and shrubs. Forest Service Agriculture Handbook AH-706, USDA, Washington, D.C. 735 pp. |
| Aesculus hippocastanum | Sapindaceae | Johnson & Lyon 1991 |
| Aesculus sp. | Sapindaceae | Riley 1881Riley 1881: Riley, C. V. 1881. Descriptions of some new Tortricidae. Transactions of the St. Louis Academy of Sciences. 4: 316-324.; Heinrich 1923bHeinrich 1923b: Heinrich, C. 1923b. Revision of the North American moths of the subfamily Eucosminae of the family Olethreutidae. Bulletin of the United States National Museum. 123: 1-298.; Powell 1962bPowell 1962b: Powell, J.A. 1962b. Biological and taxonomic notes on two California species of Proteoteras (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Pan-Pacific Entomologist 38: 191- 195.; Johnson & Lyon 1991 |
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Proteoteras aesculana is broadly distributed in North America, from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, south to Florida, eastern Texas, and California. It appears to be absent from the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin.
