Insects - Pests of Ornamental Trees, Shrubs and Flowers - page 228

549 550

549 Fig-tree skeletonizer moth ( Choreutis nemorana ). 550 Fig-tree skeletonizer ( Choreutis nemorana ).

551 552

551 Apple leaf skeletonizer moth ( Eutromula pariana ). 552 Apple leaf skeletonizer ( Eutromula pariana ).

Family CHOREUTIDAE

Larva: up to 20 mm long; body light green, shiny and
semitransparent, with a pale dorsal line and numerous
large, black verrucae; head ochreous yellow and shiny,
marked with black.

Small moths, the wings held flat over the body when in
repose. The larvae have long, pencil-like abdominal
prolegs.

LIFE HISTORY
Overwintered adults appear in the early spring, and
eventually deposit eggs in groups on the leaves of fig.
Larvae feed from mid-May onwards, each protected by
a thick web of silken threads. Larvae are fully grown a
few weeks later. They then pupate, each in a dense,
white, boat-shaped cocoon spun on the leaves or
elsewhere on the foodplant. Adults of the summer
generation appear in July, and second-brood larvae feed
from the end of July to early October. Adults emerge in
the autumn and then hibernate.

Choreutis nemorana (Hübner) ( 549-550 )
Fig-tree skeletonizer moth
larva = fig-tree skeletonizer
A generally common but minor pest of common fig
( Ficus carica ). Widely distributed in the Mediterranean
area, including southern Europe and North Africa; also
present in parts of Asia, and in the Canary Islands and
Madeira.

DESCRIPTION
Adult: 16-20 mm wingspan; fore wings mainly reddish
brown to ochreous brown, suffused with black, and
marked with white to grey scales; hind wings brownish,
each with a pair of pale spots towards the margin.

DAMAGE
Larvae cause noticeable distortion, discoloration,
scarification and tattering of leaves.