Epiphyas postvittana (Walker, 1863)
Common name: The Light Brown Apple Moth.
Family: Tortricidae - micro moths (tortrix)
Wingspan: 16 to 25mm. (Females significantly larger than males).
May to October. (At least two generations a year in the south of England) As in most southern parts of England, it can maintain breeding, most of the year; particularly from October to December.
A very common moth, now found world-wide, in England it was first discovered in Cornwall, during the 1930’s. It is thought it had made its way from Australia, through the shipping transportation of fruit produce.
The female moth lays around 150 eggs in a cluster, (usually up to three clusters in a short time) which are a yellowish green in colour, on the upperside of a leaf or sometimes on the fruit, of the host plant.
The larvae (caterpillars) are polyphagous (able to feed on many different plants.) and has now established itself as a very serious pest, for many commercial growers in horticultural including glass-house crops. Plants affected are most fruit giving plants such as: Apples, peaches, plums, pears, raspberries, strawberries and grapes being the prime plants, but also many shrubs including roses. The caterpillars will devour the fruit and leaves, they tend to wrap two leaves together (known as leaf rolls, which they will shelter in, while feeding as well as to pupate) joined by a silk like substance, often near the fruit giving parts, of the plant. The fully grown larvae pupate within the leaf roll, in about 30 days, depending on temperature.
Habitat: Various habitats, obviously where fruit trees and fruit giving plants may be growing, Orchards, farmlands, urban gardens and allotments. Also, woodland edges, waste land and hedgerows.
Natural enemies of Epiphyas postvittana, are species of tachinid flies and ichneumonid wasps. These are parasitoids that deposit their eggs on or in the moth’s larvae, which eventually kills the caterpillar. But most growers have to rely on spraying to control the moths’ numbers.
On the upside, the “Light Brown Apple Moth” has been credited in some countries for controlling the spread of invasive species of plants, such as gorse and Blackberry plants.
The adults mainly fly through the day and like most moths, are attracted to lights at night.