Insect Pests of Fruit, Plantation, Medicinal & Aromatic Crops (2+1)

6. Tea tortrix

6. Tea tortrix - Homona coffearia Nietn. (Tortricidae: Lepidoptera)

Damage

• The caterpillar makes leaf nests by webbing the leaves.
Bionomics

• The adult moth is brownish yellow in colour.
• The fore wing has an oblique band and a few transverse wavy lines.
• It lays scale like eggs in clusters of 100-150 on the upper surface of leaves.
• The egg period is 6-8 days. The larva is greenish with black pro-thorax.
• The larval period is 3-4 weeks. It pupates within the leaf fold for 6-8 days.