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July 2017. A guava shoot moth in a plantation at Sigatoka, Fiji. An identification was requested. Farmers do not know if this pest is likely to be serious or not. The wingspan of the moth is about 17 mm.
There were different opinions on the identification of this moth at first. Dave Britton wrote:
“The guava moth bears a strong resemblance to Strepsicrates ejectana(Tortricidae : Olethreutinae : Eucosmini) as figured here in Lepidoptera of French Polynesia, but when I look at other identified specimens of this species I am not so sure (eg. hereand hereon Australian Moths Online). This species has been recorded from guava on islands across the Pacific as well as mainland Australia.
It is certainly a tortricid, which you probably already knew. Todd Gilligan of TortricidNet Seems to be the go-to person for these moths at the moment, or Maryanne Horak at ANIC is another possibility, but either of them will probably need adults of both sexes for dissection to go further. This species will also be up on BOLD, so barcoding would be another option”.
Banpot Napompeth was not sure that was correct and wrote: To me it looks like a moth, Adoxophyes privatana, (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). In Malaysia, it is called cocoa webworm. It is a highly phytophagous webworm found on fruit trees such as cocoa (cacao), citrus, guava, litchi, mango, rambutan and several others. It has been reported from the Indian subcontinent, southern China and southeast Asia.
Later, in October, Todd Gilligan wrote: this is definitely a tortricid, maybe Grapholitini, but I can’t tell much from the photos. It would be very helpful to have a dissected male in order to get a better idea of the genus. I could dissect and sequence a couple individuals if they are able to send material. I have a few records of tortricids on Psidium from Pacific Islands, and even one from Fiji, but they don’t match the photos.
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