Acroclita vigescens Meyrick, 1920

Kumar, Rajesh & Pathania, P. C., 2020, Redescription of Acroclita vigescens Meyrick (Tortricidae: Lepidoptera) feeding on Cordia myxa Linnaeus (Boraginaceae) in India, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 120 (2), pp. 193-199 : 194-199

Acroclita vigescens Meyrick, 1920

1920. Acroclita vigescens Meyrick, Exotic Microlepidoptera , 2: 343.

(Type-locality: Surat, Bardoli)

Egg: The eggs are laid down on the underside of the leaves in a group of 5- 8 eggs. They are light yellow in colour.

Larva: ( Figure4-7 )Body cylindrical,Head brownish yellow, thorax blackish brown, and abdomen creamy white. The larva feed on the epidermis of leaves, forming a dark brown tortuous line, which ultimately spreads on the entire leaf surface, devoiding the leaf of its chlorophyll content. The larvaafter 10-15 days emerges out from the mine and spins a white shining web on the surface of leaf for pupation.

Pupa: ( Figure 8-19 ) Cocoons are constructed on upper side of leaves, and are pure white with faeces along with tunnels where feeding done, elongate. Male and female pupae are brown. Male pupae have a short abdomen and the male genital scar is present on the 9th sternum. Female pupae are larger than male pupae. Eight and 9th sternum are fused and a female genital pore is present on the fused sternum. The anus is present on the 10th sternum in both male and female pupa. Dark brown small spine row is present on abdominal segments dorsal side of both pupae.

Diagnostic features – Adults: ( Figure 20-21 ) Wing expense 25-30 mm.Vertex covered with blackish and grayish scales; frons decorated with fuscous, antennae filiform ( Figure 33-34 ), long, creamish and black, labial palpus moderate, two times diameter of eye, second segment with a mixture of creamish and black scales, slightly upcurved, expanded terminally with scales on upper and lower side, third segment minute, decorated with whitish scales, slightly drooping ( Figure 26-29 ); thorax greyish, wings costa slightly arched, apex pointed, termen oblique, moderately concave till middle, tornus obtuse, anal margin straight, covered with greyish brown, mixed with light fuscous scales, basal portion of the wing from costal margin to anal margin black, half-moon shaped black at the middle of costal margin, apex black, tornus and cilia with creamish and black, costal strigulae creamish black in colour; hindwing quadrate, semi-hyaline, greyish, dark grey scales along the veins and margins, margins and fringes dark grey; legs shining with creamy and black ( Figure 30-32 ).

Wing venation: ( Figure 22-25 ) Forewing with Sc ending before middle of costa, R 1 arising at middle of discalcell, R 2 and R 3 are straight and parallel, R 3 very near upper angle of cell, R 4 and R 5 stalked, stalk extending up to middle, R 5 ending at termen, R 4 arising from upper angle of cell, M 1 straight, arising at middle of discal cell, M 2 free, M 3 arising at the middle of the discal cell and formed a forked vein with CuA 1, CuA 2 arising from 2/3 of the cell, free, CuP not visible, 1A+2A forked at base, fork extending up to 3/4, discal cell long and narrow, chorda present, arising in the middle of R 1 and R 2, ending in the middle of R 3 +R 4 and M 1, M-stem arising in between Sc and R 1, nearer to R 1, ending at M 3;hindwing with Sc+R 1 ending at half of costa, Rs and M 1 closely stalked, M 1 to termen, M 2 present, reached at middle of termen, M 3 and CuA 1 stalked at lower angle of cell, CuA 2 arising from middle of the cell, free, CuP absent, 1A+2A forked at base.

Male genitalia: ( Figure 35-36 ) Uncus bipartite, tips pointing laterally, sparsely setose; socii present, decorated with long fine hairs;tegumen long, broader at middle; vinculum V-shaped, saccus absent; valva leaf-like, basally narrowed, broader apically with long hairs, costal margin basally straight, concave at middle, cucullus apically rounded, broader basally, decorated with long hairs and strong setae; sacculus margin concave basally and convex at middle; aedeagus small, shorter than valva, vesica without cornuti.

Redescription of Acroclita vigescens Meyrick ... Female genitalia: ( Figure 37-38 ) Papillae anales large, somewhat slender, heavily setose, anterior apophyses slightly long, sclerotized, longer than posteriorapophyses; ostium bursae broad, open at centre; ductus bursae long, slightly coiled and proximal half slightly sclerotized; corpus bursae large, globular in shape, less sclerotized, signum present, Y-shaped, ductus seminalis enter at the end of sclerotized region.

Material examined: 30 pupae, IARI, New Delhi, 10. viii. 2009 ; 30 larvae, Entomology Division, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 13. vii. 2009, coll. Rajesh Kumar ; 10♂, emerged in laboratory, Entomology Division, IARI, New Delhi, 23. xi. 2008, coll. Rajesh Kumar , 15♀ emerged in laboratory, Entomology Division, IARI, New Delhi, 25. xi. 2009, coll. Rajesh Kumar.

Hostplants: Cordia trifolia , Cordia myxa ( Boraginaceae ) (Meyrick, 1920; Diakonoff, 1982).

Distribution: India: Delhi (present study), Biharm Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Mumbai; Sri Lanka: Wilpattu ( Pathania et al., 2020).

Figures

Figures 1–7. Damage symptoms of Acroclita vigescens Meyrick. 1-2. Larvae feeding in tunnels on leaves of Cordia myxa; 3. Adult sitting on leaf; 4. Dorsal view of larva; 5. Ventral view of larva; 6. Anal leg of larva; and 7. Dorsal view of mouth parts of larva.

Figures 8–19. Pupae of Acroclita vigescens Meyrick. 8. Ventral view of male, 9. Ventral view of female; 10. Lateral view of male pupa, 11. Lateral view of female pupa, 12. Dorsal view of male pupa, 13. Dorsal view of female pupa, 14. Enlarged view to show dents on dorsal side of both the male pupae, 15. Enlarged view to show dents on dorsal side of both the female pupae, 16. Last segment of pupa, 17. Male genital pore of pupa, 18. Female genital pore of pupa, 19. Pupa in cocoon.

Figures 20–34. Adult morphology of Acroclita vigescens Meyrick. 20. Male habitus photos, 21. Female habitus photo, 22. Forewing venation photo, 23. Forewing venation line diagram, 24. Hindwing venation photo, 25. Hindwing venation line diagram, 26. Lateral view of mouth part, 27. Chaetosemata, 28. Proboscis, 29. Frontal view of mouth part, 30. Fore leg with epiphysis, 31. Mid leg with 2 tibial spurs, 32. Hind leg with 4 tibialspurs, 33. Antenna, 34. Enlarged view of antennal segments.

Figures 35-38. External genitalia of Acroclita vigescens Meyrick. 35. Male genitalia, 36. Aedeagus, 37. Female genitalia, 38. Enlarged view of corpus bursae showing signum.