Comotia torsicornis Dyar, 1914

Martinez, Jose I., Crane, Jonathan H., Wasielewski, Jeff, Miller, Jacqueline Y. & Carrillo, Daniel, 2019, Lepidoptera pests of sapodilla (Manilkara zapota (L.) van Royen) in south Florida, with some comments on life history and natural control, Insecta Mundi 739 (739), pp. 1-26 : 9-10

Comotia torsicornis Dyar, 1914

Dyar (1914) described Comotia torsicornis based on Busck’s specimens from the USNM. This species is monotypic by original designation.

Description. Egg. White and flat when fresh, changing to grayish-green when they are close to hatch- ing. Larva. First and second instar are white with brown head and prothorax with lateral black spots on each side close to head. Third instar yellowish-orange, with thoracic black spots; head changing to orange with black makings in posterior area and close to stemmata. Fourth and fifth instars greenishbrown with black thoracic spots; head greenish-orange with markings as on third instar. Mature larva length 6.9–7.4mm ( Fig. 1B ). Pre-pupa. Paler and wider than the last instar. Pupa. Dark-brown. Adult. Sexually dimorphic, male is darker and slightly larger. Wing expanse: males 10.9–11.6 mm, females 10.5–11.1 mm. Wings. Forewings very narrow and long. Dorsal surface: gray, with veins dark-gray; separated discal black spots and matte obscure lines; black spots in outer margin. Hindwings gray with darker veins and outer margin. Ventral surface: Both wings pale gray with the veins dark-gray. Head. Antennae: Elongate, ⅓ body length; male with the basal segment triangular, flagellum with a small spine on exterior angle; second segment of flagellum flat, well developed, excavated behind into a pocket, followed by a line of ridges on the next segments. Female, basal segment with curved projection in mesal area; second segment less developed than male; flagellum simple. Vertex: Gray. Mouthparts: Labial palp with third segment larger than first and second. Body. Thorax and abdomen: Gray above and pale-gray below. Legs: Gray, male middle tibia with fold containing grayish hairs ( Fig. 2B ).

Distribution. Comotia torsicornis is native to the Neotropical Region and occurs mainly in Central America, part of sapodilla’s native range. However, this species was also reported in south Florida ( Halbert 2008) and France ( Leraut 2008, 2014).

Hosts. Manilkara zapota (L.) van Royen, recorded by Halbert (2008).

Natural history. Adults are nocturnal. The highest population was seen during the early spring in March, after that they had a period of decline for two months, but then appeared again in summer (late June) in Florida when the flowers started to emerge. The females lay eggs on sepals and petals of flowers and leaf buds. The eggs hatch after six days and the caterpillar bores into the flowers and floral buds. The caterpillar stays in the flower during all stages of development until they reach the pre-pupal stage at about 16–21 days.

During the pre-pupal stage, the caterpillar, after feeding on the flower or floral buds, finds a leaf, where it pupates. The pupal stage lasts around 18–24 days. When the adult emerges, it can live for around four or five days with water provided; however, there is little information about feeding habits of adults. Damage. The damage occurs during the larval period when there is boring inside of the flowers and floral buds. The caterpillars feed on all floral parts, even within the pedicels, but do not feed on the sepals. Most of the flower damage is internal and not visible until the infested flowers get soft, at the time when larvae come out to look for another flower.

Management. We found an unidentified species of Bracon Fabricius parasitizing C. torsicornis . We also found a species of spider ( Eriophora ravilla (Koch)) feeding on C. torsicornis . The use of pesticides for this species has not been well studied.

Figures

Figure 1. Larvae of Lepidoptera pests of sapodilla. A) Dichrorampha sapodilla Heppner. B) Comotia torsicornis Dyar. C) Holcocera crassicornella Dietz. D) Zamagiria laidion (Zeller). E) Electrostrymon angelia (Hewitson). F) Phidotricha erigens Ragonot. G) Banisia myrsusalis Walker. H) Banisia argutula Whalley. I) Pyroderces badia (Hodges). J) Erinnyis ello (Linnaeus).

Figure 2. Adults of Lepidoptera pests of sapodilla. The unlabeled images in the top half of the figure are to scale, whereas the labeled images in the bottom half of the figure have been resized. A) Dichrorampha sapodilla Heppner. B) Comotia torsicornis Dyar. C) Holcocera crassicornella Dietz. D) Zamagiria laidion (Zeller). E) Pyroderces badia (Hodges). F) Phidotricha erigens Ragonot. G) Banisia myrsusalis Walker. H) Banisia argutula Whalley. I) Electrostrymon angelia (Hewitson). J) Erinnyis ello (Linnaeus).