Dichrorampha sapodilla Heppner, 1981

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 : 14-15

Dichrorampha sapodilla Heppner, 1981

Hemimene sp., Kimball, 1965

Dichrorampha sapodilla was described by Heppner (1981) along with another new species of Dichrorampha Guenée from Florida based on a specimen in the Baranowski collection at the USNM. D. sapodilla feeds on sapodilla, while D. manilkara Heppner, 1981 feeds on wild dilly ( Manilkara bahamensis (Baker) Lam. and Meusse ). It is a congener of D. azteca Walsingham, 1914 and D. odorata Brown and Zachariades, 2007 .

Description. Egg. Translucent yellow in newly laid eggs and translucent golden-yellow before they hatch. Larva. Transparent yellowish-white with head dark-orange from first to fourth instar; fifth instar body not transparent; dark yellowish-white; head dark-orange. Mature larva length 2.9–3.2 mm ( Fig. 1A ). Pre-pupa. The same as the last instar, but thoracic segments wider and body paler. Pupa. Yellow except for head, which is brown; some spines present dorsally on abdomen. Adult. Not sexually dimorphic. Wing expanse: 3.6–4.7 mm. Wings. Dorsal surface: forewings narrow and long; gray with dark band angled toward apical area from middle of wing to basal third of inner margin; six to seven matte-black strigiform markings in costal area continue diagonally toward tornus, surrounded by orangish-yellow; costal margin with white borders; four apical black strigiform markings surrounded by orangish-yellow through tornus distad acute curve at radius; tornus without orangish-yellow; a large matte-dark spot with orangish-yellow on distal area of spot; speculum with five small dark spots in orangish-yellow area; matte-gray in fringe; hindwings dark-gray; fringe pale-gray. Ventral surface: Both wings shiny bronze. Head. Antennae: Filiform, distally brown and dark-gray, ⅓ body length. Vertex: Grayish-brown. Mouthparts: Palps small pale brownish-gray. Body. Thorax and abdomen: Brownish-gray above and pale-gray below. Legs: Brownish-gray ( Fig. 2A ).

Distribution. Dichrorampha sapodilla is native to the USA. It has only been found it in south Florida ( Heppner 1981; Myers et al. 2008).

Hosts. Manilkara zapota (L.) van Royen recorded by Heppner (1981) and Myers et al. (2008).

Natural history. The adults have been observed flying year-round in Florida ( Heppner, 1981). Females lay eggs on the petals and sepals of mature flowers. Upon hatching, the neonate larva bores into the flowers and eat the petals and the base of the pistil. The duration of larval development ranges from 12–16 days.

Pupation takes place inside of the sepals where the larva makes a silken cocoon utilizing its excrement. The duration of the pupal stage is close to 15–17 days. Adult moths usually feed on nectar from flowers and also drink water; however, the feeding habits of adult moths of the sapodilla pod borer have not been studied. This species has been observed only in sapodilla ( Heppner, 1981) .

Damage. The larvae feed on mature flowers only, mainly on the petals and the base of pistil, damag- ing several flowers until they complete larval development and begin pupation. The petals in damaged flowers turn reddish brown, dry and die. This moth can cause significant losses.

Management. Currently just one parasitoid, an unidentified species of Bracon , has been found associated with larvae of the sapodilla pod borer. There are other natural enemies (e.g. Gasteracantha cancriformis (Linnaeus)) . Potential insecticides for the sapodilla pod borer moth have not been thoroughly investigated ( Myers et al. 2008).

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).