Oak Leafroller
Archips semiferanus |
| USDA Forest Service. 1979. A guide to common insects and diseases of forest trees in the northeastern United States. Northeast. Area State Priv. For., For. Insect and Disease Management., Broomall, PA. p. 123, illus. |
The oak leafroller is an important bud miner and defoliator primarily of oak, maple, apple, and witch hazel. Two or three consecutive years of heavy defoliation can cause extensive tree mortality.
The eggs overwinter and hatch in spring at or before the time the leaves appear. Larvae that emerge before the leaves unfold mine leaf buds. Later the larvae feed on expanding leaves, webbing them together until late June. The leafroller may best be identified by its egg masses or larvae. The masses are oval, flat, whitish gray, and 3/16 of an inch in width. The eggs are held together with compact hairs from the body of the female. The larva, which grows to about 1 inch in length, has a pale yellowish-green body. The head is black with a lighter area on the upper surface. Pupation occurs during July in rolled leaves, bark crevices, and other sheltered areas. After a week, adults emerge and mate; the female deposits her eggs on the trunks and lateral branches of host trees. There is one generation per year.
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