Oviposition behaviour and distribution of egg masses of the European leaf roller, Archips rosanus (L.), on citrus trees

Abstract

The citrus leaf roller (CLR), Archips rosanus, a threatening pest of leaves and fruitlets on fruit trees, which in recent years has led to considerable damage to different citrus trees in some parts of the Mazandaran province of Iran. Insect activity on citrus trees causes the growth of buds and leaves to stop and foliage to dry. Pest oviposition as egg masses occurs on the host tree’s trunk. Eggs spent a year in the hibernation stage and, in the following spring, hatched the first instar larvae that fed on the opened buds. The distributions of CLR egg masses, deposited in 2015–2016, were evaluated on the Thomson novel cultivar (Citrus sinensis L.) in the northern region of Iran. The results showed that the numbers of egg masses laid on the trees at different height ranges of 0–50, 50–100, 100–150 and 150–200 cm were, respectively, 38.65, 33.78, 18.54 and 9.03%. The mean number of A. rosanus eggs per mass, however, was not significant at different heights of the tree. Also, most of the egg masses were laid in the north and south directions in comparison with the west and east directions, with no significant difference in mean number in different geographical directions.