Moths of North Carolina
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Cydia Members:
2 NC Records

Cydia albimaculana (Fernald, 1879) - White-marked Cydia Moth

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Tortricoidea Family: TortricidaeSubfamily: OlethreutinaeTribe: GrapholitiniP3 Number: 621349.00 MONA Number: 3461.00
Comments: Cydia is a large genus with over 200 described species that occur worldwide, and with around 50 species in North America. Several species are important economic pests that often feed on fruits and seeds.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Fernald (1879); Forbes (1923)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The following is mostly based on the descriptions by Fernald (1879) and Forbes (1923). The head, palps, antennae, and thorax are ashy gray to grayish brown. The forewing ground color varies from black to blackish-brown, with large patches of scales on the apical two-thirds with bronzy golden to whitish tips that produces a densely dusted effect. The ocellus is rather poorly expressed and consists of a vertical leaden-gray bar on the anterior and posterior margins, along with a central zone of golden-dusted scales with one or two horizontal black dashes (often missing or represented as black dots).

The costa has a series of paired whitish dashes that extend from around one-third to just before the apex, some of which have a leaden or silvery-gray metallic band that extends inward. The anteriormost band extends from the first pair of white dashes at one-third to a white semicircular to triangular patch at the middle of the inner margin. The patch extends obliquely outward and terminates near the middle of the wing and is more or less surrounded by a zone of black scales. A second prominent leaden-gray band extends from the second pair of white dashes at about two-thirds to the anterior vertical bar on the ocellus, then continues to the sub-tornal region of the inner margin. It often forms a complete band, but is sometimes interrupted near the ocellus. Two additional leaden-gray bands extend from white dashes on the apical third that are relatively short, and include one in the subapical region that bends towards the termen and cuts the black terminal line above the apex. In addition to surrounding the white dorsal patch, black shading is present on the costal half of the wing immediately before the first leaden-gray band at one-third and between the first and second band near the middle. The fringe is metallic with a black line at the base, while the hindwing phases from white on the basal half to dark brown or blackish-brown elsewhere.
Wingspan: 11.5-13.5 mm (Heinrich, 1926)
Forewing Length: 5.0-7.0 mm (Gilligan et al., 2008).
Adult Structural Features: Gilligan et al. (2008) have illustrations of the male and female genitalia and note that the male genitalia are distinctive in having an aedeagus that is long and serpentine, and the anal angle of the cucullus densely lined with stout setae. The females have a pear-shaped sterigma and a small sclerite on the ductus bursae posterior to the ductus seminalis.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larval life history is undocumented.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Cydia albimaculana in found in eastern North America, including portions of southern Canada (Ontario; Quebec; New Brunswick) and in the US from Maine westward to Wisconsin and southward to eastern Oklahoma, eastern Texas, Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, and North Carolina. This species is essentially absent from the Coastal Plain and Mississippi Embayment. As of 2022, our two records are from the Blue Ridge and central Piedmont.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge
Flight Comments: The adults fly from March through August in different areas of the range, with a seasonal peak from April through June. As of 2022, our two site records are from early April and early May.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: The preferred habitats are poorly documented. As of 2022, our two sites are from a residential neighborhood and deciduous woodland and field complex in the mountains.
Larval Host Plants: Beadle and Leckie (2012) reported poplar (Populus sp.) as the host, but we are unaware of the basis for this statement. Additional effort is needed to document the hosts for this species. - View
Observation Methods: The adults are attracted to lights.
Wikipedia
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR [S2-S3]
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments: This species appears to be rare in North Carolina, but more information is needed on host use, preferred habitat, and distribution and abundance before we can assess its conservation status.

 Photo Gallery for Cydia albimaculana - White-marked Cydia Moth

Photos: 2

Recorded by: Darryl Willis on 2016-04-10
Cabarrus Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: J. Merrill Lynch on 2015-05-09
Watauga Co.
Comment: