Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFTortricidae Members: Cydia Members: 96 NC Records

Cydia caryana (Fitch, 1856) - Hickory Shuckworm Moth

Cydia caryanaCydia caryanaCydia caryana
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Tortricoidea		 Family:
Tortricidae		Subfamily:
Olethreutinae		Tribe:
Grapholitini		P3 Number:
51a1357		 MONA Number:
3471.00
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: Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Forbes (1923); Gilligan and Epstein (TortAI)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Payne and Heaton (1975)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The following description is based in part on that of Forbes (1923). The palps are dull whitish and the head, antennae, and thorax are grayish brown to brown. The forewing ground varies from medium or dark brown to nearly black, and has pale-tipped scales that produce a lightly dusted appearance. The costa has a series of rather poorly developed yellowish-white to whitish strigulae that alternate with darker markings and that are most prominent on the apical half. The costa has three or four bluish-metallic or lead-colored lines that lead from these, the most prominent being one that begins just beyond the middle of the costa and extends towards the ocellus, and a second that is at around three-fourths and extends towards the apical third of the termen. The ocellus is inconspicuous and has a lead-colored vertical bar on both the anterior and posterior margins, along with four or five horizontal black bars that are often missing or poorly expressed. The fringe is silvery white to leaden-colored with a dark basal line along the termen. The hindwing is whitish on the basal half and fuscous on the remainder, with a silvery-white fringe and a fuscous basal line. Cydia caryana can be separated from our other Cydia by the combination of a dark brown to black forewing and a white patch on the hindwing.
Wingspan: 10-12 mm (Forbes, 1923)
Forewing Length: 5.0-7.0 mm (Gilligan et al., 2008)
Adult Structural Features: Males have a row of black sex scales on the anal margin of the hindwing and lack a forewing costal fold. Gilligan et al. (2008) and Gilligan and Epstein (TortAI) have images of the male and female genitalia and note that the aedeagus is slender and forked, while the sterigma of females is semi-rectangular with the length more than twice the width.
Genitalia and other structural photos
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larvae feed on the husks and nuts of walnuts and native hickories, and can have 2-5 generations per year. They commonly attack pecans where they can become a significant pest, and much of the life history work has focused on pecans because of their commercial value (Payne and Heaton, 1975). The following is a brief summary that was provided by Wells (2014) for pecans. The adults that emerge in the spring prior to nut formation lay their eggs either on pecan foliage, on the wart-like galls of pecan Phylloxera, or the nuts of early developing hickories. The larvae that hatch on leaves rarely survive to complete their life cycle, while those from eggs laid on galls or hickory nuts are able to complete their life cycle and perpetuate the population until nut formation begins on the pecans. During the summer months the females begin to deposit their eggs on the nuts and the local population size usually increases with each succeeding generation. The larvae tunnel into the developing nuts of the host plant, and later into the husks as the season progresses. Feeding can cause the fruits to fall prematurely or result in poor kernel development, shuck sticking, scarring and discoloration of the shell, and delayed nut maturity. The pupae overwinter in husks either on the ground or in the treetops in fruits that did not fall. Late instar larvae are approximately 10 mm in length with a pale abdomen. The head and prothoracic shield are yellow brown and an anal comb is absent (Gilligan and Epstein, TortAI).
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Cydia caryana occurs throughout much of the eastern US and in adjoining areas of Ontario and Quebec. The range in the US extends from southern Maine to southern Florida, and westward to central Texas, central Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin. This species occurs statewide in North Carolina.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Cydia caryanaAlamance Alexander Alleghany Anson Ashe Avery Beaufort Bertie Bladen Brunswick Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Caldwell Camden Carteret Caswell Catawba Chatham Cherokee Chowan Clay Cleveland Columbus Craven Cumberland Currituck Dare Davidson Davie Duplin Durham Edgecombe Forsyth Franklin Gaston Gates Graham Granville Greene Guilford Halifax Harnett Haywood Henderson Hertford Hoke Hyde Iredell Jackson Johnston Jones Lee Lenoir Lincoln Macon Madison Martin McDowell Mecklenburg Mitchell Montgomery Moore Nash New Hanover Northampton Onslow Orange Pamlico Pasquotank Pender Perquimans Person Pitt Polk Randolph Richmond Robeson Rockingham Rowan Rutherford Sampson Scotland Stanly Stokes Surry Swain Transylvania Tyrrell Union Vance Wake Warren Washington Watauga Wayne Wilkes Wilson Yadkin Yancey
Flight Dates:
High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
Piedmont (Pd)
Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge 		Image showing flight dates by month for High Mountains greater than 4,000 feet, Low Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain: adults.