Observations on the Biology of Certain Tortricids in Young Coniferous Plantations in Southern Ontario

Abstract

Since 1953, plantation omers in southern Ontario have suffered serious losses from a group of tip-infesting insects of the family Tortricidae. These insects live primarily on the herbaceous ground-cover plants but may ascend trees under about 3 feet in height and feed on the new shoots during May and June, killing or injuring the leaders and causing serious growth deformities. Five species are involved, of which Tortrix alleniana Fernald and T. pallorana Robinson are common, and Archips rosaceana Harris, Sparganothis sulfureana Clemens, and S. unifasciana lemens occur only as scattered individuals among larger populations of the two common species. This paper records the most salient points in the life history and general ecology of T. alleniana and T. pallorana, with notes on the other three species.