Description

Adult

Wingspan of 20-25 mm and a body length of 10-15 mm. Forewings straw yellow with 3 reddish-brown transverse bands that may be broken or merged. Hindwings uniformly grey with long fringes. Head is brown with forward projecting labial palps.

Larvae

Final instars reach 30 mm in length. Body is greenish-grey to dirty green, paler underneath with pale pinacula. Head and prothoracic plate are dark brown.

Eggs

Flat and oval, yellowish-green when first laid, becoming orange-yellow with age. Laid in raft like batches on the upper surface of leaves.

Distribution

A range of plants including hop (Humulus), vines (Vitis), apple (Malus), pear (Pyrus) and strawberry (Fragaria).

Economic Host(s)

Olive.

Symptoms/Signs

After hatching larvae move to bark crevices and other hidden sites to hibernate. In the following spring larvae feed on buds and young leaves, webbing them together with silk. Branches and leaf peduncles of vines are also attacked causing leaves to dry up and turn red.

Generations:

1-2