Leafrollers

You walk past a tree and notice leaves rolled up into neat tubes. What causes this and is it a problem?

​In some cases, rolled up leaves can indicate environmental stresses, viral or fungal disease, or chemical overspray. If you unroll a rolled up leaf and find a caterpillar, your tree has leafrollers.

Leaf roll of citrus

Leafrollers are the larval forms of several tortricid moth species. Tortricid moth larvae feed on young buds, flower clusters, leaves, and fruit. Heavy infestations can kill strawberry, blueberry, blackberry and other cane fruit plants. Leafrollers are also found on almond, apple, apricot, avocado, cherry, citrus, grapes, pear, plum, prune, quince, and walnut, depending on the species. Leafrollers also occur on roses and several ornamental trees, including ash, birch, California buckeye, box elder, elm, locust, maple, poplar, and willow.

The tubes are used to provide protection as larvae feed and pupate.

Fruittree leafroller moth (Reago & McClarren) CC BY 2.0

Fruittree leafroller larva (USDA) CC BY 3.0 us

The fruittree leafroller is the most common leafroller in California. The light brown apple moth (LBAM) is a relatively new player on the California orchard stage and it is causing significant problems for San Francisco Bay Area fruit trees.

Leafroller species

There are several leafroller species, here are some:

• apple pandemis (Pandemis pyrusana) - green larva; buff or tan moth with dark bands, 1/2 to 3/4” long
• fruittree leafroller (Archips argyrospila) - green larva with dark head and prothoracic shield; mottled reddish brown or dark brown wings, 1/2 to 3/4” long
• light brown apple moth (Epiphyas postvittana) - pale green larva with yellowish-tan head and a greenish-brown prothoracic shield; variable coloring is generally pale yellowish-brown with darker markings on forewings, 1/3 to 2/5” long
• obliquebanded leafroller (Choristoneura rosaceana) - green larva with dark head and shield; medium brown moth with dark banding, 3/4 to 1” long
• omnivorous leafroller (Platynota stultana) - pale green or tan larva with dark head; fawn to rusty brown wings with prominent light spot on forewings, 1/2 to 3/4” long
• orange tortrix (Argyrotaenia franciscana, A. citrana) - greenish to tan larva with tan head and shield; orange, bell-shaped moths, 1/2" long

​A quarantine is in place for the light brown apple moth. See if you live in an affected area by clicking on the CA Dept. of Food & Agriculture’s Boundary Index Map. If you live outside of California, you can contact your local Cooperative Extension Office for more information

Omnivorous leafroller larva (Barry Freeman) CC BY 3.0

Leafroller lifecycle

Leafrollers start out as clusters of flat, irregularly shaped eggs often found on twigs and leaves. These egg masses are coated with a dark gray or brown glue that later bleaches to white, giving them an appearance similar to fish scales. If you look closely at an egg mass in spring, you can see tiny pinholes where larvae have hatched.

​After hatching, larvae pull leaves into a cylinder for protection as they feed. Most larvae feed through summer and then overwinter as pupae, though some species continue feeding throughout the year, causing considerable damage.

​When disturbed, leafroller caterpillars tend to wriggle wildly and then rappel to the ground on a single silken thread.