Tortricidae

Proteoteras

Acer macrophyllum

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Acer saccharinum

Acer saccharum

Aesculus glabra

Aesculus hippocastanum

BugwoodWiki

Guide to Insect Borers in North American Broadleaf Trees and Shrubs

Proteoteras aesculana

Proteoteras aesculana n. sp.

Described from eight specimens bred from larvae boring the tender twigs of Buckeye and of Maple in Missouri.

Descriptions of some new Tortricidae (leaf-rollers)

Proteoteras aesculana

1. The larva here described [Sericoris instrutana, now Celypha cespitana] bores the leaf-stalk of the buckeye and only once have I found a specimen in the terminal twigs. P aesculanum bores the terminal twig as well as the leaf-stalk.

2. P. aesculanum bores the terminal twigs of maple (Acer dasycarpum [saccharinum]) . I have never seen a specimen of the insect here described on a maple nor have I seen a maple twig or leaf showing indications of its presence. 

3. P. aesculanum often forms a swelling or pseudogall on the stem. The species here alluded to never forms a gall. 

4. P. aesculanum lives in the gall apparently through almost its whole larval stage. The insect here described, however, quits the leaf-stalk at the end of two or three days and lives in a rolled-up leaf. 

5. P. aesculanum bores the stem to a depth of from 13 to 50 mm. The insect here alluded to seldom or never exceeds 13 mm. in its boring. 

On a Larva Boring the Leaf-Stalks of the Buckeye (Aesculus Glabra) in Ohio

Proteoteras aesculana Riley. 

This species, which commonly feeds on the Buckeye, has been sent to me by Mr. L. Bruner from West Point, Nebr., on the short twigs of Celtis occidentalis. What is, without much doubt, the same species, has also been found upon the young shoots of Maple (Acer dasycarpum [saccharinum]) as also of Box Elder (Negundo aceroides). 

Insects injurious to the hackberry

Proteoteras aesculana

The larva of another moth, Proteoteras aesculana Riley, also works in the leaf stalks of both buckeye and maple and extends its tunnels for a distance of about 0.5 inch to 2 inches into the slender terminal twigs of both these trees, often causing a pseudogall.

Insects affecting park and woodland trees

Lepidopteron (species undetermined) [this entry is included on the basis of the similarity of the gall; no formal assertion that this is the same species is known] 

This gall, (PI. XIX, Fig. 2) is an aborted shoot from a lateral bud, developing very rapidly in the early spring, reaching its full size (in Kansas) toward the end of April. 1.5 ~ 3 cm. long, 4-6 mm. wide. The nodes near the end of the gall bear small leaves which die early. Affected stems either smooth or pubescent. The larva finishes feeding on the central part of the galled twig and leaves the structure during the early part of May. It always eats out a circular hole near the base to make its exit. (PI. XIII, Fig. 2 a). The gall soon after turns brown and drops from the parent branch. 

Patton (26) has described a "hollow, elongate, twig swelling" from which he states cecidomyidous flies emerged "about the middle of June." From his brief description it is impossible to state whether his gall is the same as the one here described. The flies noted might have been parasitic on the lepidopteron. 

Riley reports a tortricid, Proteoteras aesculana Riley, occurring on the hackberry. No mention of any gall is made, however, in connection with this tree, other than that the larvae were found "on short twigs." On the buckeye and maple it "bores in the terminal green twigs, producing a swelling or pseudo-gall." (See Am. Nat. cit. below). This may be the insect concerned in the production of the lepidopterous gall herewith described, but from this mere suggestion of its gall forming habit, it is impossible to be certain. 

The comparative morphology of the zoocecidia of Celtis occidentalis

Proteoteras aesculana Riley

Food plants: Acer, Aesculus

Range: KS, MO, IO, IL, OH, PA, NJ, DC, MD, WV, OR, CA, Ontario, Vancouver, Manitoba

Revision of the North American Moths of the Subfamily Eucosminae of the Family Olethreutidae

Proteoteras aesculana

Hosts: Maple, boxelder. Silver maple, boxelder, sugar maple, and bigleaf maple have been listed specifically. Other maple species are probably hosts (Craighead 1950, Powell 1962).

Larvae hollow out dormant buds and seeds in fall and continue to feed on dormant buds in spring (MacAloney and Ewan 1964). During the growing season, larvae bore in the current year's shoots, often killing them and preventing terminal growth. Frass, which is ejected from the galleries, is mixed with webbing to form shelters around the entrances. When terminals are killed, opposite lateral shoots begin elongating and often produce forks or other deformities. Larval entrance holes are typically present near the base of current season's growth. When an infesation is sufficiently severe, trees become bushy and disfigured (MacAloney and Ewan 1964). Large trees have been so heavily injured in early summer in West Virginia that they appeared to have been damaged by heavy frost. In the Pacific Northwest, 7 to 50% of bigleaf maple seeds have been destroyed by this borer. Boxelders planted in nurseries and shelterbelts and as ornamentals are often heavily infested in the northern Great Plains, as is sugar maple in the northern Great Lakes area (MacAloney and Ewan 1964).

Range: Transcontinental in distribution across the northern United States and south to Mississippi (Furniss and Carolin 1977, Powell 1962). Discontinuously distributed across Canada, from Nova Scotia to southern Alberta (Prentice 1965).

There is some ambiguity about the host relationships and symptoms caused by this species. It was originally described from "Buckeye and Maple" with no species given. At the time, boxelder was not considered a maple, and based on later records the maple in question was likely Acer saccharinum. No records mention a specific Aesculus species. Riley later published a secondhand report of the same insect found on Celtis occidentalis and Acer negundo. Riley (in notes shared with Claypole) describes the larva as causing "a swelling or pseudogall" on twigs of buckeye and maple. 

The record on Celtis occidentalis is mentioned by Wells as the possible cause of an unknown lepidopterous gall; this host association is never mentioned by later sources and is likely to refer to Agromyza deserta. 

The BugwoodWiki entry doesn't list any hosts outside of the genus Acer. We have found no recent observations, photos, or drawings of this species feeding on Aesculus. The photo included on BugwoodWiki shows feeding damage on Acer saccharinum, lacking any apparent gall-like swelling. 

This species is one of three Proteoteras species apparently known to bore twigs of Acer negundo. It isn't clear at the moment whether swellings on that host can be confidently ascribed to a particular moth species without rearing an adult. P willingana is much more commonly reported causing this symptom and photographs of its gall match those commonly observed exclusively on Acer negundo, so it seems reasonable to assume such swellings are caused by that species. However, without clearer information about the galls and host relationships of P aesculana, some uncertainty remains. It is possible that host records on A negundo were erroneous, or that P aesculana bores but doesn't cause swellings in A negundo. 

Gallformers ID Notes