Biological control of boneseed with

the boneseed leafroller moth

September 2000
LC0169
ISSN 1329-833X

Keith Turnbull Research Institute, Frankston

This Landcare Note describes the boneseed leafroller
moth, Tortrix sp., a biological control agent for
boneseed, Chrysanthemoides monilifera.

Common and scientific names

Tortrix sp. , an undescribed species
Boneseed leafroller moth
Family Tortricidae, leafroller moths

Background
Boneseed (Chrysanthemoides monilifera monilifera) and
bitou bush (C. monilifera rotundata) are closely related
weedy shrubs from South Africa that were first recorded in
Australia in 1852 and 1908, respectively. Both are now
widely established in south-eastern Australia where they
degrade native vegetation by displacing indigenous plants
and animals.

They are fleshy and the margins are usually entire (not
toothed).
Boneseed and bitou bush are approved targets for
biological control and a number of damaging species of
insects, mites and fungi are being screened for their
potential to control these weeds and for their suitability for
release in Australia. All potential biological control agents
are from South Africa where the leafroller is the most
damaging insect on Chrysanthemoides. The Keith
Turnbull Research Institute and CSIRO Entomology
jointly tested this insect for host specificity in Australia
and South Africa. Extensive and intensive searches in the
country of origin have failed to find the leafroller on any
other plant species. Two strains of the leafroller are
available, one collected from boneseed and one from bitou
bush.

Description

Figure 1. Distribution of boneseed and bitou bush.

Boneseed and bitou bush may be distinguished by the

number of ray florets and by the shapes of their leaves.
The ray florets look like petals. Boneseed has 4 to 8 ray
florets (usually 5 to 6) while bitou bush has 11 to 13.
Boneseed leaves are ovate and thin with irregularly
toothed margins. The leaves of bitou bush are ovate to
circular with the upper half broader than the lower half.

Figure 2. Adult leafroller (photographs: Rachel Melland (top)

and Penny Edwards (below)).

State of Victoria, Department of Natural Resources and Environment 2002

Page 1

Biological control of boneseed with the boneseed leafroller moth

Adult forewing narrowly triangular with an acute apex,

average length 9.5 mm (range 7.9 to 10.6 mm), variable in
colour but usually mottled earthy brown with a darker,
narrow zig-zag, band across the forewing, extending at
around 60 to the leading edge of the wing. Forms with
mottled forewings occur frequently. The hindwing is
yellow-brown in colour with weakly marked eyespots
towards the outer margin.
Egg pale yellow in colour when first laid, turning to
orange, flat, oval (length 0.7 to 1.4 mm, width 0.6 to 1.1
mm) and with reticulate surface ridges. The area between
the ridges is covered in a dense scurf of crystal-like scales,
a feature that distinguishes the boneseed leafroller from
other species. The egg batch consists of rows of eggs side
by side, forming an irregular shape, and is covered with a
transparent film secreted by the female during egg laying.

LC0169

There are many native species of Tortricidae, which could

be confused with the boneseed leafroller, including the
lightbrown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana, a pest
species which feeds on a wide variety of plants. Larvae of
the lightbrown apple moth are light green in colour and the
eggs are green. Adult lightbrown apple moths have a black
spot in the middle of the thorax between the wings.

Figure 3. Egg batch of the leafroller shortly before hatching

(photograph: Rachel Melland). The eggs are orange and the dark
head capsules of the larvae are clearly visible.

Larva a caterpillar passing through five or six instars

(stages), with three pairs of legs on the thorax, and
abdominal and anal prolegs. The head, thoracic shield
(upper side of the first segment of the thorax) and anal
plate are black. Larvae of the bitou bush strain differ in
having an orange head capsule. First and second instar
caterpillars are olive green with indistinct tubercules
(raised, hardened skin patches appearing as white spots) on
all abdominal segments. Later instars have a general body
colour that is dark green or dark olive-brown to black,
paler on the underside, with tuberculae (white spots) in
parallel rows along the length of the body. The upper side
of the larva has two rows with two white spots per
segment. The sides of the body have a single row with a
single spot per segment and the underside has three rows
each with a single spot per segment. Dorsal and ventral
spots each bear 1 seta (fine hair), while ventral spots have
1 to 3 setae.
The larva is a concealed feeder, found inside a shelter
formed by tying together the leaves of the food plant with
silk.
Pupa light to dark brown, average length 10.6 mm
(range 8.3 to 12.0 mm), with a row of small spines on the
upper side of each segment of the abdomen, and hooked
spines on the anal segment. Pupation usually occurs in the
larval shelter.

Figure 4. Mature larvae of the leafroller (photographs:Penny

Edwards).

Figure 5. Pupa of the leafroller in the leaf shelter made by the

larva (photograph: Rachel Melland).

Life cycle
In South Africa the leafroller has three generations per
year with peaks of egg laying in July, November and late
January. Adults are nocturnal and oviposit on both upper

State of Victoria Department of Natural Resources and Environment 2002

Page 2

Biological control of boneseed with the boneseed leafroller moth

and lower surfaces of leaves of the host plant. Eggs are

laid in rows in irregularly shaped batches totalling up to 80
eggs. The females on average deposit 7 batches of eggs,
totalling about 200 eggs. Eggs hatch after approximately 8
days and larvae disperse immediately without eating the
egg shell.
Newly hatched larvae may drift on short silk threads if
they are disturbed or where suitable foliage is not
immediately available. They move to shoot tips to feed.
Leaf margins, tissue adjacent to the leaf midrib and
axillary buds are also utilised by young larvae. Larvae
construct feeding shelters in the shoot tips by webbing
together two or more neighbouring leaves and consume the
leaves and stems from within the shelter, around the
canopy. At 22.50C the duration of the larval stages is
approximately 30 days and that of the pupa about 10 days.
One to several pupae may occur in a single shoot tip.
Adults live for an average of 14 days.

LC0169

months, the plant may be severely defoliated and

weakened, or killed. Experiments conducted by CSIRO
Entomology in South Africa in which the leafroller was
excluded from plants by use of insecticide treatments
demonstrated that the insect caused a 93% reduction in the
production of fruiting heads. If three or more generations
of the leafroller occur in one year in Australia then its
populations should build up rapidly and the impact should
become apparent relatively quickly. If there is widespread
and rapid defoliation of Chrysanthemoides in Australia
due to leafroller activity then revegetation strategies that
reduce the risk of soil erosion and the encroachment of
other weeds will need to be implemented.

Figure 7. Damage to leafy sprigs of boneseed by the leafroller

(photograph: Robin Adair). Curled leaves at the tips are larval
shelters. Small black pellets are the frass (excreta) of the larvae.

Releases
Figure 6. Damage to boneseed in South Africa by larvae of the
boneseed leafroller (photograph: Aline Bruzzese).

Impact
Release of the leafroller in Australia is the first use of this
insect as a biocontrol agent.
Larval feeding on leaves, stems and bark results in the
death of terminal leaves and shoot tips. Older larvae
consume mature leaves and are capable of destroying all
the leaf material on a plant. In outbreak situations where
high densities occur on Chrysanthemoides in the summer

The leafroller is released in the larval stage on sprigs of the

food plant which are attached to Chrysanthemoides
branches at the release site. Releases are to occur at sites in
Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and New South
Wales. Releases commenced in autumn 2000, with the first
release at the You Yangs Regional Park in Victoria.

Other biological control agents

Five species of insects with potential to defoliate
Chrysanthemoides have been released. Three leaf-feeding
beetles, Chrysolina species, were released extensively in

State of Victoria Department of Natural Resources and Environment 2002

Page 3

Biological control of boneseed with the boneseed leafroller moth

south-eastern Australia but have failed to establish. Native

insect predators are thought to be the main factor in
eliminating populations of these agents.
The bitou tip moth, Comostolopsis germana, is wellestablished on bitou bush in New South Wales and is
reducing seed production. It is surviving despite heavy ant
predation in the Adelaide Hills, but is having little impact
on the weed. The larvae feed in the stem tips and destroy
developing leaves, buds and flowers.
The bitou tortoise beetle, Cassida sp., was first released in
1995 on the central coast of New South Wales and has
established at some sites. This beetle feeds on the older
foliage of bitou bush and complements the damage caused
by the bitou tip moth.
Two seed flies, Mesoclanis polana and M. magnipalpis,
which feed as larvae on Chrysanthemoides fruit and seeds,
have been released. M. polana was first released in 1996
and is causing major reductions in seed production of bitou
bush throughout the range of the weed on the east coast of
Australia. M. magnipalpis, targeted at boneseed, was first
released in June 1998 and has not yet had a significant
impact.
Host specificity evaluation of a rust fungus, Endophyllum
osteospermi, is being undertaken and this agent may
become available for release in the future. Another agent,
the leaf buckle mite, Aceria neseri, is currently being
studied and tested in the high security quarantine area at
the Keith Turnbull Research Institute.

LC0169

retained so that Chrysanthemoides regrowth is quickly

recolonised by the agents.

Figure 9. Boneseed infestation (photograph: Robin Adair).

Further information
For further information on bitou bush, boneseed or the
biological control program contact:
Keith Turnbull Research Institute
PO Box 48, Frankston, Victoria, 3199
Ph: (03) 9785 0111 Fax: (03) 9785 2007
email: ktri@nre.vic.gov.au

Acknowledgements
Prepared by Ian Faithfull, Aline Bruzzese and Jean Louis Sagliocco.
Information on the life cycle and impact of the boneseed leafroller moth
provided by CSIRO Entomology. Assistance with image processing Les
Bould. Distribution map from W.T. Parsons and E.G. Cuthbertson,
Noxious Weeds of Australia, Inkata Press, Melbourne, 1992. The
Chrysanthemoides monilifera biological control program is a national
project coordinated by the Cooperative Research Centre for Weed
Management Systems and funded by the Australian and New Zealand
Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC). The host specificity
testing of the boneseed leafroller moth was partly funded by the
Cooperative Research Centre for Weed Management Systems.

Figure 8. Boneseed foliage damaged by the leafroller

(photograph: Aline Bruzzese).

Integrated control
Biological control is not appropriate for all infestations of
Chrysanthemoides. A local weed management plan should
be developed for each particular area. An integrated weed
management plan identifies opportunities for integrating
all available control options, including biological control,
in the most environmentally sensitive, economic and
efficient manner.
In areas where biological control agents have established,
conventional control techniques may still be undertaken,
but where large-scale clearance work is conducted,
corridors of plants with biological control agents should be

This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria

and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without
flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular
purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or
other consequence which may arise from you relying on any
information in this publication.

State of Victoria Department of Natural Resources and Environment 2002

Page 4