Chestnut-pest
Guides
Aleuroplatus coronata
Crown Whitefly
Aleuroplatus coronata, known as the crown whitefly, is a small sap-feeding insect in the family Aleyrodidae. Native to the southern United States and Mexico, it has established populations in California where it primarily infests oak and chestnut trees. The species derives its common name from the distinctive crown of waxy filaments surrounding the puparium. Heavy infestations can cause leaf drop, though the species generally causes limited harm to healthy host trees.
Curculio sayi
small chestnut weevil, lesser chestnut weevil
Curculio sayi is a true weevil (family Curculionidae) known as the small or lesser chestnut weevil. It is a highly host-specific pest of chestnuts in the genus Castanea, feeding and ovipositing exclusively on chestnut and chinquapin species. The species was historically a major pest of American chestnut (Castanea dentata) before the chestnut blight, with infestation rates of 50-75% considered normal. It has resurged as a significant pest with the restoration of blight-resistant chestnut plantings. Adults exhibit sexual dimorphism in body size and rostrum length, with females being larger and possessing longer snouts adapted for penetrating chestnut burrs.
Grapholitini
Grapholitine moths, Leafroller moth tribe
Grapholitini is a tribe of tortricid moths comprising approximately 1200 described species. The tribe contains numerous economically significant agricultural pests that damage fruits and seeds. Molecular phylogenetic analyses have resolved the tribe into two major lineages—a Dichrorampha clade and a Cydia clade—with the genus Grapholita found to be polyphyletic. The tribe likely originated in the Nearctic, Afrotropical and Neotropical regions during the middle Eocene (ca. 44.3 Ma).