Lightbrown apple moth - Reproduction

Female lightbrown apple moths produce a potent sex pheromone and this chemical mixture gives long range communication with males seeking a mate. The main attractants of this pheromone mixture are used in pheromone traps.The most important chemical components are E-11-14:OAc and E,E-9,11-14:OAc. The pheromone is released in the evening and night, but particularly around dusk, and attracts males over long distances. Females are normally mated once, although both sexes are capable of mating more often. The male passes sperm to the female in a sac (spermatophore) which the female stores in the bursa copulatrix.

The female lays a series of egg batches averaging 30-35 per batch (range 2 - 170), almost exclusively on the upper leaf surface of host plants. Fecundity is highly variable between individual females (range 0 - 1492 eggs) and also varies significantly between generations and host plants, averaging 65 to 492 eggs per female in the field. Studies in Australia indicate that the greatest potential rate of reproduction occurs on plantain and sorrel, compared to apple and white clover. Egg infertility in New Zealand under natural conditions is rare at <1%. Egg mortality from other causes is also low with inviability (failure to hatch) averaging only 2 - 4% of eggs. New Zealand lacks many of the predators which feed on leafroller eggs overseas. High mortality of (neonate) caterpillars occurs when they disperse after hatching from their egg batch.