Phylogeography of Pacific Islands Tortricidae (Lepidoptera)

The Tortricidae (Lepidoptera), a species-rich and numerically abundant, cosmopolitan family, include many economically and ecological important species. Larvae of these small moths either create a shelter of rolled leaves (“leaf-rollers”) or bore into generative tissues such as seeds, flowers, buds, or cambium (“borers”). Each Pacific archipelago with “high islands” typically hosts a radiation of one genus of leaf-rollers (two for Hawaii), which differs from region to region. Conversely, borers are typically represented with fewer, wide-spread species across the Pacific. An exception to the latter is a radiation of the genus Cydia in Hawaii (21+ species) with a pattern of host-shift speciation on native legumes. The borer genus Cryptophlebia includes pests of economically and culturally important food crops. In the South Pacific, Polynesians carried C. pallifimbriana along with its food plant, the Tahitian chestnut (or Mape), to many archipelagoes. In the northern and western Pacific the pest C. ombrodelta has a broad host range of both native and agricultural plants. Its close relative, C. illepida, appears to be native to Hawaii, but has a similar broad host range and “weedy” behavior. Other Cryptophlebia in the Pacific appear more benign and are less well-known. The phylogeography and evolutionary history of these tortricid genera are discussed.