Morphological Differences between Larvae of the Oriental Fruit Moth (Grapholita molesta Busck) and the Peach Fruit Moth (Carposina sasakii Matsumura) in Korea

The oriental fruit moth (Grapholita molesta Busck) and the peach fruit moth (Carposina sasakii Matsumura) are the most severe insect pests affecting apple orchards in Korea. To prevent an outbreak of these two species and to control these agricultural insect pests, it is important to identify them accurately. However, it is hard to classify them when they were in the larval stage since they tunnel into the apple fruit. In this study, surface structures of the two species of larvae were observed using stereo microscope and scanning electron microscope. Distinct differences between the two species of larvae were found. The prothorax spiracles of oriental fruit moth larvae were approximately twice as large as those of peach fruit moth larvae. The arrangements of subventral setae, located around the proleg, were different between oriental fruit moth and peach fruit moth larvae. Furthermore, subdorsal setae of oriental fruit moth were located next to the spiracle on the 8th abdominal segment, while that of peach fruit moth was located above the spiracle. The identification of the two species of larvae observed in this study was confirmed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Surface structural differences are intrinsic characteristics for each species of larvae and can easily be identified using stereo microscope. These specificities will be helpful where a large number of field-collected larvae need to be identified routinely in pest control research.