Pine Needleminer(Exotelia pinifoliella)

From Bugwoodwiki

pine needleminer Photo by Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Archive, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Bugwood.org Taxonomy Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Hexapoda (including Insecta) Order: Lepidoptera Family: Gelechiidae Genus: Exoteleia Species: pinifoliella Scientific Name Exoteleia pinifoliella (Chambers)

Contents 1 Description 2 Food 3 Life Cycle 4 Comments 5 References

Description

Brown body with dark brown head and prothoracic shield. Up to 6 mm.

Food

Jack, pitch, and other hard pines.

Life Cycle

One generation. Partly grown caterpillar overwinters in a mined needle. Mature caterpillar present from April to June.

Comments

After hatching, this caterpillar mines several needles. After it has spent the winter in a mined needle, it bores into additional needles and changes into a pupa within its last mine. At least five other needleminers infest pines in northeastern North America, including the European pine bud moth, Exoteleia dodecella, which eats the needles of introduced pines. Needles that were mined by the pine needleminer and related species are shown by Freeman (1960) and Rose et al. (1999).

References

Maier, C.T., C.R. Lemmon, J.M. Fengler, D.F. Schweitzer, and R.C. Reardon. 2004. Caterpillars on the Foliage of Conifers in the Northeastern United States. FHTET-2004-1. Morgantown, WV: USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team; 151 p.