Brown Hemlock Needleminer (Coleotechnites macleodi)

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Subphylum	Hexapoda
Class	Insecta
Subclass	Pterygota
Infraclass	Neoptera
Superorder	Holometabola
Order	Lepidoptera
Superfamily	Gelechioidea
Family	Gelechiidae
Subfamily	Gelechiinae
Tribe	Litini
Genus	Coleotechnites

Scientific Name

Coleotechnites macleodi

Common Name

brown hemlock needleminer

Maier, C.T.; Lemmon, C.R.; Fengler, J.M.; Schweitzer, D.F.; Reardon, R.C.; Caterpillars on the Foliage of Conifers in the Northeastern United States. Morgantown, WV. USDA Forest Service. Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. FHTET-2004-01. March 2004. 151 p.

Description

Brownish body with dark brown head and prothoracic shield, the latter with a light gray anterior margin. Up to 7 mm.

Food

Eastern hemlock.

Life Cycle

One generation. Partly grown caterpillar overwinters in hollowed needle in its feeding nest. Mature caterpillar present in May and June.

Comments

The young caterpillar initially mines a series of adjacent needles and ties them loosely together with silk. In the spring, the caterpillar hollows the undersides of additional needles, which also are bound together with silk (see below). The pupa is formed in a silken tube within the feeding web. This species can be distinguished from the green hemlock needleminer, Coleotechnites apicitripunctella, by its brown color. Freeman (1967) also has illustrated the feeding damage and webbed nest.