Eastern Blackheaded Budworm (Acleris variana)

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Subphylum	Hexapoda
Class	Insecta
Subclass	Pterygota
Infraclass	Neoptera
Superorder	Holometabola
Order	Lepidoptera
Superfamily	Tortricoidea
Family	Tortricidae
Subfamily	Tortricinae
Tribe	Tortricini
Genus	Acleris

Scientific Name

Acleris variana

Common Name

eastern blackheaded budworm

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

Greenish body with darkly marked head and prothoracic shield. Orange-brown head with two dark brown marks on each lobe. Greenish brown prothoracic shield with dark brown border laterally and posteriorly. Up to 15 mm.

Food

Balsam fir, eastern hemlock, and spruces.

Life Cycle

One generation. Egg overwinters on live needle. Mature caterpillar present from May to July.

Comments

Despite the common name of this caterpillar, neither the head nor the prothoracic shield is black, but mainly greenish, reddish, or dark brown. The form with a dark brown head and prothoracic shield is common in northern areas. When the caterpillar approaches maturity, it lives in a shelter of webbed needles on the new shoots. During outbreaks, this species noticeably injures foliage.