Orange Spruce Needleminer (Coleotechnites piceaella)

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 piceaella

Common Name

orange spruce 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

Light brown body with orange hue, especially on dorsum, and with dark brown head; variable body color. Dark brown prothoracic shield with light anterior margin; dark brown thoracic legs. Narrow orangish band where segments meet; brown anal plate. Up to 8 mm.

Food

Spruces.

Life Cycle

One generation. Partly grown caterpillar overwinters in mined needle. Mature caterpillar present in June and July.

Comments

We found this species to have variable body color, suggesting it might represent a complex of several species. In summer and fall, the caterpillar mines needles that are bound loosely with silk. After spending the winter in a hollowed needle, it eats buds or mines needles formed during the previous year, again tying them with silk (see below). Rose and Lindquist (1994) also have shown the damage of the orange spruce needleminer. Several other species of Coleotechnites mine spruces, but their biology is not well known. Several tortricid caterpillars, which will be described later, also mine spruce needles.