Pine Needle Sheathminer (Zelleria haimbachi)

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Subphylum	Hexapoda
Class	Insecta
Subclass	Pterygota
Infraclass	Neoptera
Superorder	Holometabola
Order	Lepidoptera
Superfamily	Yponomeutoidea
Family	Yponomeutidae
Subfamily	Yponomeutinae
Genus	Zelleria

Scientific Name

Zelleria haimbachi

Common Name

pine needle sheathminer

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

Mostly yellowish green body with rosy brown subdorsal stripe. Yellowish head, prothoracic shield, and anal plate (sometimes with rosy brown tinge). Very broad subdorsal stripe with small, light spots. Up to 14 mm.

Food

Jack and possibly other hard pines.

Life Cycle

One generation. Partly grown caterpillar overwinters in a mined needle. Mature caterpillar present from May to July.

Comments

After hatching, the caterpillar mines the base of a needle within the sheath and removes its frass, which typically is deposited by adjacent sheaths. The older caterpillar makes a feeding web around the bases of the needles where it feeds. Rose et al. (1999) have illustrated the feeding damage of this species.