Spruce Bud Moth (Zeiraphera canadensis)

Taxonomy

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

Scientific Name

Zeiraphera canadensis

Common Name

spruce bud moth

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

Plump, very light grayish brown body with orange-brown head and prothoracic shield. Head with horizontal dark brown spots or bar behind stemmata; pair of small, offset, gray or brown subdorsal spots on most segments; other small, dark spots near spiracles. Prolegs on A3 to A6 slightly reduced in size. Up to 10 mm.

Food

White spruce, especially in exposed areas; uncommonly other spruces and balsam fir.

Life Cycle

One generation. Egg overwinters near base of shoot with new growth. Mature caterpillar present from May to July.

Comments

The caterpillar typically ties the brownish spruce bud cap to the developing shoot with silk, preventing its drop (see below), and it eats the developing foliage beneath the cap. Afterward, it may move down the developing shoot to eat other new needles. After it finishes its feeding, the caterpillar descends to the ground where it changes to a pupa in the litter. At times, this bud moth can be a serious pest in plantations of white spruce.