Three-streaked Sparganotis (Sparganothis tristriata)

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	Sparganothini
Genus	Sparganothis

Scientific Name

Sparganothis tristriata

Common Name

three-streaked Sparganothis

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

Yellowish to grayish green body with mostly light orange head. Head with brown spot near stemmata; prothoracic shield with light gray anterior margin and with curved, dark brown lateral margin. Faint, dark green middorsal stripe and broader subdorsal stripe; pair of offset, pale spots above subdorsal stripe on most segments. Up to 15 mm.

Food

Jack, pitch, and red pines; less commonly balsam fir, common juniper, eastern larch, eastern white pine, spruces, and possibly other conifers.

Life Cycle

Probably one generation in New England. Overwintering stage unknown. Mature caterpillar present from July to September.

Comments

The biology of this species is poorly known. Several other species of Sparganothis pass the winter as partly grown caterpillars.