PEST PROFILES: MOTH AND BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS
Picture of Adult Nantucket PIne moth
Adult

Picture of Damage done by the Nantucket Pine Moth
Damage

Picture of a Nantucket Pine Tip Moth Larva
Larva

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Nantucket pine tip moth

Description:
Adults are 1/4 inch long with reddish-brown to copper and silver-gray marked wings that are held over the back when at rest. Mature larvae are 3/8 inch long with black heads, changing body color from cream to orangish-brown during growth.

Damage:
Larvae tunnel through shoots and tips of host plants, causing death of tips and resulting in distorted and retarded growth of these trees. Main pest of Texas-grown Virginia pines produced as Christmas trees. It also attacks young southern, shortleaf and loblolly pine trees, and is a serious pest in seed orchards and forest tree nurseries.

Life cycle:
Overwinters as pupae within infested host plants. Adults emerge in early spring and oviposit whitish to orangish eggs on needles of developing tips or buds. Larvae hatch within 5 to 31 days depending on temperature, and begin feeding on new growth before tunneling into needles. Larvae develop in 2 to 4 weeks and pupate in a silk cell within the tunnels. In central Texas, 4 to 5 generations occur per year while in north Texas there is only 2.