A, F-531246; B, F-532848 
Figure 52.—Nantucket pine tip moth, Rhyacionia 
frustrana: A, adult; B, pupa in loblolly pine tip. 
to 4 weeks. Toward the end of this period, the larva constructs a webbed cell within 
the shoot in which it pupates. In the Deep South, there are three or more generations 
per year (97). In Pennsylvania and Ohio, there are only two per year. 
The Nantucket pine tip moth is a major pest of young pines in the Eastern United 
States. During recent years, it has become increasingly abundant and destructive as 
a result of the establishment of large areas of pine plantations and seed orchards. 
Damage by this insect retards height growth, causes crooks or forks in main stems, 
reduces cone crops, and, occasionally, results in the death of the tree. Attacks are 
generally restricted to trees less than 4.5 m in height and are most severe in young 
plantations, but severe attacks on commercial-size trees have also been reported. 
This species causes serious losses of flowers and conelets of shortleaf pine in seed 
orchards (362). 
At least 60 species of parasites of the Nantucket pine tip moth have been recorded 
(1363), but they rarely provide satisfactory control. Damage can be reduced by 
limiting the planting of susceptible pines to sites to which they are well adapted. 
Close spacing and planting under an overstory may also be helpful. 
Rhyacionia bushnelli (Busck), the western pine tip moth, occurs from the 
Dakotas and Nebraska south to Kansas and New Mexico east to Missouri. Its 
preferred hosts are ponderosa, red, jack, and Scotch pines. Infestations have been 
particularly severe in pine plantations in Nebraska (307, 497). The adult is indis- 
tinguishable from those of the Nantucket pine tip moth, but it is believed that R. 
bushnelli is a distinct species because of its overwintering habit and size (998). 
There is one generation per year in the Dakotas, one to two per year in Nebraska, 
and an additional one southward (798). 
In 1925, Campoplex frustranae Cushman, a common parasite of the Nantucket 
pine tip moth in the East, was liberated in infested plantations in the Nebraska 
National Forest. It became established immediately and increased rapidly. By 1930, 
parasitism at the original liberation point had reached 80 percent. Unfortunately, the 
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