Dioryctria merkeli Mutuura & Munroe, the loblolly pine coneworm, occurs 
throughout the Southeast and northward to Maryland. It infests flowers, shoots, and 
cones of loblolly, slash, and longleaf pines, and occasionally other southern pines. 
The moth resembles D. zimmermanni but is duller in color and the hindwings are a 
light gray-brown. Wingspread is about 25 to 30 mm. The mature larva is purplish 
black above, deep blue-green below, with black muscle attachments, and is 18 to 25 
mm long. In early spring, small larvae infest male and female flowers, then soon 
migrate to shoots or second-year cones. In slash and longleaf pines such larvae may 
mature in shoots; in loblolly they migrate to second-year cones. Mature larvae 
aestivate in dead shoots and cones where they pupate and emerge as adults in 
August and September. Larvae from this generation overwinter- under bark or bud 
scales as nonfeeding first instars. A single generation occurs yearly. This species 
periodically causes extensive cone loss in loblolly pine (/365). 
The mountain pine coneworm, D. yatesi Mutuura & Munroe, attacks second- 
year cones of Table Mountain pine. It ranges throughout the Appalachian Mountain 
region from Pennsylvania to Georgia (547, 902). 
Dioryctria taedae Schaber & Wood, the Atlantic pine coneworm, attacks 
loblolly pine cones in Maryland and occurs sparingly in the Southeast (/057). 
Dioryctria resinosella Mutuura resembles D. zimmermanni but feeds on red pine 
shoots and cones in the Northeast, Lake States, and southern Ontario (759, 899). 
Mature larvae are gray to green with black muscle attachments, and about 15 mm 
long. 
The locust leafroller, Nephopteryx subcaesiella (Clemens), occurs from south- 
ern Canada and Maine to North Carolina and westward to Colorado. The larvae 
feed inside tied-together leaves of black locust, other locusts, and wisteria. The 
adult is dark gray with some reddish scales at the wing base, and has a wingspread 
of about 25 mm. Mature larvae are about 20 mm long. The head is dark brown and 
the body light green, except for a darker green line from the middle of the dorsum 
and for three faint lines on each side. The prothorax is usually distinctly darker than 
the mesothorax and metathorax. The winter is spent as pupae in silken cocoons in 
the soil. This species is quite common at times, but is seldom injurious. N. 
virgatella (Clemens) 1s a leafroller on black locust. The larvae resemble those of the 
locust leafroller except that they are much more lightly pigmented. N. subfuscella 
(Ragonot) is a leafroller on sumac from Maine to Texas. The adult is ash gray and 
has a wingspread of about 22 mm. Mature larvae are yellowish green except for 
dark-green lines on the dorsum and sides, and are 13 to 20 mm long. Additional! 
information on the species of Nephopteryx is available (244, 3/5, 316, 923). 
The lesser cornstalk borer, Elasmopalpus lignosellus (Zeller), a widely dis- 
tributed species, has damaged black locust seedlings in nurseries in several south- 
ern states. Loblolly pine seedlings in nursery beds in Georgia, Virginia, and Rhode 
Island have also been damaged. Gall-like growths occur at points of injury on the 
lower stems of locust seedlings, causing them to die or break off at the ground line. 
The male adult is mostly ochre-yellow to light brown but the female is heavily 
shaded black. The wingspread is 16 to 24 mm. The forewings are long and narrow 
and marked with several black spots. Mature larvae are greenish white with 
interrupted longitudinal stripes of dark brown or purple. The winter is spent in the 
larval or pupal stage and there are up to four generations per year in the Deep South 
(923, 1205). 
The American plum borer, Euzophera semifuneralis (Walker), is widespread 
and attacks a wide variety of hardwoods, including plum, pin cherry. apple. 
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