22 MISC. PUBLICATION 273, U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



Similar damage to fir cones is frequently caused by the cater- 

 pillars of a cone pyralid and a fir cone geometrid. 



Figure 7. — The pyralid Dioryctria abietella, slightly enlarged, and typical 

 damage to Douglas-fir cones. (Drawings by Edmonston.) 



The cone pyralid Dioryctria abietella (D. & S.) (fig. 7) in the 

 full-grown larval stage is a large, active, irridescent, greenish-red 

 caterpillar % inch long, which bores through scales and seeds of 

 Douglas-fir, true fir, pine, and spruce cones, leaving a round clean- 

 cut hole. In contrast to the work of Barbara, its webbed castings 

 on the surface of an infested cone are free from pitch. The adults 

 are gray moths mottled with black and having a wing expanse of 

 about 1 inch. 



The fir cone geometrid Eupitkecia togata spermaphaga (Dyar) 

 in the adult stage is a gray moth with black and red-brown 

 markings and a wing expanse of about 1 inch. The caterpillars are 

 of the measuring-worm type. They bore through seeds and cone 

 scales of Douglas-fir, the true firs, mountain hemlock, and prob- 

 ably other conifers. 



OTHER CONE MOTHS 



Another group of small moths, belonging to the genus Laspey- 

 resia, are destructive to fir, spruce, and other cones. The pink or 

 white larvae are less than y 2 inch long when full grown, and have 

 a few bristles. The moths are small and dull-colored. The small, 

 pink larvae of L. bracteatana (Fern.) bore into the seeds of white, 

 red, and other firs in Oregon, California, and Colorado. L. young- 

 ana (Kearf.) has white larvae with black heads. These larvae 

 work mostly in the axis of Engelmann, blue, and Sitka spruce 

 cones in Colorado, Montana, and Oregon. The small grayish-white 



