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



Adult moths are dark brown with a wing expanse of about y 2 inch. 

 The eggs are pale green and are laid in a group of about 7, shingle- 

 fashion on the wider portion of a needle late in May. The larvae 

 cut a hole near the base of a needle and mine the interior. Some- 

 times 3 to 8 larvae mine a single needle. When needles are con- 

 sumed, they are cut off and held to the twig by a funnel-shaped 

 web. Frass collects in the web and from 4 to 20 larvae may be 

 found feeding together in one web mass. Feeding is complete by 

 October, when the light greenish-brown larvae have reached a 

 length of about % inch. They hibernate as larvae in a hollowed-out 

 needle attached to the stem. When warm weather starts in March 

 they resume feeding, pupate in April in silken cocoons in the web, 

 and the moths emerge in May. 



The Monterey pine needle miner (Argijresthia pilatella Braun.) 

 is a small greenish caterpillar y 6 inch long, which mines the needles 

 of Monterey pine in central California. 



The white fir needle miner (Epinotia meritana Hein.) caused 

 considerable damage to white firs at Bryce Canyon National Park, 

 Utah, from 1946 to 1948. The small, grayish, mottled black moths 

 fly in July and lay eggs. The larvae develop very slowly during 

 the fall and overwinter as tiny greenish larvae in fir needles. They 

 complete their development the following spring and construct 

 loose webs around several needles while mining them out. Aerial 

 application of 2 pounds of DDT in 2 gallons of oil per acre in 

 July and early in September gave partial control. The infestation 

 declined in 1949. 



The jack pine needle miner (Zelleria haimbachi Busck) (42) is 

 a small, needle-sheath-mining lepidopteron, which severs the 

 needles near the base, causes considerable webbing of needle clus- 

 ters, and kills needles before they are half grown. The adults are 

 small gray moths, which emerge about the end of July. This needle 

 miner has been found damaging jack pine in Canada, lodgepole 

 pine in Washington, and ponderosa pine in California. 



The spruce budworm, the pine tube moth, and other closely 

 related species frequently mine needles, especially during the first 

 larval instars. 



CEDAR TWIG AND LEAF MINERS 



A group of small moths, belonging to the genera Argijresthia, 

 Recurvaria, and Epinotia, while in the caterpillar stage, mine the 

 twiglets and leaves of various cedar and cypresslike trees, causing 

 the foliage to turn brown. The damage is not serious, except to 

 the appearance of shade and ornamental trees. Most of the feeding 

 is done early in the spring. A nicotine or DDT spray applied early 

 in the spring is recommended for the prevention of damage to 

 ornamentals. 



The cypress tip moth (Argijresthia cupressella Wlsm.) mines 

 the twiglets of Monterey cypress and other cupressine trees from 

 central California north into Oregon and Washington. When the 

 caterpillars reach full growth, they emerge from the twigs and 

 spin white, feathery cocoons on the surface of the leaflets ; and in 



