484 MISC. PUBLICATION 657, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
oray. The fully grown larva is about 14 inch in length; its body is 
ereenish yellow, and the head greenish brown with a “dark brown or 
black patch on each side. It feeds on white pine. The pupa is 
greenish yellow. There are two generations a year. The moths issue 
late in April, early in May, and in July. The larvae mature early 
in July and from October to early in November. Each larva draws 
together from 5 to 20 needles and fastens them with silk (fig. 113), 
making a tube. The larva feeds on the tips of the needles, and when 
not feeding conceals itself within the tube. It also pupates in the tube 
and passes ‘the winter there in the pupal stage. Its distribution is from 
Canada south to Florida 
and west to Missouri, and 
probably throughout the 
range of white pine in 
the eastern part of the 
United States. Though 
often very common it is 
not considered a pest of 
economic importance. 
When abundant the nu- 
merous tubes made by 
the larvae give the white 
pine trees an unsightly 
appearance. 
The moth of the black- 
headed budworm (Pevo- 
nea variana (Fern.)) 1s 
grayish, with greatly 
variable markings of 
: te us ; _ brown, orange, white, 
igure 113.—Work of the pine tube moth and black. The ES eS 
(Argyrotaenia pinatubana) on white pine. panse 18 about I inch. 
The full-grown larva is 
about 144 inch in length, with a brownish head and bright-green body. 
In the earher instars the head is black (Balch, 75). 
The moths emerge in July and August and lay their small, flattened, 
oval eggs on the under side of the needles. Hatching takes place in 
the spring at the time the buds of its food plants are opening. The 
larvae spin a web and feed on the new growth, becoming full grown 
in July. Pupation takes place in a web on the twigs. 
This species is distributed through the northeastern part of the 
United States and from the Gaspé Peninsula in Canada to Alaska. Its 
food plants include fir, hemlock, and spruce, the balsam fir apparently 
being most favored. The feeding is confined largely to the new 
or owth, and an infestation can be recognized by the brownish appear- 
ance of the trees in July and August, caused by the webbing together 
of the half-eaten needles. The injury caused is somew hat like that 
caused by the spruce budworm. There is less danger of outbreaks in 
mixed stands. Pure stands of mature balsam fir that become infested 
should be cut. 
Famiry PHALONIIDAE 
The Phaloniidae are closely related to the Tortricidae. In North 
America more than 100 species are known to occur, but comparatively 
little is known about their habits. 
