F-494206, 494207 
FIGURE 143.—Adult and lar- 
vae of the Nantucket pine 
tip moth, Rhyacionia frus- 
trana. 
\. A) | 
webs between buds, or between buds and needles; they feed in 
the buds. When a bud is consumed, the larva moves to another 
bud on the same or a different shoot. Eventually, the connective 
tissue of the tip is severed, and the damaged portion turns brown. 
The larva continues to feed within the shoot and bud. Once hav- 
ing consumed the bud, it bores down the center of the stem. The 
larval period lasts for 2 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 five or six generations per 
year. In the North Carolina, Virginia area, there are three per 
year. Still farther north, in Pennsylvania and Ohio, there are only 
two per year. 
The Nantucket pine tip moth is a major pest of young plants 
in the eastern United States. During recent years, it has become 
increasingly abundant and destructive as a result of the estab- 
lishment of large areas of pine plantations and seed orchards. 
Damage consists of the retardation of height growth, the crook- 
ing or forking of main stems, the reduction of cone crops, and, 
occasionally, the death of the tree. Attacks are generally re- 
stricted to trees less than 15 feet in height and are most severe in 
young plantations, but severe attacks on commercial-size trees 
have also been reported. 
364 
