Forest Pests: Insects, Diseases & Other Damage Agents

Granite Moth (Macaria granitata)

Maier, C.T., C.R. Lemmon, J.M. Fengler, D.F. Schweitzer, and R.C. Reardon. 2004. Caterpillars on the Foliage of Conifers in the Northeastern United States. FHTET-2004-1. Morgantown, WV: USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team; 151 p.

Description. Bluish green body with marked head and with mostly pale stripes; also purplish form. Greenish head with lobes streaked with brown (some greenish reticulation in brown) to reddish brown; streak on lobes with white margins (extensions of subdorsal and spiracular stripes); bluish frons; brownish thoracic legs with greenish blue base. Dark green middorsal stripe edged faintly with white; white subdorsal stripe with two wavy, dark longitudinal lines immediately below. Diffuse, white and yellowish white spiracular stripe; greenish yellow band at hind margin of segments. Up to 22 mm.

Food. Mainly pitch pine in New England; pitch and one or more other hard pines in southern New Jersey.

Life Cycle. One to two generations in New England. Pupa overwinters in soil or debris. Mature caterpillar present from July to November, with latest dates in the southern part of the Northeast.

Comments. The bluish green body of this species usually separates it from other caterpillars on hard pines. This species formerly was known as Semiothisa granitata.

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