Forest Pests: Insects, Diseases & Other Damage Agents

Jack Pine Tube Moth (Argyrotaenia tabulana)

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. Green body with head marked with orange-brown on lobes. Head also with dark brown spot near stemmata and with horizontal dark brown bar behind stemmata. Greenish thoracic legs with one or two dark spots near middle and with dark tip. Up to 15 mm.

Food. Jack, pitch, and possibly other hard pines.

Life Cycle. Two generations. Pupa overwinters in silk-lined tube of needles. Mature caterpillar present mainly in June and July and again in September and October in southern New England.

Comments. The older caterpillar resides in a silk-lined tube centered between needles (see below). The food plant and the presence of feeding tube with a chewed end can be used to distinguish this species from other tubemakers on pine.

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