Forest Pests: Insects, Diseases & Other Damage Agents

Minor Angle (Macaria minorata)

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 marked head, frosted dorsum, and obvious pale stripes. Green head with lobes streaked with dark green (with light green reticulation) and reddish brown; streak on lobes with white borders (extensions of subdorsal and spiracular stripes); greenish thoracic legs, increasingly brown toward tip. Dark green middorsal stripe; bluish white dusting on dorsum; wide, white subdorsal stripe with dark green area below. Broad, bluish white spiracular stripe. Up to 20 mm.

Food. Eastern white pine; rarely jack, pitch, and red pines.

Life Cycle. One to two generations. Pupa overwinters in soil or debris. Mature caterpillar present from July to October.

Comments. The mature caterpillar of the minor angle is the smallest species of Macaria on pine. Among the species of Macaria on eastern white pine, the minor angle has the greatest amount of whitish dusting on the dorsum. The minor angle previously was known as Semiothisa minorata.

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