Forest Pests: Insects, Diseases & Other Damage Agents

Spruce Needleminer (Taniva albolineana)

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 dark head and prothoracic shield. Dark brown head; similarly dark prothoracic shield with yellowish brown anterior and lateral margins. Narrow yellowish band at hind margin of segments. Up to 8 mm.

Food. Spruces, especially planted ones.

Life Cycle. One generation. Nearly full-grown caterpillar overwinters within its feeding nest. Mature caterpillar present from May to July.

Comments. After hatching, the young caterpillar mines needles. It later builds a nest by tying dead, mined needles and frass together with silk (see below). It overwinters within the nest and, after additional feeding, forms its green pupa in a gray cocoon. In spring, several caterpillars sometimes occupy the same webbed nest. Freeman (1967) and Johnson and Lyon (1991) also have illustrated the feeding damage of the spruce needleminer.

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