Pitch Pine Looper
Lambdina athasaria pellucidaria |
| USDA Forest Service. 1979. A guide to common insects and diseases of forest trees in the northeastern United States. Northeast. Area State Priv. For., For. Insect and Disease Management., Broomall, PA. p. 123, illus. |
The pitch pine looper is a native insect that causes considerable damage to foliage of pitch, red, and Virginia pines, and possibly others. These loopers differ from most in that they feed singly on needles instead of in colonies, and that they chew out only a portion of each needle. Injured needles turn brown and, if the infestation is heavy and persists for 2 or 3 years, serious tree injury and mortality may occur.
Pupae overwinter in the duff beneath the trees. In May or June the moths emerge and lay shiny, pale-green eggs on both sides of the needles. After the eggs hatch, the loopers feed on the needles until late September. They develop much more slowly than most caterpillars. Full-grown loopers average 1 to 1½ inches in length. They have pale-straw to greenish-yellow bodies, with black markings on their sides and black dots on their backs. Their heads are marked with dark and light brown spots. Because they vary considerably in color, positively identifying them is difficult. Probably the best way to identify them in the field is to determine whether the pine needles were mined or eaten completely. After they are full grown, the larvae drop to the ground and pupate. There is one generation per year.
Adult(s)
Larry R. Barber, USDA Forest Service |
Larva(e)
Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Archives, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station |
Damage; defoliation
Jerald E. Dewey, USDA Forest Service |
[ Contents ]
[ Previous ]
[ Next ]
[ Home ]
|
