Lepidoptera: Tortricidae
Identification
Larvae are brownish to orange caterpillars that are about
1/2" long when fully grown.
Adults are orangish and white marked moths, 1/4" long. (a)
Damage
The larvae tunnel through the tips of pine branches, causing them
to die. (b) As a result, lateral buds grow and cause the tree to be multi-trunked
and/or grow slowly in height.
European pine shoot moth will cause the elongating shoot (candle)
to bend over like a shepherds crook. (c)
Nantucket pine shoot moth causes a heavy flow of pitch around the
base of the needles on damaged branch tips. (d)
Scotch, Austrian, red, and Virginia pine are attacked.
Management
Spray shoots with insecticide when hills-of-snow hydrangea is in
early bloom. Nantucket pine tip moth can also be sprayed in early spring.
Shearing Christmas trees in mid-July eliminates many larvae.
The moths do not fly very high, making main leader damage unlikely
once the tree is at least 12' tall.