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Species Rhyacionia frustrana - Nantucket Pine Tip Moth - Hodges#2882

Nantucket Pine Tip Moth - Hodges#2882 - Rhyacionia frustrana Multi-Coloured Moth - Rhyacionia frustrana Rhyacionia frustrana Nantucket Pine Tip Moth - Rhyacionia frustrana Nantucket Pine Tip Moth - Hodges#2882 - Rhyacionia frustrana Nantucket Pine Tip Moth - Hodges#2882 - Rhyacionia frustrana Nantucket Pine Tip Moth, 2882 - Rhyacionia frustrana Rhyacionia frustrana? - Rhyacionia frustrana
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Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Tortricoidea (Tortricid Moths)
Family Tortricidae (Tortricid Moths)
Subfamily Olethreutinae
Tribe Eucosmini
Genus Rhyacionia (Pine Tip Moths)
Species frustrana (Nantucket Pine Tip Moth - Hodges#2882)
Hodges Number
2882
Other Common Names
Frustrating Retinia
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Rhyacionia frustrana (Comstock, 1880)
Retinia frustrana Comstock, 1880
Explanation of Names
Specific epithet meaning "frustrating" for the considerable damage the larvae had done to pines planted on Nantucket after fire damage during the War of 1812.
Size
Forewing 4-7.5 mm. (1)
Range
Massachusetts south to Florida, west to Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas. Discovered in San Diego and Kern County where it may have been introduced from the east. Also in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Cuba and Nicaragua. (1)
Season
Two to six generations a year. (1)
Food
Larvae mine in the terminal shoots of at least 15 species of pine. (2)
Life Cycle
See Scudder (1883) in Print References.
Overwinter as a pupa within the injured tips of the host.(3)
Eggs laying happens during dusk and darkness. They are deposited on new or old growth needles, in the axils, on developing tips, or on buds. Larvae construct delicate webs in axils formed by developing needles and stems, then they bore into and feed on the needle, severing it. Second-instar larvae construct webs between buds then eat them. When the buds are consumed, they move to another bud. Once the bud is consumed, they bore down the center of the stem. The larval period lasts 2-4 weeks then it constructs as webbed cell within the shoot to pupate.(3)
5-6 generations per year in the south; in NC and VA area there are 3 generations; and farther north there are only 2 generations.(3)
Print References
Comstock, J.H., 1880. The frustrating Retinia. Report of the commissioner of agriculture, 1880: 236.
Gilligan, Wright & Gibson, 2008. Olethreutine Moths of the Midwestern United States. p. 86.96. (4)
Scudder, S.H., 1883. The pine moth of Nantucket - Retinia frustrana. Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, pp.1-20; Plate.
Works Cited
1.Nearctic pine tip moths of the genus Rhyacionia: Biosystematic review (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae, Olethreutinae)
Powell, Jerry A. 1978. United States Department of Agriculture.
2.HOSTS - The Hostplants and Caterpillars Database
3.Eastern Forest Insects
Whiteford L. Baker. 1972. U.S. Department of Agriculture · Forest Service.
4.Olethreutine Moths of the Midwestern United States, An Identification Guide
Gilligan, Todd M., Donald J. Wright, and Loran D. Gibson. 2008. Ohio Biological Survey, P.O. Box 21370, Columbus, Ohio 43221-0370.
5.North American Moth Photographers Group
6.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems