''Cydia strobilella'', the spruce seed moth, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of ...

of the family

Tortricidae The Tortricidae are a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths or leafroller moths, in the order Lepidoptera. This large family has over 11,000 species described, and is the sole member of the superfamily Tortricoidea, although the gen ...

. It is found in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan ...

is 10–15 mm. The moth flies from April to June depending on the location. The larvae feed on ''

Abies alba ''Abies alba'', the European silver fir or silver fir, is a fir native to the mountains of Europe, from the Pyrenees north to Normandy, east to the Alps and the Carpathians, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and sou ...

'', ''

Picea omorika ''Picea omorika'', common name Pančić spruce or Serbian spruce ( sr, Панчићева оморика, Pančićeva omorika, ), is a species of coniferous tree endemic to the Drina River valley in western Serbia, and eastern Bosnia and Herzego ...

'', ''

Picea abies ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very clo ...

'' en ''

Pinus sylvestris ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and oran ...

''. A “major pest of spruce” (Hedlin et al. 1980),Hedlin, A.F.; Yates, H.O.; Tovar, D.C.; Ebel, B.H.; Koerber, T.W.; Merkel, E.P. 1980. Cone and seed insects of North American conifers. Can. For. Serv./USDA For. Serv./Secretaría Agric. Recursos Hidráulicos, Mexico. 122 p. publication instigated at the 10th meeting of the Study Group on Forest Insects and Diseases, North American Forestry Commission, FAO, held in Canada in 1974/ref> the spruce seed moth ''Laspeyresia youngana'' Kearfott, or ''Cydia strobilella'' Linnaeus (Ives and Wong 1988, Syme and Nystrom 1988),Ives, W.G.H.; Wong, H.R. 1988. Tree and shrub insects of the prairie provinces. Gov’t Can., Can. For. Serv., Edmonton AB, Inf. Rep. NOR-X-292. 327 p.

oates et al. 1994 Oates may refer to: ;People *Oates (surname) *Garfunkel and Oates, comedy act ** Kate Micucci (aka ''Oates'') of "Garfunkel and Oates" *Hall & Oates, musical act ;Places and buildings * Oates, Missouri, a community in the United States * Oates Coa ...

/ref>Syme, P.D.; Nystrom, K.L. 1988. Insects and mites associated with Ontario forests: Classification, common names, main hosts and importance. Canadian Forestry Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. Information Report O-X-392. 131 p. is widespread across Canada and the northern United States. Severe damage to

white spruce White spruce is a common name for several species of spruce (''Picea'') and may refer to: * '' Picea glauca'', native to most of Canada and Alaska with limited populations in the northeastern United States * '' Picea engelmannii'', native to the ...

cones has occurred in central and western Canada (Rose and Lindquist 1985), but the seed

is of only moderate importance in Ontario (Syme and Nystrom 1988). The spruce seed moth ''Cydia youngana'' Kearfott is found across Canada and the northern United States feeding in the cones of various spruces. Severe damage to white spruce has been reported from central and western Canada (Rose and Lindquist 1985).Rose, A.H.; Lindquist, O.H. 1985. Insects of eastern spruces, fir and, hemlock, revised edition. Gov’t Can., Can. For. Serv., Ottawa, For. Tech. Rep. 23. 159 p. (cited in Coates et al. 1994, cited orig ed 1977) In Ontario the moths fly in May, about the time that spruce pollen is shed, and lay a single egg per cone if cones are plentiful. On hatching, the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. Th ...

initially tunnels in the cone scales and then moves deeper to feed on the developing seeds. In late June, the larva makes a narrow tunnel down the axis of the cone from which it feeds. When full grown in the fall it is about 10 mm long. It hibernates in the central tunnel in the cone and pupates in the spring, the adult moths emerging from the pupal cases in about 18 days. Some of the larvae do not change to pupa in the first spring but remain dormant for 1 or more years. It seems that the number of adults present in any year correlates with the number of cones developed.

References

External links

UK mothsMicrolepidoptera.nl
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1313113 Grapholitini Moths described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Moths of Japan Moths of Europe