Ponderosa Pine Needle Miner: Appearance, Territory, Damage and Life Cycle

Latin Name: Coleotechnites Ponderosa

Appearance: The microscopic larvae dig through and grow within new needles, frequently causing needle tips to die back. Browning foliage is generally an indication of damage, and closer inspection will reveal hollowed-out needles, with the base often remaining green. Outbreaks have occurred on a regular basis in numerous wooded locations around the state.

Hosts Plants: Ponderosa Pine

Territory: From southern Canada to Mexico, and from Nebraska and Oklahoma to the Pacific Coast.

Damage Insect Cause: The microscopic larvae dig through and grow within new needles, frequently causing needle tips to die back. Browning foliage is generally an indication of damage, and closer inspection will reveal hollowed-out needles, with the base often remaining green. Outbreaks have occurred on a regular basis in numerous wooded locations around the state.

Life History and Habits: Pinyon needle miners lay eggs from early June until mid-July. Larvae emerge soon after the eggs are laid and burrow into non-infested needles, where they feed until the next fall. They hibernate as latent larvae inside the needles over the winter. In the spring, feeding continues, and larvae grow to about 3/8 inch in length (5 mm). Late May is when the pups are born. Ponderosa pine needle miners lay their eggs inside already mined needles in late summer. The freshly born larva bores into the tip of a green needle and mines slowly throughout the winter, growing faster as the temperature warms and pupating in July.