Class: Insects
Size: 30 to 35mm (wingspan)
Weight: Variable
Appearance: Yellowish to dark brown
Food: Pine, rarely also spruce, silver fir and juniper.
Distribution: Europe, Asia to Siberia
Original location: Unknown
Habitat: Pine forests, mixed coniferous forests, heaths
Natural enemies: Viruses, bacteria, ichneumon wasps, forest ants, shrews
Threatened with extinction: No

• If it occurs in large numbers, the pine moth is a terrible pest for pine trees.
• The male forewings are light yellow to dark brown, and the females light brown. The markings are variable. There is always a white vertical line on the underside of the hind wings.
• The pine moth is distributed throughout Europe, from the Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles in the west to Siberia (Kazakhstan). The range extends as far south as North Africa (Morocco) and as far north as the Arctic Circle. However, this species is related to its main food plant (pine), so it may not exist locally at all. In the mountains, the species is found up to 1’600 metres high. Therefore, this species occurs in coniferous forests, preferably of course in pine forests. Other pine habitats are also colonised.
• The moths appear in April and fly until July. Two days after mating, the female lays oval green eggs in the canopy of old pines and the female can lay about 300 eggs. The caterpillar hatches after about 3 weeks. They are green with white stripes and feed on needles at night. In September or October, adult caterpillars fall to the ground with silk threads or crawl along tree trunks. A few weeks later, pupation takes place underground. After the pupae overwinter, the moths hatch from April to June.
• A caterpillar eats about 40 needles in its developmental stage (5 larval stages), about half of which are eaten in the last quarter of the larval stage, when the greatest damage is done. The resin coming out of the needle dries and turns white. The damaged needle then turns brown and falls off.