- Scientific name: Egira simplex (Walker)
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Lepidoptera
- Family: Noctuidae
Distribution
British Columbia
Damage, symptoms and biology
Egira simplex is not frequently encountered on coniferous hosts, it does however occasionally occur on conifers in destructive numbers.
Mature larva to 30 mm long. Head, black unmarked. Body, brown with faint white mottling; distinct paired black addorsal spots; middorsal and subdorsal white lines; broad orange-brown spiracular stripe.
Overwinters as a pupa buried in the duff. Adults emerge April to May. Larvae feed initially in the opening buds, then on the new foliage from May to mid-July. Pupation occurs in July.
Other information
A localized outbreak was recorded on Sitka spruce near Tofino in 1995.
Canadian Forest Service Publications
https://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/search?q=
Information on host(s)
Main host(s)
Grand fir, red alder, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir, Sitka spruce
Photos
Dorso-lateral view of mature larva, on Sitka spruce
Dion Manastyrski Centre de foresterie du Pacifique, Victoria (Colombie-Britannique) / Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, British Columbia
Lateral view of mature larva, on Sitka spruce
Dion Manastyrski Centre de foresterie du Pacifique, Victoria (Colombie-Britannique) / Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, British Columbia